College of Business

2015 - Emergent Technologies: How is technology transforming agribusiness?

Tom Rolander, ex-CTO/Chief Software Architect for Ecopia Farms, a vertical ag producer in Silicon Valley will be the keynote speaker at the event. His keynote would be followed by a panel discussion that includes Kevin Murphy, CEO of Driscoll's, Lorri Koster, CEO of Mann Packing and Dr. Bob Whitaker of the Produce Marketing Association who have accepted the invitation to be the panelists. Dennis Donohue, President of Royal Rose LLC. will act as the facilitator for the discussion.

2014 - Public health & agribusiness; win-win on healthy eating

The Business of Healthy Eating: Central Coast agriculture provides the fruits and vegetables recommended for a healthy diet. This achievement requires the cooperation of the agricultural industry and public health to both protect the environment and prevent diseases like diabetes. A public-private partnership, uneasy at times, has emerged to address this challenge.

In this series, we will examine how the systems of production agriculture and the promotion of public health can work together to provide value added produce at an affordable price, while protecting farmworkers and the environment. In three annual sessions, experts will examine this challenge and how it can be addressed through nontraditional public policy, marketing programs designed to promote the public good, and new production technologies.

The series begins this fall with “Public Health and Agribusiness: In It Together for Healthy Eating.” Produce companies are in the business of growing and selling produce. Public health officials are concerned with promoting healthy eating to combat obesity, diabetes and heart disease in the population. This session will examine this important alignment between produce businesses and public health, and the strategies being used by each of the players to achieve their common goal of increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables.