Food Supply

Point Reyes was the birthplace of the California dairy industry, and for many years, Marin was the leading agricultural county in the state. Today two hundred farms and ranches on 168,000 acres employ 1,400 people and generate more than $53 million in gross revenues per year. Most of these businesses have been in the same families for three or four generations.

Currently they provide 20% of the Bay Area's milk supply in addition to other fresh, healthy, high-quality dairy products, plus meat, shellfish, and organic crops produced for local markets with virtually no pesticides or manufactured fertilizers.

The Straus family of Marshall became the first organic dairy west of the Mississippi in 1994. It now produces 3 million gallons of milk a year which are processed into retail products or sold in bulk. This year they began producing organic ice cream!

In 2000, the Robert Giacomini family of Point Reyes Station began making California's first blue cheese; it's one of only a few "table" blue cheeses made in the United States.

Beyond the direct value of these products, the infrastructure required to produce them also contributes millions of dollars every year to the local economy. Each dairy, for example, spends up to half or more of its gross revenue on supplemental feed, much of which is provided by locally based suppliers.

If you value this land and Marin's rural heritage, if you share our belief that the preservation of family farms and agricultural lands for local food production, open space, and wildlife habitat benefits all of us, you can play a vital role in safeguarding these resources. The producers survive and thrive only if we support them. Please tour this website or call us at 415-663-1158 for more information.

For a list of Marin farms and producers, go to the Grown in Marin website.