This interview has been adapted and expanded from an episode of Western Growers’ Voices of the Valley podcast. It has been edited and formatted for print.

Garrett Nishimori grew up in a farming family in Oxnard, Calif. He left to attend Cal and culinary school, after which he became a chef in a two-star Michelin restaurant in San Francisco. Fifteen years ago, he returned to his family’s farm, San Miguel Produce. His unique perspective on the “Farm to Fork” movement provides a first-hand account on food waste prevention, the intricacies of the supply chain – and why consumers should all get to know where our food comes from. Nishimori talks about his family’s legacy, the July 2024 acquisition of San Miguel by Grimmway Farms and how realistic FX’s “The Bear” is with Ann Donahue, Director of Communications at Western Growers.

Ann Donahue: Can you talk a little bit about your experience in farming and your experience as a chef?

Garrett Nishimori: In high school I had the opportunity to spend my summers here at San Miguel Produce. I was on the cucumber packing line at the time, sizing, grading spec’ing out cucumbers. They put me at the very end, because I was a little slow. The next summer I got to work in our fresh cut operation, mainly folding boxes cause I don’t think I could keep up with all the bags coming off, either. (Laughs.) Finally my third summer I got to work in our field mechanic shop and got to learn how to service trucks and tractors. On the culinary side, I, I was probably cooking since I was in middle school – just starting simple, grilling some meat, making some rice, making a vegetable. As I got into college at UC Berkeley, I got exposed to a lot more different types of food, more ethnic food, more authentic flavors, and got really excited and explored more and ate out more and gained a few pounds, which was fun. I went to culinary school in San Francisco…and eventually worked at Aqua in San Francisco, which was a two-star Michelin California seafood restaurant.

AD: I’m going to totally derail this interview right now and ask you how realistic “The Bear” is.

GN: I did watch that show – it was recommended to me by many friends. A lot of the drama, it was pretty real. A lot of crazy stuff happens in the kitchen. It’s kind of a high stress atmosphere with not a lot of sleep and different personalities… one day we’re cooking and one of my, my buddies comes running in the kitchen. He yells something, he grabs the blowtorch and runs out. Apparently he was out having a smoke break in the alley behind the restaurant. Three guys came up to him and jumped him, and he chased him down with the blowtorch after he got jumped. I don’t think they ended up catching him. He was a big guy, so I would definitely not have messed with him. That was a fun one.

AD: Next season, on “The Bear!” So after Aqua closed, you came back home. San Miguel is your family farm, you are the General Manager, and you guys just announced that you will be acquired by Grimmway. Can you talk about that?

GN: San Miguel Produce was founded by my uncle Roy in 1976. Roy wanted to grow year ‘round here in Ventura County and was successful even though it hadn’t been done before. He started as a commodity grower, growing items like celery, cabbage and broccoli. At the time Oxnard had their season in between Salinas and the desert, and then over time as growers were expanding their seasons he saw the business shifting. In the early 1990s, he decided to move it into what we call it the cooking green category: collard, kale, mustard, turnip, those types of greens. He did a phone survey to see if people would want a fresh cut option, a value-added option on greens that were traditionally very hard to clean. That’s when he launched the first fresh-cut cooking greens in a bag, called Cut N Clean Greens. That’s been our cornerstone brand for almost 30 years.

I think Roy and I had a very similar career path. He went to UCLA and became an accountant and think when he was around the same age as me  – mid-30s – he decided he wanted to get back into farming. I don’t know why we did that! (Laughs.) Must have been in our blood. His father, my grandfather, he had been farming with his brother here in the Oxnard area since the 1950s. Roy started learning about farming and then started his own business, and he’s been doing that for almost 50 years.

We’re being acquired by Grimmway, effective in July. That is very exciting – they grow a lot of the same crops that we source, so we’re excited about helping them increase yield in the field. It’s exciting for Roy too, because he’s finally going to be able to retire at the young age of 79. Hopefully he gets a nice retirement and gets to do some of the stuff he wants to enjoy.

AD: Given your experience on both sides of the equation, what do you think of the “Farm to Fork” movement? Is there something to it? It is just a buzzy marketing term?

GN: What sparked my interest in it was really working in
the kitchen. We did things that were probably not normal for home cooks – finding new ways to use different parts of the plant. One of my favorite things to eat is chard stems, and unless you’re buying a bunch, you’re probably not eating that. If you braise them down, they’re super tender, sweet and delicious. For consumers, I think the people that cook more often are probably a bit more open to try new things, try new flavors, utilize the whole plant or animal or whatever they’re cooking. But for the most part, consumers are kind of disconnected to the food supply system and how things are grown and processed and the challenges that come along with that.

AD: What can we do to fix that?

GN: I think it’s a very complicated answer because our food system is very dynamic and changing. I think the best thing consumers can do is to start asking questions. If you buy a product ask the company who packed it, where it came from. Build a relationship with farmers! If you’re lucky enough to know a farmer – ask us. We’ll tell you.

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