News

Craig McNamara Receives the 2012 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award

On hundreds of farms and ranches across California, Craig is introducing a new generation to agriculture by providing hands-on training to aspiring farmers and thousands of school-age students.

On Craig’s Solano County walnut farm, the Center for Land-Based Learning is raising new crops of land stewards, in the hopes of averting an emerging crisis in California agriculture.

Golden State farmers are graying, and far too few young people are willing to step into a career beset by volatile prices, long hours and complex regulations. Craig, the center’s founder, fears that left alone, these trends could lead to a major sell-off of land within the next decades, threatening production in one of the world’s leading breadbaskets. The answer, he believes, lies in imaginative training and support for future farmers, as well as consumer education.

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Appointed President of the State Board of Food and Agriculture

“Governor Brown has made an excellent choice in appointing Craig McNamara as president of the board,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Craig is dedicated to the agricultural community of this state and will work tirelessly to ensure the sustainability of our food and farming system. California’s farmers and ranchers, along with our diverse stakeholder community, can have no better champion.”

The California State Board of Food and Agriculture advises the governor and secretary of food and agriculture of findings as they impact agriculture and consumer needs. The board conducts forums that bring together local, state, and federal government officials, agricultural representatives, and citizens to discuss current issues of concern to California agriculture.

- Western Farm Press
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Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future

“The report Sustaining California Agriculture in an Uncertain Future shows that California agriculture can flourish despite diminishing water supply and future uncertainty from climate change, but it will require great strides in increasing the water efficiency of the agricultural sector.

Many farmers and irrigation districts have already been making water-use efficiency improvements. Yet the analysis estimates that potential water savings of 4.5 - 6 million acre-feet each year can be achieved by expanding the use of efficient irrigation technologies and management practices. ”

Executive Summary (PDF)

Transcription of the extended interview with Craig McNamara (pdf)

- Pacific Institute
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Profile of Craig McNamara and Sierra Orchards

“As a farmer I think of myself first and foremost as a conservationist and environmentalist. Protecting our nation’s land, water and air resources are my most important goals. As a farmer, it is incumbent upon me to be an example for the rest of society. Therefore, it is natural that I would want to create educational and demonstration projects on our land.”

“Conservation has to be a critical part of what we’re doing on the farm and as citizens of California.”

“One of the greatest acknowledgements that we have received...came in the form of Conservation Security Program funding. This funding partially compensated us for the voluntary conservation efforts that we had undertaken on our farm over the past 20 years.”

- Pacific Institute
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Stewardship is all in a Day's Work in California's Countryside

"Today's youth are incredibly bright, incredibly open to new ideas and incredibly challenged," McNamara said. "Author Richard Louv coined the term 'nature deficit disorder' and it is occurring across our nation. Young people and many adults are disconnected from nature and have no idea where their food comes from."

“Sierra Orchards is an outdoor classroom where hundreds of students come each year to learn about sustainable farming practices. Like other farmers and ranchers across California, they are not only feeding the world but they are doing it in a way that helps this state remain productive and pristine.”

"Our students are our seeds," McNamara said. "They will be making decisions that will affect our future. That's why this investment is so important."

- California Country
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Response after Winning the Leopold Conservation Award

“Craig McNamara, owner of Sierra Orchards in Winters, says the Leopold Conservation Award that he received last year is the single most important recognition that his farming operation has received in its 28-year history.”

- California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF)
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Leopold Conservation Award

“This integrated, sustained approach is what really makes Craig stand out,” said A.G. Kawamura, California Secretary of Food & Agriculture. “We have many outstanding conservation farmers in the state, but few have dedicated themselves so wholeheartedly to conservation agriculture and the education of our youth."

- Sand County Foundation
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California Walnut Farmer Links Environmental Stewardship with Economic Success

“Craig McNamara's 450-acre Sierra Orchards is a diversified farming operation in Yolo County that demonstrates both stewardship and prosperity, integrating habitat conserving practices with bottom line results. His proactive investments have significantly enhanced the watershed on his land, improved water quality downstream and established thriving wildlife habitat. McNamara is also helping high school students become lifelong learners, overcome barriers to change, develop leadership skills and build greater human and social capital in their communities through the Center for Land-Based Learning (CLBL). Founded in 1993, the program reaches more than 2,000 California students annually, teaching them about sustainable agriculture first-hand.”

- California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF)
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2007 UC Davis Fall Convocation

“I fear that today our children are experiencing what has been termed a "nature deficit disorder." This occurs because of the disconnect between our food, our land and our people. Today our fellow Americans spend 95 percent of their time in houses, cars, malls and offices. We are becoming an indoor species. It is predicted that 25 percent of the next generation of children born in the U.S. will begin their lives in slums and never experience or visit the lands upon which their food is grown.”

- UC Davis News
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The Other Mr. McNamara

“For Craig, it’s the culmination of 30 years of pursuing his passions for agriculture, environmental protection and social justice. He talked with SN&R about his long journey from being a privileged son of D.C.'s political establishment to becoming a political activist, a farmer out of his depth, and ultimately a teacher. Craig also reflected on the ways American foreign policy drove him apart from his father and how the issue of U.S. military adventures abroad now have drawn the two men together again.”

- UC Davis News
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Wikipedia Profile

“Craig McNamara, born as Robert Craig McNamara, is the president and owner of Sierra Orchards, a diversified farming operation that includes field, processing, and marketing operations, producing primarily organic walnuts and olive oil. McNamara also serves as the founder and president of the Center for Land-Based Learning. The goal of this innovative program is to assist high school students in becoming lifelong learners, overcoming barriers to change, and building greater social and human capital in their communities. Craig McNamara is currently the president of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture.”

- Wikipedia
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