The Fruits of General Teran
Cheryl Pancake

We load into our vans and drive through Montemorelos, through the countryside to General Teran.  Along the way we see many orange groves.  Upon arriving in General Teran, we stop at one of the local restaurants and have a wonderful lunch.  Some of us are having smoked chicken while others are having beef tips.  We are all having rice, fried beans, and tortillas filled with salsa and meat.  This building has a circular peaked roof that is made of thatch.  After eating this delicious meal, we leave with full stomachs and are on our way to meet with the mayor of General Teran.

The presidente, Eleuterio Villagomez Guerrero, meets with us immediately after our arrival.  When we arrive in his office, he is signing official documents for someone who is waiting for his signature.  He greets all of us and is apologetic that he does not have enough chairs for all of us.  The presidente explains to us that his city needs transportation for the children to go to school as well as factories to employ the many residents who do not have jobs sufficient to take care of a family.  Many of the children who complete their education travel to the United States to work and send back money for their families.  The children are well educated and trained by the time they graduate from school.  Many go to the university to further their education, but are unable to find jobs here in General Teran.  They are forced to move away to find the jobs they have been trained for.  This does not help the economy of General Teran.  General Teran wants to bring industries to their town so that the employees can live here, work here, and spend their money here as well.       

A new factory is being built on the outskirts of the city and the owners are hoping to ship fruit to the United States and Europe in approximately three months.  This factory will be able to employ 300 workers, which will help this area immensely.  The workers will be working in three shifts around the clock.  If this new business employs 300 workers, the true number of people who will be helped can be many more than that.  These workers will be able to spend money at the local businesses, which will in turn help those businesses and their workers.       

This factory will be processing many tropical fruits (pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, oranges and tangerines) by quartering the fruit, sealing it in plastic, and then immediately putting it into cold storage so that it will remain fresh.  Arrangements have been made for the fruit as well as the new factory to be inspected by the FDA.  Other inspections will be made before being allowed to ship the fruit.  Shipping to the United States will be made in under 24 hours; however, it will take 24 hours for the product to be received in Europe.  The fruit will be taken by truck to Corpus Christi, TX, loaded onto ships and sent to Europe.

The expenses of the construction of this factory have cost the owners $1.2 million so far and the owners expect to spend another million dollars for equipment alone.  Once the business is launched, we will be able to buy their fruit in our grocery stores.  The proposed name of the packaging will be “Profruit”. 

The United States will not allow the import of Mexico fruit because of disease.  However, this new process is an outstanding way to allow the people of the United States to enjoy the delicious fruit that is grown here in Mexico.  After leaving Mexico last December, every time I go to the grocery, I look for the good oranges I fell in love with when I last visited there.  Hopefully soon I will be able to buy the delicious tasty Mexico fruit here.