California's Tri Valley Growers Sees Europe Cooperatives as a Model.(Originated from The Modesto Bee, Calif.)

May 19--From a skyscraper in downtown San Francisco, Tri Valley Growers' new president and chief executive officer looks at the hustle and bustle below and sees part of his challenge.

"Most of the public, especially urban Americans, don't appreciate agriculture much," Joe Famalette observes. City dwellers can walk from corner to corner and find an abundance of high quality, cheap food. They don't think a lot about where it comes from.

As the new head of the 650-member cooperative, Famalette works for the farmers who produce that food - and he envisions major changes in the way they do business and get compensated.

In an interview Thursday, Famalette, who came to Tri Valley from American Crystal Sugar …