Marin Farm Families: Stories & Recipes
Janet Brown
A little book about diversity, adversity, tenaciousness, extraordinary devotion & FOOD!
Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) and the Marin County Community Development Agency launched Marin Farm Families—Stories & Recipes at the Marin County Fair and at the Point Reyes Farmers’ Market in July.
The book includes profiles of 22 people whose lives revolve around the rhythms and tempos of Marin agriculture. Some are ranchers with thousands of acres of land and a legacy spanning three or four generations; some are first generation growers leasing land and making their own history, one day at a time.
Recipes include those created by food professionals like Gerald Gass of McEvoy Ranch and Amy Nathan Weber of Star Route Farms, as well as plain and fancy treasures from the kitchens of Marin's farming families. The ingredients sometimes come straight from the field, like David Little's “Pouch Potatoes,” or from the pantry, like “Mamma Grossi’s Bread Soup.”
Marin Farm Families was conceived as a creative footnote to the Marin Countywide Plan, to showcase the importance of agriculture to the County, and to support the efforts of Marin agricultural organizations, including Marin Agricultural Land Trust and others who work in partnership with farming families on issues of conservation, marketing, education, and natural resource restoration.
“The Marin Countywide Plan builds on a long legacy of creative collaboration between agricultural and environmental interests,” notes Alex Hinds, who is the Director of the Marin County Community Development Agency. “This book carries that tradition one step farther by celebrating the farm families themselves.”
The book can be purchased at: Pt. Reyes Books, Cowgirl Creamery, and Toby’s Feed Barn in Pt. Reyes Station; Bellwether and Drakes Bay Oysters in Inverness; Point Reyes National Seashore Visitor Center in Olema; United Markets, Whole Foods, and Border's Books in San Rafael; Comforts Restaurant in San Anselmo; and Woodland Market in Kentfield. - Elizabeth Ptak