Taylor Farms and the Transformational Coaches of Monterey County pair up each high school sports season to present KSBW’s Golden Whistle Award. The award is given each athletic season to a local coach who is recognized by the community as an exceptional coach and mentor who strives to positively transform young athlete’s lives. Any coach at a public, private, or parochial high school on the Central Coast is eligible to be nominated by a player, parent, principal or teacher.
Patty Lamar, is a recent winner who has been the swimming coach and girl’s water polo coach at Salinas High School for 17 years. Prior to her role at Salina High School, Patty coached at Notre Dame, North Salinas High, and also volunteers her time Salinas Valley Aquatics. Patty Lamar players describe her as someone who works harder than anyone else to bring out the best in her athletes. Players describe the emphasis Lamar places on their academic responsibilities and counsels them on how to balance being both an outstanding athlete and student. Patty was in complete shock when she was presented the award and was surrounded by family, friends, and a group of 80 swimmers she has coached over the years!
Over the past two weeks Team Taylor and their families raised money for this weekend’s American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life by attending yoga classes at the Taylor Gym! Mishalin Modena hosted a free all-levels Vinyasa Flow yoga class that accepted donations. All proceeds went to Taylor Farms’ Relay for Life team who will be running the relay this weekend in Salinas, CA. To date, Team Taylor has raised $30,000 through all their fundraising efforts.
“We had about 25 people who participated in the classes from every level, it fun, hard and exhilarating,” said Mishalin Modena, yoga instructor. I’m so happy we had the opportunity to bring this type of a Yoga class to the area for the first time while supporting an amazing cause.”
“This was my first “official” yoga class,” stated Ken Adams. “It was difficult for me, I couldn’t believe how much I sweated, but the cool part is that you progress at your own level. Even though I wasn’t very flexible and couldn’t do every move, each move helped me feel better at the end. The hours after the class I felt great, and was surprised not to be sore the next day. I’ve learned some great techniques to do on my own and it was a great introduction to a new workout while supporting a great cause.”
We like to host these types of events because as a company we enjoy giving our employees and their families the opportunity to do good in the community while also doing good things for their health and well-being.
Teacher Bio
Mishalin is a registered yoga teacher (500 RYT), marketer, entrepreneur, wife and mother with a love for life and a passion for yoga. She has been practicing yoga for over 15 years and decided in 2002 to share her passion with others. She has studied under Saul David Raye, Beth Shaw, Shiva Rea, Chad Hamrin, Hala Kouri and Scott Blossom. She brings an East meets West approach to her classes with an eclectic mix of music and Vinyasa style classes offering her students modifications for any level. She hopes to empower her students and allow them to be challenged, supported, nurtured and learn the tools to find their “happy place”. Teaching yoga inspires Mishalin to be a student of life on a daily basis and be present.
Many consumers want to eat healthy, fresh meals at home, but lack the time and cooking expertise to plan and prepare them. This is where our Chopped Salad Kits come in! Our kits are a quick, fresh, and nutritious solution for providing a home cooked meal for you and your family, without hassle — saving time by offering a flavorful meal ready in minutes.
With nearly 50% of adults eating prepared meals because they are quicker than cooking from scratch, “some assembly required” is now generally considered homemade. Thanks to our Taylor Farms’ kit alternatives, you are no longer limited to online home delivery meal services, frozen foods, or takeout for a quick meal convenience for everyone.
We offer a wide variety of healthy kits and salads for you to choose from, including our Chopped Salad Kits, Stir Fry Kits, and Single Serve Salads. All of these products give consumers the convenience they want without sacrificing nutrition or requiring a special monthly membership. Just head on down to your local grocery store or order through Amazon Fresh!
In addition, there is yet another benefit to Taylor Farms’ “some assembly required” meals — decreased food waste! With our kits and salads, they are perfectly portioned so you can use every part of the product to make something healthy and delicious, not letting anything go to waste. Research from Feeding America says there’s an estimated 70 billion pounds of food wasted in America each year, and that 25-40% of food grown, processed, and transported in the United States will never be consumed. We want to aid in reducing food waste, and these innovative single-serving meals and salad kits help us hit that mark.
Taylor Farms is a sustainable company committed to delivering fresh, creative products nationwide. Sustainability and innovation are at the core of our business and continuously help us to think outside the box. Our salad and kit products help you to save time because we’ve done the washing and chopping for you, therefore reducing excess waste (and BONUS – you don’t have to spend all night cooking and cleaning)! When you cook with our products, you get perfectly-sized portions of healthy food and throw away little-to-no food. It’s a win, win!
Last week Taylor Farms was at Whole Foods Market’s annual “Tribal Gathering” event in Austin, TX. Over 1,200 management and executive level employees from all of the Whole Foods Market tribes from around the world gathered to meet select Whole Foods vendors and try their newest products. Only two companies from each grocery department were invited, so we were very honored to be there representing the produce industry! In our booth, we passed out samples of our tasty Organic Chopped Salad Kits for Whole Foods team members to enjoy.
“We had so many Whole Foods employees come up to the table excited to see us because they love our salad kits,” said Tricia Seduski, Retail Sales, Taylor Farms. “Everyone had a favorite, and it was great to hear their stories. One particular employee said she buys our kits almost daily, with Sriracha Ranch being her favorite. Others loved that we have dairy free options in our lineup. It’s fun to see how much people enjoy the products that we’ve worked to develop.”
Taylor Farms’ Tricia Seduski and Courteney Nelson serving organic chopped salad kit samples to Whole Foods team members
One Whole Foods employee shared a story about her 17-year-old son; he will grab a Chopped Salad Kit out of the fridge and take it with him to school for lunch. Another said that the kit was perfect for a quick, healthy meal, “I was late to an event and if it wasn’t for your salads I wouldn’t have eaten, they make my life so much easier and they are so convenient to eat.”
Adri Crawford, Courteney Nelson, and Tricia Seduski of Taylor Farms
Tasty, nutritious, convenient and enjoyed — exactly what we strive to accomplish!
Pick up one of our Organic Chopped Salad Kits at your local Whole Foods Market and share your story with us! We guarantee it will be #loveatfirstbite!
The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT) recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and they honored this milestone by hosting a ceremony and open house yesterday. Located in our Taylor Farms Headquarters in Salinas, CA, the Center’s purpose is to accelerate the development of innovative technologies and help solve the challenges facing the agriculture industry. Since first opening its doors a year ago with six startup companies, the WGCIT has transformed into a hub of collaboration and innovation, now housing 27 Agtech startups focused on tech driven products and services, including; renewable energy technology, soil pathogen testing, and precision agriculture software to manage farm operations.
Dennis Donohue, former Mayor of the City of Salinas, addressing the attendees
The Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology (WGCIT)
Yesterday’s ceremony kicked off with an introduction from Hank Giclas of Western Growers, followed by Brian Curtis, CEO of Concentric Power, one of the Center’s local start up successes. Curtis explained his excitement around the completion of two “cogeneration” systems, one of which is located at Taylor Farms Gonzales. Dennis Donohue, former Mayor of the City of Salinas, was noted for his new leadership role with the Center, and explained that moving forward the WGCIT will be spearheading development with more startups, especially those focused on food safety solutions and water conservation.
Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter awarded a proclamation to Western Growers Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning, Science and Technology Hank Giclas and Taylor Farms CEO Bruce Taylor, honoring the Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology for its one-year anniversary.
Bruce Taylor, Chairman and CEO, Taylor Farms also spoke on his experience with innovation, “It’s easy to be skeptical, its takes time, it takes resources, and it takes bandwidth, but it’s important to do. It’s important for our community in terms of being stewards of our resources. It’s important for our industry in terms of our future.”
Celebrating with the startups were a variety whose efforts are shaping the new era of farming & Agtech.
Taylor Farms has been a dedicated supporter and proponent of the WGCIT since the idea first originated during Bruce Taylor’s time as Western Growers Chairman in 2014. Taylor Farms has an ongoing involvement as a WGCIT sponsor, in addition to partnering with several of the startups in their trialing and beta phases.
Learn more about the other innovative startups at the Western Growers Center. And watch how WGCIT is striving to feed the world with fewer resources:
