From the Director
Marin County Cooperative Extension, SAREP collaboration bears organic fruit

Ten percent of California’s endangered silver salmon still spawn in Marin County. The nation’s third largest seashore park, Point Reyes National Seashore, attracts millions of visitors annually to Marin, and is in close proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area, the fifth largest metropolitan area in the country. A half-dozen local oyster farmers produce 20 percent of California’s commercial oyster crop. Marin’s Straus Family Creamery was the first organic dairy west of the Mississippi. Twenty percent of the San Francisco Bay Area’s milk supply still comes from Marin County. Point Reyes Farmstead Blue is the only table blue cheese made in the U.S.

In the midst of this unusual natural-agri-urban situation, a quiet new green revolution is stirring. A coalition of farmers, ranchers, regulatory officials, and citizens is aiming to revitalize Marin County agriculture, where half the land is still farmed. The sustainable agriculture partnerships being forged to respond to economic and regulatory pressures in Marin County agriculture could be a model for other California counties and governments.

Marin County is well known in the agricultural land conservation movement for the establishment of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT). Approximately 30,000 acres of an agricultural land base of over 130,000 acres have been placed under protective agricultural conservation easements. Combined with directed growth planning and zoning controls established over the past decade, MALT has helped to sustain a rural way of life and limit potential urban sprawl onto agricultural lands. Although successful by any measure, these legal conservation agreements and zoning controls have come at an ever-increasing cost to local government and landowners, as, at the same time, Marin County agriculture makes the transition from unprofitable pasture-based dairy and livestock grazing to other agricultural activities. Michael Straus, from a third-generation farm family in Marshall, notes that over the past generation, Marin County dairies have decreased from over 150 family operations to approximately 30 concentrated operations. Can Marin County agricultural make the transition to new production options?

In April, 2001 the Marin County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office, under the leadership of Commissioner Stacy Carlsen, became one of the first counties in California to offer a “one-stop” organic certification program to qualified producers and handlers. Recently accredited by the USDA, Marin Organic Certified Agriculture (MOCA) provides local services to certify and verify the authenticity of organically produced products, and promote organic agriculture in Marin County. Currently, 28 registered producers declare over $3 million, mostly direct sales to local consumers in farmers markets and restaurants. A local non-profit organization, Marin Organic, promotes a recognizable identity and consumption of Marin-produced products with point-of-purchase signage and labels, tasting events, and school lunch programs featuring fresh local products. Look for the Marin Organic label at your local store and farmers markets.

In a first-ever collaboration among SAREP, the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation, Marin County and UC Cooperative Extension, SAREP funds were made available in early 2002 to Marin County Cooperative Extension Director Ellie Rilla to support these activities from her office in Novato. Rilla created the new Grown in Marin newsletter, which reports on sustainable agriculture initiatives in the county and the activities of Steve Quirt, the new Marin County sustainable and organic program coordinator. Quirt, a former marketing communications specialist and part-time farmer from West Marin, has lived and worked in the farm community for the past 30 years, and has already led a series of innovative and well-attended extension meetings with speakers on topics such as medicinal herb farming, natural and organic beef, farm diversification, and organic strawberry production. Future topics include organic livestock opportunities, direct marketing, farmstead cheeses, specialty crops, and organic transition and certification.

Rilla says Quirt’s position gives the region, known for its high quality agricultural products, an opportunity to really push marketing and promotional initiatives for local foods and to continue to help farmers and ranchers diversify their operations.

She notes that Marin County products and producers continue to win prestigious awards: Marin French Cheeses and Cowgirl Creamery won first place awards at the American Cheese Society Annual Convention in 2001, and Point Reyes Blue scored second in the U.S. Cheese Championship Competition. Straus Family Creamery won four gold medals for dairy products and McEvoy Olive Oil won a silver medal at the Los Angeles County Fair last year. Corda Winery has received several medals for their Meritage Red and Chardonnay at the North Coast wine competition. In 2000, Sam Dolcini of Petaluma won first prize in the National Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Discussion Meet.

According to veteran organic vegetable grower Warren Weber of Star Route Farms in Bolinas, the organic program workshops have been well attended and enthusiastically received.

A remarkable cross-section of farm community leaders and advocates has moved swiftly to test these alternatives to keep the rich history and economic health of agriculture in Marin County alive. Sustainable agriculture strives to leverage these partnerships for the resolution of problems in our food system. SAREP will continue to advocate and support the role of university programs in the demonstration of successful action models.—Sean L. Swezey, director, University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program