Fog blankets the rich earth of California's Salinas Valley during an early morning tour in the fields of Earthbound Farm. As we steer the truck onto a dirt path toward a swatch of lollo rosa lettuce, the sun pierces through the veil and ignites the field in a garnet glow. I bend down to inspect the tiny, ruffled red heads, and the leaves are so pristine and fresh that I can't resist popping one in my mouth.

Later that day, these leaves and millions of others will be incorporated into one of a dozen or so Earthbound Farm salad mixes and sent off to nearly 75 percent of the nation's supermarkets. While Earthbound Farm is now the largest grower of organic produce in America, the scene isn't that much different than it was 20 years ago. Then, Drew and Myra Goodman, founders of Earthbound Farm, would harvest, wash, and bag armfuls of baby organic lettuce from their backyard in Northern California's Carmel Valley each Sunday to keep in the refrigerator for convenient, healthful salads all week long. That simple practice by a busy, young couple has blossomed into a company that has changed the way America eats.

Roadside Entrepreneurs
The Goodmans were both raised in New York City. But as each grew up, the country beckoned. "I remember visiting relatives in upstate New York and eating tomatoes from the farmstand," Myra recalls, "and the calm and peace of nature."

After Drew graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Myra from the University of California at Berkeley, the couple rented a small house on a bit of land in the Carmel Valley. 'We negotiated free rent in return for fixing up the place,' Myra remembers, 'and harvested organic raspberries to sell by the roadside.'

They also began experimenting with specialty lettuces like tango, lollo rosa, and perella red, and soon had a cadre of local chefs as customers. But just when it seemed they had a list of steady clients, their biggest buyer moved away. That's when they decided to market their bagged salads to local consumers. They proved to be an instant hit. So the couple cast their net farther afield, and a month later, Real Foods in San Francisco placed a significant order. 'We sat up all night watching videos and bagging organic baby lettuce,' Drew says, 'and then it hit me sitting in city traffic on the way home from the next day's delivery that this was a ‘real business' now.'

Backyard Business Grows Up
By 1989, the Goodmans' backyard plot couldn't keep up with demand, and they decided it was time to make the leap to more acreage and a production facility. 'Myra and I are sort of like the tortoise and the hare,' Drew says. 'She's in a hurry to do things. I like to take my time. Being in the agriculture business is kind of like that, too. You wait and wait and wait for something to ripen, and then it's go, go, go.' First came the purchase of a 32-acre farm, a roadside stand on 60 acres, and a 9,000-square-foot production facility. But by 1995, booming demand by retailers like Costco, Safeway, and Albertsons meant Earthbound needed even more land.

For that, the Goodmans partnered with Mission Ranches, third-generation family farmers in the Salinas Valley, to shift several hundred acres of Mission's conventional farmland to organic. During the three 'transitional' years when crops must be grown organically but cannot yet be labeled as such, Mission Ranches learned from Earthbound. They were so impressed with the quality of the Goodmans' produce that they adopted some organic techniques for their conventional farming operations. 'One of the things we're most proud of is influencing conventional growers with the success we have with sustainable practices,' Drew says. In 1998, after the land had made the transition, Earthbound Farm was the largest producer of organic produce in the United States with some 5,800 acres under cultivation. Today, after another partnership in 1999 with Tanimura and Antle, another family-run farming company, Earthbound Farm produce is grown on 24,500 acres of certified organic farmland.

Companion Crops
Back in the fields, trumpet-shaped zucchini blossoms border the chard fields to distract pests from the main crop and rows of spinach are interspersed with cilantro and alyssum to attract hoverflies and lacewings, which feed on aphids and other harmful insects. Practices like this enable Earthbound Farm to grow quality produce without using pesticides. It's a large-scale lesson in back-yard companion planting.

The Goodmans believe everyone should be educated about the value of sustainable farming practices. At Eathbound's Farm Stand in Carmel Valley, kids learn about beneficial insects on an interactive Bug Walk, while their parents shop at the stand's new Organic Kitchen. One of only a handful of kitchens in America to be certified organic, its prepared foods like jalapeno-cilantro aioli and marinated chicken breasts aren't meant to be a profit center so much as a labor of love. 'Out motto is to make the organic choice viable for both the farmer and the consumer,' Drew says. "If [organic] isn't easy and it isn't good, people aren't going to choose it." By partnering with large conventional farms and breaking into mainstream distribution, Earthbound Farm is reaching more people--both in supermarket aisles and rows in the field.

With the success of Earthbound Farm, the Goodmans are busier than ever. But healthful eating remains a priority for their entire family, which includes Marea, 15, and Jeff, 12. Myra still washes and preps produce as soon as she gets it home; on weekends, she prepares extra pasta and big batches of pesto and soup to have on hand during the week. Drew and Myra still pick lettuce too--only now, like millions of other Americans, in a bag of Earthbound Farm salad from the produce shelf.

Would you like to use this article on your web site? E-mail Lia for licensing information.

print this article