Every Once Upon a Farm snack and meal tells a story that starts way before you uncap or unwrap the goodness inside. From those crafting our innovative recipes, to those executing our rigorous standards for food safety and quality, we have an incredible team of people committed to making the most delicious and nutritious snacks and meals for your family.

But did you know there’s another group of amazing people who are essential to bringing these recipes to life? Behind every product are farmers and farmworkers who work diligently from seed to harvest to provide us with nutritious organic fruits and veggies.

Did you also know more than 50% of farmworkers are parents? Prioritizing farmworker wellbeing through fair wages and adequate resources can have positive ripple effects on their households, fostering a healthier and more supportive environment for their children. This is one more reason why we take our commitment to championing farmers and farmworkers seriously. We know our products are good for the babies, kids, and families who eat them—we also want to make sure they are good for the farmers and farmworkers who grow our ingredients, too.

While it's one thing to talk about doing better, it's another thing to make it happen. So, we’re starting where we can. For one, we're proud that organic is always our baseline. This means we know workers (and their families) in our organic supply chain are less exposed to toxic, persistent pesticides, which are prohibited in organic agriculture. Still, we have so much to learn and much progress to make.

That’s why we’re proud to partner with the Equitable Food Initiative to champion farmworker voice across the supply chain and add another layer of assurance to our responsible ingredient sourcing.

What is the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI)?

The Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) is a non-profit organization that partners with stakeholders across the supply chain to transform agriculture and the lives of farmworkers through skill-building and social responsibility certification.

A defining feature of EFI-certified farms are worker-manager collaborative teams that work to identify and address food safety and social accountability issues. While the core of EFI’s work focuses on worker voice and a culture of continuous improvement, the certification provides third-party assurance that these values are being upheld.

This may look like:

• Improved fruit quality
• Safer work environments
• Increased employee retention
• Women’s empowerment in the fields

EFI recognizes the vital role farmworkers play in agriculture, and that farmworker skill-building opportunities can help create healthier work environments and produce safer food for everyone. They believe supporting farmworkers on the frontlines can foster a culture that stands to revolutionize the industry and our food system. And we couldn’t agree more.

Once Upon a Farm is proud to be the first consumer goods brand to source and pay premiums on EFI produce. We set a goal for 2024 to source and pay premiums on 7 million pounds of produce from EFI-certified suppliers, covering an estimated 30% of ingredients [by weight] in our core portfolio.

Why is Once Upon a Farm partnering with EFI?

We source over 100 ingredients from different size operations across the country, and the globe. Given our complex supply chain, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to ensuring worker wellbeing, but sourcing some of our fruit from EFI certified farms is where we can have the biggest and most immediate impact on bettering our supply chain.

Everyone deserves safe, healthy and respectful working conditions—farmworkers included. Paying premiums on EFI-certified produce is one way for us to live our values of championing farmers and farmworkers, amplifying EFI’s efforts beyond the fresh produce industry and pushing for change across the packaged foods industry.

What are EFI premiums?

Set by EFI, these premiums are a bonus paid to all non-salaried farm and packhouse workers, funded by an additional per-pound amount paid by participant retailers—and now a food brand! With these premiums, we’re supporting both worker wellbeing and high-quality ingredients. Because when workers are well-cared for, the food they produce is well-cared for. These premiums are also a meaningful way for us to acknowledge and reward all the skill, talent, and training it takes for farmworkers to put safe, nutritious food on everyone’s tables—and the goodness inside our own products!

Yadira Vargas, mother of two 16-year-old boys, works in EFI-certified grower Stemilt’s administrative office and is part of their EFI leadership team. On the EFI Premium Program, Yadira says: “It is something very positive and emotional for people. I believe it serves as motivation to improve, to produce the best quality work, and to benefit all employees.”

A Better Story Starts Here

Our mission is to drive systemic improvements in childhood nutrition for a healthier, happier, and more equitable world. For us, this starts with the nutritious snacks and meals we put out on retail shelves, but it also means we need to look at the whole system. Driving systemic improvements implores us to think about how our food is grown, picked, and packed. We don’t have a perfect approach, but perfection shouldn’t slow progress. While we’re so proud of the steps we’re taking, we know the work is far from over. Better yet, we’re just getting started.

Written by Madeline Tien, Sustainability Specialist & Mireya Gutierrez, Social Impact and Communications Intern