Marin Organic: Preserving Farmland & Growing Food Justice

This trip is now closed.

On this tour, you will experience the breathtaking agricultural landscape of Marin County, just north of San Francisco, and learn about the county’s innovations in farm and ranchland preservation, artisan food production, and food justice and education programs.

In the early 1970s, increased coastal development and urbanization plans were being proposed for western Marin County. The developments would have ended a 150-year-old tradition of family farming and permanently degraded many of the natural resource treasures of the area. In a unique alliance, Marin ranchers and environmentalists came together to fight the development proposals. Since its founding, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) has permanently preserved over 41,600 acres of farmland that might otherwise have been sold or developed.

Marin Organic was founded in 1997 by an association of farmers, ranchers, agriculture advisers and marketing experts to serve Marin County’s producers and consumers. As the primary link between farmers and eaters, Marin Organic is committed to promoting and supporting a sustainable, organic county – a county in which growers and the people who rely on them recognize their mutual interdependence. It is supported by the UC Cooperative Extension, Office of the Agricultural Commissioner, Marin County Board of Supervisors, Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Marin Food Policy Council, and consumers throughout the county. Through its School Lunch and Gleaning Program, Marin Organic connects its 41 organic farmers to over half of Marin’s schoolchildren. The “glean team” and youth leaders glean extra produce that would otherwise be left in the field and donate it underfunded schools.

On this tour, you will experience gleaning first-hand, visiting several Marin Organic farms and donating the produce to Novato Unified School District. You will visit some of the oldest, newest, and most prestigious farms in the Marin County foodshed, and meet local leaders working to create a thriving and equitable food system. Throughout the day, you will sample delectable cheeses, olive oils, and fresh organic produce, grown in this county that is emerging as a nationally recognized center of organic production and food justice activism.

Click here to download a Sample Itinerary

Participating Organizations/Farms/Businesses

• Marin Organic is an association of organic producers in Marin County whose livelihoods are based on a respect for nature and a sense of place. The Marin Organic School Lunch and Gleaning Program each week enables 10,000 students from over half of Marin’s schools to eat organic foods grown in Marin, while cultivating a strong connection to place.
• Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) has permanently protected nearly half of the farmland in Marin County.
• Star Route Farms is the oldest continuously certified organic grower in California, and the owner, Warren Weber, has long been active in the organic industry as a past president of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), co-founder of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), president of Marin Organic, and past vice-president of MALT.
• Since 1997, Cowgirl Creamery has been producing organic cheese in Point Reyes Station, CA, and supporting artisan cheesemakers throughout the U.S. and Europe.
• Allstar Organics is two acres of aromatic plants and antique roses and 10 acres of over one 150 varieties of certified organic, specialty and heirloom crops grown in Nicasio, Marin County, CA. halfway between San Francisco Bay and Pt. Reyes Station.
• Fresh Run Farm grows over 40 kinds of fruit, vegetables and flowers as well as chickens, goats and even a few alpacas.
• McEvoy Ranch is set in a spectacular valley along the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road. Rows of olive trees create a quilt-like pattern in countless shades of green that follow the soft contours of the rolling hills. Currently the Ranch consists of 16 orchards that include 18,000 trees.

What is gleaning? Click here to watch a video about Marin Organic’s Gleaning Program.

This trip is now closed. Please check back for future Food Justice Tours to Marin.

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Bay Area Food Justice Tours (Nov. 4 – 5, 2011) are brought to you by CFSC in partnership with Food Sovereignty Tours, a project of Food First/the Institute for Food and Development Policy.

For more information, contact Tanya at tkerssen@foodfirst.org or by phone at (510) 654-4400, ext. 223