Cycling for salads

Produce Grower: What was the purpose of the Tour de Fresh bicycle ride that you participated in?

Ron Cramer: It was to raise money for salad bars in schools, particularly for schools located in an area where the children aren’t necessarily close to a supermarket or have easy access to healthy, fresh food. Each school that wanted to have a shot at getting a salad bar had to apply for a grant. And then if their rider raised enough money, the matching grant provided a salad bar for the school. So it was a good cause for a great bike ride. I just think everyone should know where [fresh produce] comes from, have access to it and know that it’s healthy for you.
 

PG: What was your fundraising goal?

RC: [Our contribution to each salad bar] is $3,000. So if I get $6,000, I can provide two schools in the Rosemead School District in Los Angeles with a salad bar. In fact, I am hoping to get two for them. Right now I am between $4,000 and $5,000, and I think I can finish with $6,000 to get them two salad bars. We have until the end of October.
 

PG: Tell me more about the ride.

RC: We started Monday morning [October 13] in Carmel, [California] and we came south down Highway 1. The first day was just a little less than a hundred miles and more than 9,000 feet of climbing. So that was definitely the hardest day. But of course it was also the most beautiful day, coming down the coast highway. We spent the night in Santa Maria and rode from Santa Maria to Santa Barbara, to Oxnard the next day. Then we got to go through some of the Santa Barbara wine country the second day, and the third day we went from Oxnard to Santa Monica pier. On the final day we came from Santa Monica into the convention center here for our finish.
 

PG: That sounds intense. How many fundraising cyclists made the trek?

RC: There were 40 riders total. On the first night at dinner they said, 'We want to know who's the oldest and the youngest.' So I am 67 [the oldest], and the youngest was a guy named Joey, who is 25.
 

PG: Did everyone make it to the end?

RC: Everybody did. We had a couple of little accidents, but nothing serious. And in a ride of that length and with that many riders in traffic, that’s going to happen. But it was very, very well organized. The steering committee did a phenomenal job. The logistics of something like this are just insane.
 

PG: Did you receive any support along the way?

RC: It depended on the day and the route. But some days we had motorcycles front and back. We always had two or three cars provided by some of the sponsors, and we had a van provided by Tsamma Juice. Then we had at least two big, white passenger vans every day, some days three. They provided the nutrition breaks. About every 25 miles we had water, Clif Bars — Clif was a sponsor — and some fresh fruit and things like that. So it was well-supported. But you needed about 20 people just supporting 40 riders.
 

PG: Many riders also had sponsors- who was yours, and how did you get involved with the company?

RC: I was sponsored by Sakata. For 30 years I worked with the Ecke Ranch, a flower breeder, who worked with Sakata on the ornamentals. After I sort of retired, Sakata had a project that was going to take a couple of years, that I thought would be fun. It actually lasted eight years. And so I fully retired recently and have been doing some consulting with Sakata. But I am involved now in a retirement project that is getting me closer to the fresh produce. So that’s the reason that I found this so interesting in addition to the Sakata background.
 

PG: What changes have you seen in the horticulture industry over the 30 years?

RC: Well, I think the biggest changes have come in where the decisions are made in the industry and what gets grown and what gets sold. We are still a long way from the consumer driving that even in fresh produce, although I think they are closer [than in ornamentals].
 

PG: What do you mean by that?

RC: Well, in ornamentals, growers and retailers are still deciding what gets on the shelf. They are paying attention, and it’s getting better. But in fresh produce, I think it began from socioeconomic roots; consumers want organic, they want healthy, they want food safety and security, they want local. Local probably is the trump now for everything. It even trumps organic I think. And so they have a seat at the table. In fact, I read a blog recently that said fresh produce has a seat at the table of food marketing in America, and that’s huge because we are really pretty small when you think of all of the food [out there]. We have a really huge opportunity to do something while people are thinking about that. So that is another reason that I thought, you know, strike while the iron is hot. And if it’s on a bike [that you can get people's attention], that’s what you can do.

For more information about Tour de Fresh, visit www.tourdefresh.com. Updates on the 2015 ride will be released in January.