Over 850 Organic Apple Trees donated to Marin Organic Producers!

Over 850 heirloom, organic apple trees were donated to 25 Marin Organic Producers! The trees are donated to us by the Starwood Hotel Group, which worked with our former Executive Director Helge Hellberg as a Organic Food and Sustainability Consultant. Per Helge's suggestion, Starwood honored Marin Organic and all its Producer Members for their dedication to local organic agriculture, and in particular recognizing the Marin Organic School Lunch and Gleaning Program as a remarkable and innovative approach to addressing today's challenges. Depending on variety and weather, these trees should produce between 150-200+ lbs of heirloom apples each season once in full production (year 5-6), which should amount to 450 - 600 apples per tree! Starwood Hotel Group encouraged our growers to make a portion of their annual apple harvest available to the Marin Organic School Lunch and Gleaning Program. How about them apples!

To read more about the apple trees check out the Huffington Post's article by Annie Speigelman - "Starwood Hotels and Resorts Donates 2300 Organic Apple Trees to Bay Area Schools."

Marin Organic Producer Members Feed President Obama

What’s on the menu for President Obama’s fundraising supper in San Francisco this evening? Fresh and local produce, cheese and dairy from our very own Marin Organic Producers!

The President will be dining on tortelloni filled with Barinaga Ranch Baserri cheese and wild nettle and, for dessert, enjoy a chocolate cemeux with Straus Family Creamery milk jam and chocolate caramel dentelle. Vegetables sourced from Marin Roots Farm and La Tercera Farm will also be featured in the dishes.

Read more about the scrumptious affair on Inside Scoop SF.

Marin Organic Producers Add Value to Their Small Farms

Though large agribusiness may have a grasp on the market, smaller farmers and food producers are carving out a new way of growing, making and selling in-demand products. We’re proud to say that leading this movement are a few Marin Organic Producers who are boosting the economy of small agricultural businesses through premium, handmade offerings.

Their financial success is a result of “adding value and bringing a handmade aesthetic to the crops they nurture,” reports blogger Karen Brown, who recently wrote about Marin Organic Producer members Nicasio Valley Cheese Company and AllStar Organics. After rethinking and infusing creativity into their operations, both producers found a way to provide delicious and profitable artisan products.

To read about the journey of the Lafranchi Family (Nicasio Valley Cheese Company) and husband-and-wife team Marty Jacobson and Janet Brown (AllStar Organics), check out Karen’s great article “Adding Value to Small Farms,” which originally appeared on Etsy.com.

Sasha Fedulow

Marin Organic Business Member Manager

Marin Organic & The Heart of Marin

It's just a few days into the new year, and already Marin Organic is earning accolades! Below was in my inbox on Friday:

Greetings Marin Organic Producers, and Happy New Year!

We have exciting news to share with you! Yesterday Marin Organic was named the recipient of the Excellence in Innovation award at the 19th Annual Heart of Marin event. The recognition was for our work gleaning food for schools and resource centers, as well educating local children about sustainable agriculture on Marin Organic farms. More than 750 people were present, including many of our wonderful nonprofit friends, local businesses, and government officials. It was an honor just to be nominated by Bank of Marin, and humbling to be selected amongst so many other wonderful organizations.

This award was made possible by you, our members. So many of you open your hearts and fields to this good work, donating precious healthy food to the underserved, and graciously allowing groups of children to dig in your soil and nibble on your harvest. We are so grateful for all that you do (160,000 lbs. donated to date!), and appreciative of the many people that have forged this path for Marin Organic over the past decade.

We have a lot more to share with you in this New Year – including upcoming workshops, a Farm Bill event with Ken Cook of EWG (Environmental Working Group), the unveiling of our new Supporting Business program and Friends Loyalty card, and expansion of our school lunch program via Sow a Row for Schools.

So many exciting developments, and the year has just begun - here's to a great 2012!

Sincerely Yours,

Adrienne and the Marin Organic crew

Adrienne Baumann
Executive Director Marin Organic
P.O. Box 962
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956

The Marin Organic team wants to convey our sincere gratitude to all Marin Organic's supporters, partners, and predecessors. With you, and the power of your gleaning hands, your donations, your thoughtfulness, your volunteer time in the office, your sponsorships, your creativity, and your encouragement, we are now giving 14,000 Marin school children access to local, organic food every week. We are bringing hundreds of kids to local organic farms for hands-on learning each year, and on top of all that, we are donating thousands of pounds of great organic food to Marin's neediest families and kids!

As Bank of Marin put it:

"Gleaning is an age-old concept... Marin Organic’s innovation is in harnessing the wisdom of this ancient tradition and effectively re-introducing it as a truly novel concept and practice, because it serves everyone reliant upon Marin’s food system."

For more about Marin Organic's Heart of Marin Excellence in Innovation award, click here. To donate to Marin Organic, or for ways to get involved, please visit us online or give us a call at 415.663.9667.

It’s A New Year!

Happy 2012! We here at Marin Organic hope that you had a wonderful Holiday Season! We're looking forward to deepening our work with the community, and continuing to bring fresh, locally grown organic food to everyone!

The Value of Heirloom Seeds

The above is a picture depicting the reduction in genetic variety amongst some popular types of crops grown. What a difference a century makes! This year, give someone on your list the gift of heirloom seeds!

Changing Seasons, Consistent Goals

Two Ways of Moving Produce

The weather has shifted in Marin county, and whereas we enjoyed a nice, extended Indian Summer, it is now certainly about to become a full-fledged winter. For those not familiar with the area, this will not mean snow and hard freezes, but rather rain. Lots, and lots of rain. And that's a good thing, because it gives us great green grass, and allows the aquifers to refill.

Many of lour local farmers have reacted accordingly, and what's available from the field has shifted. There are still a few people out there with apples on the tree, but I'm seeing more persimmons now. Kale and chard are still pretty common, and I still see some squash hanging on. One of the great things about being in such an agriculturally productive county is the abundance of seasonal foods. Celebrating the change in seasons and weather with new food is a joy that some people have forgotten about completely. It's easy to take food for granted, but when one eats with the seasons a new appreciation for subtleties of flavor and texture is cultivated with every bite.

A lot of the food that Marin produces is taken to market in the back of trucks. Sadly, we all can't make it out to the farms, and even if we could, I don't think all the farmers would be overjoyed with the increased traffic. You might have seen the Marin Organic truck on the road around the county, and undoubtedly it had some local produce in the back. We cover a lot of miles in that rig, and recently got some new tires. So rest assured, the Red Chard Rocket has some new shoes and will still be delivering good, locally produced, organic food all across Marin!

In other news, Marin Organic recently celebrated the end of the year with one of our valued partners, Marin Agricultural Land Trust. The open house was held at The Dance Palace in Pt. Reyes Station, and I'd like to think a good time was had by all. It's not every day that a congregation of farmers, fans, and others all get together under one roof! Of course we featured local products, because that's what we're all about. Not only were local edibles on display, but also local music!