November 2022 - 5

Geoff Thornton and daughter Kaitlyn Thornton view apples. As a high school student, she was picking and selling fruit
to grocery stores, and on her way to becoming an ag spokeswoman.
AGVOCATE
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
There are endless opportunities to
promote agriculture, and the inability
to produce glamorous " Super Bowltype "
content should not be an obstacle,
Thornton said.
" Just start showing content out
there, " Thornton said. " People don't
want to be spoon-fed information.
They just want the story and want to
feel connected. I hope my videos can
be an example and encourage other
growers to tell their stories. "
Early business acumen
Thornton grew up in Tonasket, a
north-central Washington town of about
1,000 people 21 miles from the Canadian
border. As a child, the principal job that
she and her older brother and sister
had was picking and packing apricots
and Bartlett pears, which they sold to a
grocery store 60 miles away.
Geoff Thornton, Thornton's father,
told her he would be impressed if
she sold 20 cartons. A couple of days
before she turned 16, Thornton posted
an ad on social media and delivered
the fruit on a meet-up basis. She sold
44 boxes of apricots.
Kaitlyn Thornton discovered she
enjoyed learning about her community
and its people, and selling a product
she actually believed in. In all, she sold
400 cartons that first year, establishing
fruit delivery business Kait's
Crates when she was a high school
sophomore. As a high school senior,
she sold more than 1,200 cartons.
Thornton learned a lot from
her family and the difficulties that
farming can place on its members. Her
grandfather Roy, a truck driver who
grew up during the Great Depression,
was the first of eight children to go
to college after being a decorated
combat medic in World War II. Roy
became a doctor and tried to build
a better life for his family. Over the
years, Thornton Farms declined, until
Through her many social media followers, Kaitlyn
Thornton works to promote ag to a public
disconnected from farming.
1986 when Geoff Thornton took over
and began buying back farmland,
expanding the orchard from 27 acres
to about 440 acres.
In high school, Kaitlyn Thornton
joined her father on a retail tour with
Chelan Fresh's CEO promoting the new
Sugarbee apple, sparking an interest
in marketing. Visiting stores on the
East Coast and in Arkansas and Texas,
Thornton enjoyed meeting shoppers,
telling her story and being able to show
consumers what a farmer was really like.
As Thornton's ag advocacy grew,
so did her number of social media
followers. On TikTok, her fan base grew
from 30,000 followers to 284,000. She
also has 70,000 followers on Instagram.
" We have a great story to tell, "
Thornton said. " I put myself and my
family out there and encourage other
growers to do the same. Just showing
up and being a positive source of
information consumers can look to
and feel good about buying their fruit
will do. " FGN
CopenHaven Farms Nursery
Quality Oregon-Grown
Rootstock & Seedlings
For Fruit Trees.
Since 1982,
Specializing in
Virus-Free Apple,
Cherry, Plum and
Pear Rootstock.
email:
info@copenhavenfarms.com
12990 SW Copenhaven Road
Gaston, OR 97119
www.copenhavenfarms.com
503-985-7161
FAX 503-985-7876
FGN | NOVEMBER 2022 | 5

http://www.peachridge.com http://www.copenhavenfarms.com

November 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2022