A Fresno County farmer is giving away 182,000 pounds of nectarines for free
In the early morning heat, hundreds of people lined up outside a San Joaquin Valley farm this week to receive large blue bins filled with thousands of bright red nectarines. The fruit was free for the taking.
“It was going to rot in the tree again, so I said let’s give it up,” said farmer Cesar Mora. “Let’s let people at least enjoy it, because I’m proud of what I do.”
Cesar Mora hugs his wife Yuliana, before work begins, at their family farm in the Central Valley, where they donate more than 125,000 kilograms of nectarines.
Mora is in the midst of a contract dispute with Giumarra Brothers Fruit Co. circling his nectarine plant a few years ago. He and a major LA-based produce company have legal disputes over a contract that spelled out how the fruit was to be marketed and sold. As a result, Mora says he can’t sell the fruit, so he ordered a large supply of more than a hundred thousand pounds of white-fleshed nectarines.
Offerings outside the small town of Reedley run Monday through Friday. People walked to the farm in large groups, pulling bags to collect nectarines.
For more than 30 years, Mora has been farming in the Central Valley. He grew up learning to farm and harvest stone fruits, dreaming of having his own farm one day. But it has been a challenge to get the money.
“So I had to do this kind of work alone,” said Mora. “I rented a farm 10 years ago.”
Alonzo Madera picks nectarines for distribution at Cesar Mora’s farm in the Central Valley.
On those 50 rented hectares, Mora grows three varieties of plums, as well as peaches and nectarines. Monalise nectarines affected by the legal dispute make up about 15% of the farm, he said.
In a statement in response to Mora’s “No Nectarines Wasted” campaign, Giumarra Bros. Fruit Co. he said: “At its heart, this is a disagreement between two written agreements, and it is resolved properly — in court and on the facts.”
Mora said he did not want all those fruits to go to waste and chose to donate them.
On the first day, Mora’s workers were expected to produce 5,000 kilograms of nectarines. This changed when they saw a large crowd, so they brought out more. They shipped them out in 30-kilogram bags. By the end of the day, they had donated a little over 20,000 pieces of fruit. The next day it was 50,000 pounds, and the next day it was 55,000.
Christian Mora is giving away free bags of fruit on his father’s farm in the Central Valley, amid a legal dispute over ownership of the crops.
Mora said the excitement surrounding this fruit has been the most exciting part.
By Friday afternoon, Mora had released 182,000 kilos of nectarines.
The excitement among the guests surprised him. Mora said people came in groups to the farm and some even blocked the road. Mora said that in his work he is not used to being thanked.
As he drove by the donation ceremony in his tractor on Tuesday, the guests started to applaud.
“I mean, that really touched my heart,” he said. “I have never been applauded like this for my work.”
Mora said, at the end of the day, some people even came to the field to pick up the fruit that had been thrown aside.
Cesar Mora, center, leads a prayer before delivering fruit to his farm in the Central Valley.
