Seabrook Farms

Book excerpt: The last thing Charles F. Seabrook wanted to be was a farmer, yet with keen insight and a driving determination, he cultivated his fathers small farm in Upper Deerfield into the largest vegetable farm and frozen vegetable processing operation in the world. Best known for its system of quick-freezing and packaging fresh vegetables, the Seabrook Farms Company was an innovator in farming technique and processing. But its fascinating past is as much a story about people as produce. At its peak, Seabrook employed 5,000 workers from 25 countries, speaking 30 different languages. Among the most predominant of these employees were the Japanese Americans, who were released from U.S. internment camps beginning in 1944 during World War II.