NPEW 2018

Mark’s conviction that we needed to change our agriculture away from pesticide dependance and our diets back to a more natural one lead him to Good Earth Natural Foods where he has worked continually for the last 45 years. When Good Earth began in 1969 the concept of a Natural Food store was a new one and the number of organic farms in California could be counted on one hand. Good Earth became a leader in developing this new organic market. Good Earth’s early commitment to Organics led Mark to start working with the early pioneers of organic farming during the 80s helping to create CCOF which developed some of the first standards for organic farming, standards that still form the foundation of our National Organic program. During the 90s he served on the board of directors of OCIA which at that time was the largest organic certifier worldwide and which developed the first standards for organic processing. Good Earth was the hub of Marin's 2004 voter initiative which banned the cultivation of Genetically Grown Crops. Good Earth is proud to be in Marin County which has been a leader worldwide in developing sustainable solutions, and was an active proponent for Marin Clean Energy, California’s first Community Choice Aggregation power system. Mark served on the Board of the Non-GMO Project for the last 10 years and is a current board member of The Organic Trade Association.