Berry giant Driscoll’s is facing multiple legal challenges, including consumer lawsuits alleging “forever chemicals” and pesticide cover-ups, while simultaneously suing a mobile app startup for spreading false claims. The Watsonville-based company denies the allegations of misconduct, affirming its commitment to food safety and regulatory standards.
Driscoll’s
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Joby and Toyota to partner on manufacturing, Driscoll’s faces pesticide backlash, economic woes drive slowdown on local granny units
Jessica M. Pasko gives you the latest in local business news, including Joby Aviation and Toyota expanding their partnership, Driscoll’s facing a new class action lawsuit over pesticide use, and upcoming events.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Driscoll’s should lead on pesticide reform – not debate childhood cancer statistics
A widely cited claim that Santa Cruz County’s childhood cancer rate is 38% above the state average is muddling the debate about pesticide reform, writes Watsonville activist and retired nurse Kathleen Kilpatrick. The number doesn’t prove pesticides cause cancer and shouldn’t be used that way, she writes. But correcting that statistic doesn’t change the broader body of evidence linking pesticide exposure to childhood cancer and other serious health harms. Driscoll’s, the largest berry marketer in the world, has the resources to reduce its use of the most hazardous pesticides and should publicly show its progress, not debate cancer numbers, she writes.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Capitola Mall redevelopment inches forward; Driscoll’s pledges $5M for new campus farm store in SLO
The Capitola Mall’s future as a housing development is on the agenda for the city’s planning commission this week, Driscoll’s invests at Cal Poly and a commercial crabbing delay are all in focus in Jessica M. Pasko’s weekly survey of Santa Cruz County business.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
Driscoll’s has the resources and know-how to shift to organics around schools – so why doesn’t it?
Local pesticide activist Woody Rehanek wants Driscoll’s to stop applying pesticides in Santa Cruz County. Driscoll’s, he writes, owns two-thirds of the U.S. organic berry market, yet applies large quantities of carcinogenic fumigants near its world headquarters and close to Pajaro Valley schools.
Posted inWatsonville / Pajaro
Driscoll’s patent battle over strawberry varieties stalls in federal court
A federal court has effectively ended a Driscoll’s lawsuit against a rival strawberry breeder, rejecting the Watsonville giant’s claims that California Berry Cultivars infringed on its proprietary fruit varieties.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
This week in Santa Cruz County business: Driscoll’s climate change-resistant berries, proposed settlement in Plantronics suit, housing forum takeaways
Jessica M. Pasko gets a look at what Driscoll’s is working on from new CEO Soren Bjorn to lead this week’s local business roundup. She also has an update on a class action brought by investors in former Santa Cruz company Plantronics and other news, notes and numbers.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Driscoll’s new CEO is on a quest for berries that can resist climate change
Eight months into his new role, Driscoll’s CEO Soren Bjorn is helping lead the company’s technological advancement as it seeks to create sturdier berries amid a changing climate. The $3 billion Watsonville-based corporation now operates in more than 20 countries globally.
Posted inOpinion from Community Voices
It’s time for Driscoll’s to take responsibility for farmworker health and well-being in Watsonville and Pajaro
Watsonville resident and former farmworker Woody Rehanek is tired of berry giant Driscoll’s lack of accountability. He says the $3 billion company operates like oil and mining companies of the past – mistreating its workers, endangering their health and only making piddling community donations. He calls on the company to go organic near schools and to financially bolster Assembly Bill 3035, which seeks to build more affordable housing for farmworkers.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Organic’s big South County moment: Might school-zone pesticide switch provide momentum for change?
Longtime UC Santa Cruz researcher Joji Muramoto is the first organic soil specialist employed by the University of California system. The rich history of the area’s organic movement was largely spawned in the northern half of Santa Cruz County and inspires people like him. But the market-driven realities that prevent more South County farmers from growing organic present an ongoing challenge to sustainability and a reduction in carcinogenic pesticide use.
