The Producer: Vince Ferachi

Some parents struggle to get their kids to eat fruits and vegetables, but not the ones running the Ferachi household. Vince Ferachi grew up surrounded by strawberries, cucumbers, squash and Louisiana satsumas. As owner of Capitol City Produce, a company his father founded in 1947, Ferachi is the recipient of the 2013 Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It’s called ‘top icing’ when they would put chipped ice over crates of lettuce,” Ferachi says. “In those days everything was in large wood crates, and the product would come into a rail siding in New Orleans, and we’d go down and get it.”

His son Paul currently runs the Baton Rouge business that receives kiwis from as far away as New Zealand. He hopes some of his 13 grandchildren will take a liking to the produce business and keep fruits and veggies a family affair.