West Marin is famous for the idyllic beauty of its rolling hills and long panoramic landscapes, occasionally dotted with farm buildings.

The land, with its rich pasture, is ideal for dairy farming, unlike the area further south, which is covered with chaparral or farther north, which is forested.

Outside West Marin’s small towns and villages, urban life does not spread along the highway gradually petering out to a country scene. This is not a happy accident rather the result of hard work by hundreds of environmentalists who battled developers and legislators tooth and nail.

In 1962 President John F. Kennedy authorized the establishment of Point Reyes National Seashore, 53,000 acres along the Pacific coast. This land included thousands of acres of farmland. It was, however, crucial to West Marin farming that the farms within the park continue to operate because dairy farms require a certain minimum number of active farms in an area to remain economically viable. If the number of dairy farms drops below that minimum it is no longer profitable to collect milk and service the farms. As a result, the farms within the park were sold to the government and then leased back to their previous owners.

A movement was started to further protect the remaining Marin farmland by restricting its development. The first step, in 1972, was the introduction of a new zoning ordinance, A-60 whereby agricultural land could not be divided into parcels smaller than sixty acres and only one residence could be built on each parcel.
It was a great start to protect open space in Marin but there was still the possibility of farmers selling their land for “ranchettes.” These do not live comfortably next to real farms which create dust, smells and flies, not acceptable daily problems for a gentleman farmer. They also tend to raise the price of land beyond the reach of farmers. This would lead to the gradual breakdown of the agricultural community.

There had to be a permanent solution. There were too many farms for the local government to buy in Marin county. Besides many farmers did not like the idea of giving up ownership of their land. A local rancher, Ellen Straus, and Phyllis Faber, a biologist, proposed creating an agricultural land trust that would buy up the development rights of farms. The farmer would receive cash to invest in their farm, buy more land, take care of estate taxes or pay out siblings for their share in the farm. The land would be safe from developers even if it were sold in the future. In 1980 the Marin Agricultural Land Trust was formed. It is an alliance of ranchers, political leaders and environmentalists. They have to date acquired agricultural conservation easements on 39 Marin farms and ranches totalling more than 26,000 acres. These easements protect over 20% of all privately owned agricultural land in the county!

The ranches within the Point Reyes National Seashore have both individual names and historical names that are designated by a letter of the alphabet. This system was devised during the partnership of Charles Howard and James and Oscar Shafter in 1869 as a way to keep track of their numerous holdings.

Marin produces 25% of the milk for the Bay Area. Its pastures are considered among the most productive in the U.S., three times more productive than the California average. It takes only six acres of land on the West Marin coast to support a cow and her calf. In the Central Valley, it may take as much as twenty acres of range.

Organic Gourmet Foods in West Marm

The Straus Family Creamery is a pioneer dairy farm and creamery. Bill Straus began farming in 1941 with 23 cows named after his friends and relatives. As the years continued, the farm grew. Along the way a strong commitment to environmental sustainability guided decisions made on the farm. Bill’s wife, Ellen, was one of the architects of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust(MALT), which buys the development rights of farms. In 1994 the farm, led by Albert, Bill and Ellen’s oldest son, became the first certified organic dairy west of the Mississippi. It took three years for the land on their 660-acre farm to be certified. After obtaining this designation, their herd of cattle had to be fed organic grain for a year before their milk could be sold as organic. They keep the herd small to maintain the health of both the cows and the land. Straus milk is sold in glass bottles which are reused by the creamery an average of eight times. The milk is not homogenized so the cream floats naturally to the top. Shake the milk before pouring or follow our routine of skimming off the cream for our coffee in the morning. Their milk is pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria. They use no sprays, pesticides or chemical fertilizers and their cows are never treated with hormones or genetic growth factors to increase milk production. The Straus Family Creamery sells milk, yogurt, butter and cheese throughout California.

More than twenty years ago Warren Weber bought 100 acres of land just outside Bolinas. He turned it into an organic farm, Star Route Farms. He grows organic greens and vegetables next to a public school. Organic farms can be safely located next to towns. Other organic farms have sprung up, like Peter Martinelli’s Paradise Valley Ranch, which his family have owned for 65 years. Peter has 18 acres under cultivation and produces a wide variety of organically grown vegetables, fruit and flowers which he markets under the Fresh Run Farm name. “When I need help, I try and find aspiring career farmers who want to learn and deal with all the problems, stresses and satisfaction of organic farming,” said Peter.

Tomales Bay Foods, run by food maven Sue Conley, and Indian Peach Food Company, run by Kim Leboe, is in a renovated barn in Point Reyes Station. Part of the operation is the Cowgirl Creamery, which makes various organic cheeses, creme fraiche, quark and ice cream. Tomales Bay Foods celebrates the extraordinary quality of foods grown in West Marin. Many speciality organic producers market their products through the store, which sells both fresh produce and perfectly cooked and seasoned food using local ingredients. It’s a win-win situation. The farmer has a market and the store provides food creations based on the freshest and healthiest ingredients.

It’s a strangely moving experience to taste local food. When you love the food you’re getting from farms and sea, you want to help protect the bio-systems from pollution or development. Richard swears that he can taste the same flavor in a Tomales Bay oyster that he tastes when swimming in Tomales Bay. In many parts of the country, people have lost this farm-to-table connection.

© copyright Kathleen Goodwin