MARIN COUNTY AGRICULTURE

With the exception of cattle, 100% of Marin County's agriculture is organic. But the cattle farms are also moving in the right direction. Some of them are downsizing their herds and focusing on quality rather than quantity. Marin is home to the Straus Family Creamery, one of the first American dairies to go organic.

About Straus Family Creamery

"no pesticides, antibiotics, or hormones"

We are a small, family-owned dairy farm nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of western Marin County, just north of San Francisco. We have been farming here for over 50 years. We consider ourselves both farmers and stewards of the land. We are deeply committed to:

• producing milk and dairy products that are organic and healthful for the general public, and
• developing sustainable, environmentally sound practices in farming.

We raise our cows without use of any synthetic substances to deliver to our customers the highest quality product and the healthiest. Our products are certified organic. Our milk is so rich and fresh-tasting that it is a surprise for most folks to taste. Our butter, cream, and cheeses are wonderfully tasty - we've won gold the Los Angeles County Fair, The American Cheese Society and the California State Fair as well as being named the best butter in America by House and Garden and called "extraordinary" by Martha Stewart who has featured our dairy and creamery on her show!

Organic farmers and conventional farmers that want to go organic get help from Marin Organic.

The fertile valleys and lush grassy hills of Marin County have been home to thriving family farms and dairies for well over a century. Over the past fifty years, however, Marin has lost a significant number of its small farming operations to stiff economic competition from industrial-scale agriculture.

In response to this development, in 1999, a group of visionary farmers and ranchers formed Marin Organic, an organization dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture and creating a model program to keep farming in Marin County alive.

Today, Marin Organic is an integral part of the agricultural and educational landscape in Marin County, and has become an essential link between organic farmers and consumers throughout Marin.

Farmland is protected from urban sprawl by the Marin Agricultural Land Trust.

Marin Agricultural Land Trust
Our Mission

Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) was the first land trust in the United States to focus on farmland preservation. Founded in 1980 by a coalition of ranchers and environmentalists to preserve farmland in Marin County, California, MALT acquires agricultural conservation easements on farmland in voluntary transactions with landowners. MALT also encourages public policies that support and enhance agriculture. It is a model for agricultural land preservation efforts across the nation. MALT has so far permanently protected 35,000 acres of land on 53 family farms and ranches.

Marin also has a very strong anti-GMO campaign , which is run out of The Good Earth, an organic products store in Fairfax.

If all this can be done in Marin County, then I don't see why it can't be done in the rest of the country.