SOLEDAD, Calif. – Colby Pereira, chief operating officer of Braga Fresh, received the Grower-Shipper Foundation Ag Woman of the Year award.
The Agricultural Woman of the Year award honors unique leadership qualities held by women working within the agricultural industry in Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties.
The winner of the award demonstrates a significant contribution to agriculture, is a leader in the community and is a “Ag-Vocate” for agriculture, according to the organization. Ag Against Hunger, a program of the Grower-Shipper Foundation, honored Pereira at its annual Agricultural Woman of the Year Recognition Luncheon.
Pereira has a rich background in family farming and is active in several professional and community organizations including the Salinas Valley Chapter of California Women for Agriculture, the Monterey County Farm Bureau and the Grower Shipper Association of Central California.
She participates on the Food Safety, Land Use & Water Use Committees for the Monterey County Farm Bureau and Grower Shipper Association and the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement Technical Committee. She serves on the California Leafy Greens Research Board, is an elected director to the Salinas Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency and is elected to the Mission Union School District Board of Trustees.
Pereira attributes her passion for agriculture to her grandfather, Anthony Costa, a pioneer in the Salinas valley. In her acceptance speech she said, “What you invest in your community, you get back 10-fold.”
Pereira holds a bachelor’s of science degree in agricultural business with a minor in crop science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She lives where she was born and raised, in Soledad, Calif., also home of Braga Fresh and Josie’s Organics.
For more information about the company, visit www.bragafresh.com.
About Braga Fresh
In 1928, Sebastian and Josie Braga started farming California’s fertile soil on what is now known as the Braga Home Ranch in Soledad, Calif. Today, the third generation continues the family values of sustainable-organic farming. Braga Fresh sets aside 10% of farmland to beneficial habitat and has the goal of being carbon neutral. Vertically integrated, Braga Fresh combines innovation with tradition to grow, harvest and process fresh vegetables and leafy greens through the Josie’s Organics and Braga Farms brands.
