Nogales Produce Companies Speak Out About Tariffs
NOGALES, AZ - This week, the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) and Farmers for Free Trade (FFT) hosted a panel intent on speaking out about the value of trade, particularly under the latest round of President Trump imposed tariffs. FPAA’s Lance Jungmeyer, Ciruli Brothers’ Chris Ciruli, Chamberlain Distributing’s Jaime Chamberlain, Wholesum Family Farms’ Ricardo Crisantes, Supervisor of Santa Cruz County Bruce Bracker, and FFT’s Angela Hofmann all partook in the panel.
“Produce is about twenty-five percent of the jobs in this county, there’s a lot of jobs, and we need these jobs and these employers here,” Jungmeyer said about the importance of produce in Santa Cruz County.
Ciruli added that providing fresh fruits and vegetables to U.S. consumers is just as important as the jobs this work creates. According to a press release, a large portion of healthy food is imported from Mexico, namely grapes, watermelons, cucumbers, mangos, and more—all of which have been cultivated through the hard work of produce companies and seed breeders throughout the past 100+ years.
Chamberlain piggybacked off of this importance, emphasizing: “Through Nogales, Arizona, we have been importing Mexican fruits and vegetables to North American consumers for over a century, and we are an extremely proud group of people and individuals who bring these fruits and vegetables to American tables. We take our jobs extremely serious, and it’s a responsibility we take, and we know what we are bringing to the U.S., it is our mission is to deliver our products to American consumers.”
In addition, FFT has been traveling across the country to speak with small businesses as a means of highlighting voices advocating the importance of trade in the community.
“They strive to guide farmers to speak out to members of Congress, Mayors, economic developers, supply chains, and they will continue to tell their story,” said Hofmann, during the panel.
For more information and a live view of the press conference, click here. AndNowUKnow will continue to follow all news as it relates to trade in the current tariff climate.
