California dairy named recipient of Leopold Conservation Award
December 19, 2013
[caption id="attachment_6839" align="alignright" width="199"]
Photo: Paolo Vescia[/caption]
Sand County Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation are proud to announce Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company as the recipient of the prestigious 2013 California Leopold Conservation Award. The award honors private landowner achievement in the voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources.
Bob Giacomini and his four daughters own and operate Robert Giacomini Dairy and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company in coastal Marin County, where the family began milking cows in 1959.
Bob and daughters Karen, Diana, Lynn and Jill produce Point Reyes Farmstead cheeses and operate The Fork, a culinary center focused on education and entertainment for visitors to the farm. As exemplary stewards of the land, they are dedicated to sustainable farming practices and humane animal care.
“The Giacomini family is a shining example of how landowners in California can have a huge impact on healthy landscapes, clean waterways and a clean-energy future,” said Ashley Boren, Executive Director of Sustainable Conservation. “Rotational grazing of their cows keeps soils healthy and helps prevent harmful erosion into Tomales Bay, and their methane digester converts cow manure into clean, renewable energy that powers their dairy and cheese facility.”
“Responsible care for our land and other natural resources has allowed California farmers and ranchers to sustainably produce the food and farm products we all depend upon,” California Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger said. “The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes outstanding examples of the stewardship that family farmers and ranchers perform every day.”
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.”
The Leopold Conservation Award program inspires other landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders.
The 2013 California Leopold Conservation Award will be presented December 9 at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Monterey. Each finalist will be recognized at the event, and the award recipient will be presented with a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold and a check for $10,000.
The California Leopold Conservation Award is made possible thanks to generous contributions from many organizations, including The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and American Ag Credit.
For more information, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org
Photo: Paolo Vescia[/caption]Sand County Foundation, the California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation are proud to announce Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company as the recipient of the prestigious 2013 California Leopold Conservation Award. The award honors private landowner achievement in the voluntary stewardship and management of natural resources.
Bob Giacomini and his four daughters own and operate Robert Giacomini Dairy and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company in coastal Marin County, where the family began milking cows in 1959.
Bob and daughters Karen, Diana, Lynn and Jill produce Point Reyes Farmstead cheeses and operate The Fork, a culinary center focused on education and entertainment for visitors to the farm. As exemplary stewards of the land, they are dedicated to sustainable farming practices and humane animal care.
“The Giacomini family is a shining example of how landowners in California can have a huge impact on healthy landscapes, clean waterways and a clean-energy future,” said Ashley Boren, Executive Director of Sustainable Conservation. “Rotational grazing of their cows keeps soils healthy and helps prevent harmful erosion into Tomales Bay, and their methane digester converts cow manure into clean, renewable energy that powers their dairy and cheese facility.”
“Responsible care for our land and other natural resources has allowed California farmers and ranchers to sustainably produce the food and farm products we all depend upon,” California Farm Bureau President Paul Wenger said. “The Leopold Conservation Award recognizes outstanding examples of the stewardship that family farmers and ranchers perform every day.”
Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. In his influential 1949 book, A Sand County Almanac, Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.”
The Leopold Conservation Award program inspires other landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders.
The 2013 California Leopold Conservation Award will be presented December 9 at the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Annual Meeting in Monterey. Each finalist will be recognized at the event, and the award recipient will be presented with a crystal depicting Aldo Leopold and a check for $10,000.
The California Leopold Conservation Award is made possible thanks to generous contributions from many organizations, including The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and American Ag Credit.
For more information, visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org