The Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County (BGCMC) Community Breakfasthosted 300 business, organization, and community members last week to support the youth of Monterey County and recognize the award winners of the Luis C. Perez Award.
We are humbled to be recognized as the recipient of the Luis C. Perez Corporate Partner Award at this year’s breakfast. This award was established to recognize those who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to our youth and our community, have given generously of their time and talent, and rolled up their sleeves to work alongside the Boys & Girls Clubs. It was named in honor of Luis C. Perez to acknowledge his legacy of selfless and joyful service.
Dr. Michael L. Jackson, CEO & President, Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County; Mark Borman, President, Taylor Farms California; and Kameron Woods, 2017 Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County Youth of the Year
“Taylor Farms has been a tremendous supporter and partner of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County. It has hard to imagine the Salinas Clubhouse being so successful for the last 14 years without the sustained involvement and support of Taylor Farms,” says Michael L. Jackson, President and CEO, BGCMC. “Taylor Farms has helped feed our members healthy meals, provided transportation to get kids to the Club, helped teens learn the value of earning and saving Club dollars to buy things they want, and supported our Summer Academy to prevent summer learning loss amongst our youngest members.”
Watch this video to hear from the kids and volunteers at BGCMC on why they recognized Taylor Farms with this award:
In addition, our employees love donating their time to these kids and their families! Last holiday season we had a great turnout of volunteers to shop for gifts and wrap the presents for the Boys and Girls Clubs’ “Adopt a Family” program, and this spring we participated in the BGCMC and Mission Trails Regional Occupational Program (ROP) hosted the 10th Annual Career Expo and Community Resource Fair. We can’t wait for the next volunteer experience!
Summer is in full swing, and the hot temperatures have me craving quick and healthy meals that don’t require turning on the oven. I love a good salad, loaded with vibrant greens and fresh seasonal produce. The cuisine of the Mediterranean, which focuses on fresh vegetables, bright herbs, tomatoes, olives, and feta, are perfect for summer meals. Salads are always front and center on our table during the warm months. A great way to turn a salad into a meal is to make a Buddha bowl, and with Taylor Farms Mediterranean Crunch Organic Salad Kit, it is so easy to do!
Taylor Farms’ dedication to healthy, fresh, and wholesome food means that I can feel good serving their products to my family. Taylor Farms is committed to sustainable farming and uses only the freshest ingredients. This means that every bag is filled with wholesome and healthy ingredients that are picked at the peak of freshness. Their Mediterranean Crunch Organic Chopped Salad kit is loaded with a blend of organic romaine, chicory, broccoli, cauliflower, red cabbage, and carrots that are all washed, chopped, and ready to serve! They have taken care of all the prep work, which means, that their salads are ready to go straight to the table from the bag. This kit also comes with crispy flat bread strips, which give a nice crunch of texture, creamy bits of feta cheese, and a delicious sweet and tangy basil vinaigrette that with one taste will immediately make you think of summer. This salad is so amazing by itself, as a side dish, and with a few extra ingredients, you can transform this kit into a complete meal!
So, let’s go back to this delicious Mediterranean summer-inspired recipe! Buddha bowls are a great way to make a complete and nutritional meal in one bowl. To make a Buddha bowl, you need fresh greens, grain, protein, crunchy toppings, and a dressing. This salad kit has your Buddha bowl basics all covered as it has a wide selection of greens, crunchy flatbread topping, and dressing! So easy! All you need to do is add grains and a protein I added rainbow quinoa for my grains, toasted chickpeas seasoned with cumin and smoked paprika for my protein. I added even more Mediterranean flavors with briny Kalamata olives, crisp cool cucumbers, slivers of red onions, juicy ripe summer tomatoes, a creamy avocado, and slices of golden pan fried Halloumi cheese! This is so incredibly delicious and flavorful! My Mediterranean Buddha bowl is bright and fresh from all the fresh vegetables and greens, hearty from the quinoa, a touch spicy from the toasted chickpeas, sweet and tangy from the dressing, with loads of crisp texture from the flatbread toppings and cucumbers, and so creamy from the avocado. It’s everything you could want from one bowl of food. I made mine vegetarian, but you could swap out the chickpeas for salmon, shrimp, or even flank steak. The possibilities and flavor combinations you can make with Taylor Farms Chopped Salad Kits are endless. I hope you try my Mediterranean summer-inspired recipe!
Mediterranean Crunch Buddha Bowl with Toasted Chickpeas and Halloumi
Ingredients:
4 cups Taylor Farms Mediterranean Crunch Organic Chopped Salad Kit
2 cups cooked tri-colored Quinoa (1 cup raw and cooked according to package directions)
1 medium cucumber, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes cut in half
1 avocado, pitted, halved, and sliced
7 ounces Halloumi, cut and sliced into six 1/4 inch thick pieces
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted
1 15.5 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed, drained, and dried
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
Olive oil
Fresh basil and lemon slices to serve
Directions:
Prepare Quinoa according to package directions and set aside.
Place rinsed and drained chickpeas over paper towels and dry thoroughly. While quinoa cooks, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add drained chickpeas, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5-7 minutes (until chickpeas begin to crisp on all sides). In the last couple minutes of cooking, add smoked paprika, ground cumin, and salt, and cook another 2-3 minutes. Remove from stove and sprinkle over chopped flat leaf parsley.
Slice Halloumi into six equal pieces. Heat frying pan over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Carefully place cheese in pan and cook 2-3 minutes per side or until golden in color. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Assemble bowls, arranging ingredients in its own section of the bowl (like slices of a pie). a circle! Set out two very large, shallow bowls. To each bowl add 2 cups Taylor Farms Mediterranean Crunch Chopped Salad greens, 1 cup cooked quinoa,, three slices of the fried Halloumi, half of the sliced cucumbers, half the cut tomatoes, half cup olives, 1 cup toasted chickpeas, 1/2 avocado, 1/4 cup sliced red onions. Using half the Salad kit toppings packets, top your Buddha Bowl with Taylor Farms feta, crispy flatbread strips, and drizzle over one packet of the basil vinaigrette. Garnish with a few fresh basil leaves and squeeze over a slice or two of lemon juice.
Enjoy! Note this recipe uses half of the large family size 19. 02 oz Mediterranean Crunch Organic Chopped Salad Kit and makes two very large servings. The kit will make four large servings; just double all the add-ins above.
It’s almost Cinco de Mayo, which means it’s time to celebrate with a Mexican-inspired cuisine for those you are sheltering in place with! From Taco Salads, to Sheet Pan Nachos, and Chimichurri Chicken Salad, here are some easy recipes and decor tips from Nashville Wifestyles to bring the flavor of fresh to your at-home fiesta!
Let’s first decide which of our Chopped Kits is going to help make this at home fiesta a complete hit… Avocado Ranch, Salsa Ranch, or Southwest.
GO BIG with sheet pan nachos using our Avocado Ranch Chopped Kit – super easy and a huge hit!
Or beef up your Salsa Ranch Chopped Kit with an easy Taco Salad by Nashville Housewives – super yummy and perfect for a twist on Taco Tuesdays. Here’s what you need:
ground beef (can substitute with chicken, veggies, etc.)
shredded cheese
chopped scallions
sour cream
chopped jalapeños
limes/lime juice Taylor Farms Salsa Ranch Chopped Kit
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve!
Spice up your Southwest Chopped Kit by making a Mexican Chimichurri Chicken Salad– the fresh greens and veggies from our kit will pair perfectly with chimichurri chicken.
Happy Cinco de Mayo! We look forward to seeing how you celebrate by tagging @yourtaylorfarms and #TheFlavorOfFresh .
Here at Taylor Farms one of our key community focuses is supporting local youth in their educational development and academic success, making back to school month an extra special time of the year! We believe the little things in life can make a big difference, which is why we take time to make going back to school a little more special for children in our local communities.
This is our eighth year partnering with Golden State Foods Foundation to provide brand new backpacks filled with school supplies to first graders – and this year’s is bigger than ever, supporting more than 1,000 students in our local communities and children of our employees in Salinas, CA; Gonzales, CA; Dallas, TX; and Tracy, CA.
Team Taylor Farms Texas assembling brand new backpacks filled with supplies.
“When school begins each year, your annual donation of backpacks greatly benefits our students’ learning,” said Elizabeth Armenta, Principal, Alisal Community Elementary School. “Every year it’s a joy to see our students’ happy faces and hear their excitement. These efforts have truly made a difference and have touched so many lives.”
Team Taylor Farms distributing backpacks at La Gloria Elementary School in Gonzales, CA.
Joe Villareal and Jose Perez of Taylor Farms hand out backpacks to first grade students.
Taylor Farms Tennessee also wanted to help make their community’s return to school a little easier. The team presented a check for $25,000 to John Colemon Elementary, a K-5 Rutherford County School that’s 1.5 miles away from our Tennessee based facility. The donation will support the school in its needs for updated technology, reading programs, additional school supplies, interactive fields trips, and much more.
“The principal [of John Colemon Elementary] gave us a tour and introduced us to a few classes and many of the kids said things like, ‘I know Taylor Farms’ or ‘my Uncle works there,’” says Amy Smalley of Taylor Farms Tennessee. “We are also planning weekly support for the school by donating Taylor Farms snack packs to the students to ensure they have fresh and healthy snacks each day.”
Healthy minds and healthy communities are of the utmost importance to us. Providing communities with fresh, nutritious produce and children with a strong start through education is essential to improving the quality of life in our local communities, and we look forward to helping in any way we can for years to come.
One of the most important things we strive to make, is a difference. Our continued commitment to be a force for good in the world is carried out through every aspect of our company, from the way we grow, produce and package our fresh foods, to making our own renewable energy, and protecting the land that feeds us. Our teams are working harder than ever to ensure shelves can be stocked with fresh food and even during these trying times, we are still operating with the Earth in mind. This Earth Month, we want to showcase our commitment to you and the planet. Each week we will be highlighting the pillars that support our commitment to sustainability: Healthy Environment, Healthy Business and Healthy Community.
This year we hit a sustainability milestone, with three of our California facilities becoming TRUE Platinum Zero Waste Certified. With this achievement, we reduced GHG emissions equivalent to 37,000 cars off of the road annually and we have diverted 174,224 tons of material from landfills. The journey to becoming Zero Waste certified is unique to each facility and Green Team. Each facility conducts a recycling and waste stream audit in partnership with their local waste and recycling agencies, redesign waste flow streams and receptacles in the facilities, re-evaluate all incoming and outgoing packaging and conduct employee trainings.
In 2019 we also launched an on-farm metrics and management pilot program to assess various resource use efficiency metrics to identify which metrics are best to support conservation practices and added a vertical integration component to help us drive innovation faster from seed to final packaging with our 280+ growing partners around North America. We are able to design a multi-season pilot where we plan to discover: potential leverage points for data sharing, methods and measures that drive on-farm management efficiencies while delivering positive environmental impact.
We took on a significant project, building a state-of-the-art retail salad processing facility in Baja, Mexico. Efficiency is the name of the game; with innovative processing equipment, upgraded refrigeration design, a unique facility layout to improve production flow and capacity, improved wash lines to reduce both water and energy consumption. We want clean, reliable and affordable energy to power our operations across North America. Taylor Farms has made great strides towards our goal in the last two years with fuel cell upgrades and new installations and a new solar array in Mexico, in addition to our eight previous projects.
We are committed to preserving a healthy world for future generations through resource conservation and responsible business practices. Stay tuned as we dive into our next two pillars, Healthy Business and Healthy Community, as well as a special project we will be releasing on Earth Day, April 22nd. Learn more about our commitment to a Healthy Environment in the video below and be sure to stay tuned on social as we celebrate the people and the processes that are helping us leave this place a better world, one salad at a time.
