Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp Wins 20th Annual Ag Woman Of The Year

Soledad, CA – Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp was recognized as the 2013 Agricultural Woman of the Year for Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties at an annual event hosted by Ag Against Hunger on June 7 at Paraiso Vineyards in Soledad.

This annual luncheon recognizes a woman who has contributed significantly to the success of the tri-county agricultural industry. The Ag Woman of the Year award is a surprise to all guests including the recipient. More than 275 people were in attendance to recognize Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp.

The Agricultural Woman of the Year award seeks to honor unique leadership qualities held by women working within the local agricultural industry. These qualities include creating systematic change for agriculture through production, public policy, consumer awareness and volunteerism, someone who is a spokesperson for agriculture and demonstrates community support.

This year, the committee made up of previous honorees and the Ag Against Hunger Board of Directors chose a woman who has worked to the great benefit of the local agricultural community, Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp.

The 2013 honoree has volunteered countless hours with many organizations. She serves on the board of the nonprofit Agri-Culture, which is dedicated to educating the public about local farming. She also sits on the board of the Agricultural History Project and was co-chair of the annual Down to Earth Women's Luncheon, which raises scholarship money. This award recipient also serves on the Watsonville Salvation Army advisory board. As president of the Watsonville Rotary Club in 2009-10, she helped organize a concert to raise money for a global polio eradication effort. Ms. Eiskamp has also led fundraising drives in support of victims of Haiti's earthquake, and to provide medical care and clean water to a village in Peru.

Georgeann was born and raised in Watsonville. Although she came from a farming family, she didn’t begin her career in agriculture. However, she found her way back home, where she learned the farming business from the ground up. From weeding, replacing drip emitters, tractor work, and daily bookkeeping – sometimes 6 weeks went by without a day off for Ms. Eiskamp. Her passion for the farming way of life comes naturally and she now runs the family farming operation.

Georgeann Cowles Eiskamp is a fifth generation farmer, an outstanding woman, mother and volunteer, and is a deserving addition to the prestigious group of women that have been honored with this award.

Previous Ag Women of the Year include:  Sharan Lanini (1994); Claudia Smith (1995); Karen Miller (1996); Susan Gill (1997); Betty Ichikawa (1998); Mary Hansen (1999); Elia Vasquez (2000); Connie Quinlan (2001); Kay Filice (2002); Dorothy Errea (2003); Nita Gizdich (2004); Mary Orradre (2005); Lorri Koster (2006), Margaret D’Arrigo-Martin (2007),  Celeste Settrini (2008), Darlene Din (2009), Karen Antle (2010), Abby-Taylor Silva (2011) and Mari Rossi (2012).

This year's keynote speaker was Dr. Roberta Cook of UC Davis’ Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Dr. Cook has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University and currently serves on the Board of Directors of both Ocean Mist Farms and Naturipe Farms. The Emcee for the event was news anchor Michelle Imperato from KSBW.

All proceeds from this event went toward Ag Against Hunger’s efforts to alleviate hunger. On the Central Coast of California, more fruits and vegetables are grown, packed and shipped than in any other region in the world. Yet, in the midst of this abundance there are many who are hungry. Ag Against Hunger was founded to provide people in need with nutritious, fresh, surplus produce from local fields by creating a connection between the agricultural community and food assistance programs. Since 1990, the generous donations of surplus produce from local growers and shippers have helped Ag Against Hunger bring 200 million pounds of produce to millions of hungry children, adults and seniors. In 2012, almost 14 million pounds of fresh produce was donated to food banks in the tri-county area and across California.

Source: Ag Against Hunger