Meet Our FLSP Recipients: Gwen Cameron

Who are you? Please describe your operation.

I’m Gwen Cameron, co-owner of Rancho Durazno, a 40-acre organic stone fruit farm in Palisade, Colorado.   

Why did you apply for the FLSP grant? 

My dad started farming as a seasonal peach picker here in Palisade, working alongside crews made up primarily of migrant farm workers from across Mexico and Central America. When he started his own small farm operation, he chose the name Rancho Durazno, which simply means “peach farm” in Spanish, to honor the Spanish speakers who were doing and still do the majority of the hard labor of fruit growing. From those beginnings, we have been committed to fair treatment of the workers we hire.  

In 2022 I formalized that commitment by joining a Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Program called the Fair Food Program. Fair Food sets a high bar for the treatment of farm workers and is widely respected for the accountability, objectivity and cooperative approach inherent in the program’s design. The USDA took a similar approach in creating the Farm Labor Stabilization and Protection Pilot, providing accountability and meaningful financial support to farms working to make significant improvements in the lives of their workers. I applied for FLSP because it gave me the opportunity to bolster the support we provide to our crew. That funding will also help our farm keep up with the rising cost of labor as wages increase and thresholds for overtime pay are lowered.  

How does receiving this grant impact you and your operation? 

With this funding, I will create a medical fund for each worker to help alleviate the cost of health care and implement improvements voted on by our workers to our on-farm worker housing

How did RMFU help you in the process? 

I was first introduced to the Fair Food Program through RMFU. RMFU was the conduit to connect a group of farmers interested in joining a worker-driven social responsibility initiative. A conversation at the state convention turned into further research, meetings and eventually three of us became the first farms in Colorado to join the Fair Food Program. Our participation in FFP gave us preferential scoring on our FLSP applications and all three of our farms were awarded the grant.