At first glance, they look like typical working college students, loading up a produce truck at Phillips Farms and Vineyards in Lodi. But these aren’t American students, they’re European students from Germany, France, and Czechoslovakia.

Sponsored by the University of Minnesota, these young people are part of a program that "farms" out foreign ag students to places all over the United States. This group is wrapping up a semester with the Phillips family.

The kids live right on the farm. Weekdays are spent studying and working. On weekends, they sell the fruits of their labors at the popular Davis Farmers’ Market.

We wanted to see the students in action, so we drove over to the Phillips’ booth in Davis. That’s where we met Sandrine Pilette. She has studied agriculture in both her native France and in Spain, and now she’s learning how it’s done in California.

It’s not always easy, especially dealing with different languages. She says, "There are a lot of Mexican guys working on the farm and I speak Spanish to them. English with the boss, and French to the other two French students. So I think in Spanish, translate that to French, and after that I translate everything in English and it makes me lose my mind sometimes."

But what’s sticky for Sandrine is great for Phillips Farms. Lots of pumpkins, potatoes, and peppers move through when she’s at the helm. In fact, the Phillips’ sales have doubled at the market since the students began working there. They attribute this increase to the students’ energy, enthusiasm and charming accents. Customers pick up fresh produce and at the same time brush up on their high school French. Sandrine says all they want to hear is a pleasant "bonjour" and they go away happy.

So the next time you’re in the mood for a cross-cultural shopping experience, you don’t have to fly to France. You only have to drive to Davis.

For more information on Phillips Farms, call (209) 368-7384.