Vanessa Bogenholm is an American farmer of strawberries, raspberries, and vegetables, and Chair of the Board of Directors of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). Along with the farm of Tom Jones, her farms in Watsonville, California produce 85% of the United States's strawberries, which, along with other products, are sold under the name, "VB Farms," or "Sunshine Organic".
While Tom Jones, farther down the Californian coast, uses pesticides in his strawberries, Vanessa Bolgenholm favors growing strawberries organically. In July 2004, Vanessa Bogenholm went to Washington to convince U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman that buyers of organic food products may boycott them out of belief that they are contaminated with GMOs, genetically modified organisms. With the U.S. winning exception from the Montreal Protocol forbidding pesticides in November 2005, Bolgenholm is currently fighting against the use of methyl bromide in agriculture. She is also an advocate of hemp legalization for its economic value.
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