Pescadero may be known as a tourist town to outsiders. But it’s Pescadero’s farm economy that keeps the town alive, employs residents and keeps students enrolled in local schools. The long, slow decline of the South Coast farming and flower nursery economy has been a source of concern for Puente since September 11, 2001. That’s when Puente founder Rev. Wendy Taylor first noticed huge and troubling changes in and around Pescadero. “It was a very slippery time,” recalls Taylor. “I noticed there weren’t any jobs to spare, even for horse trainers. People needed those jobs more than ever.” After 9/11, the trickle-down effects of a suffering U.S. economy prompted several of Pescadero’s cornerstone agricultural employers to sharply curtail their labor forces, or shut down altogether. A mushroom packing plant on Highway 1 closed its doors, laying off 300 workers who were earning a minimum wage of $10 an hour. Silver Terrace Nurseries cut its workforce down to roughly 40 people from 100, according to Rev. Taylor. Those cutbacks, and several others, forced a substantial labor exodus from Pescadero as entire families left in search of work in other towns. That, in turn, had a near-crippling effect on the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District. “I think we lost about 30 students out of our schools… that’s a lot when you only … Continue reading The farm economy, the South Coast, and the will to survive