As
the second generation of pioneering organic dairy farmers and
creamery operators in California's West Marin County, Albert
Straus and his sister Vivien decided that adapting their family's
remarkable story on screen would take a producer with an unusual
skill set. Bob and Jane Fleck in Los Angeles were their first
choice.
The
senior Straus's had barely escaped the Nazi takeover of
Europe when they came to California's lush north coast.
Ellen had been headed for a career in medicine before
she was wooed by Bill Straus. Her sharp, inquiring intelligence
never left her. Years later, when runaway suburban sprawl
threatened to obliterate her beloved West Marin hillsides,
she simply and courageously began to organize her neighbors
into a strikingly original political group -- MALT. It
took off.
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Today,
the Marin
Agricultural Trust now has borne the fruits of Ellen's
creative vision. Because of Ellen's fierce affection for
her pastures, thousands of acres in West Marin County have
been preserved for future generations through an innovative
land trust that works financially for both farmers and local
government.
As a creative
collaboration, working with the Straus's has been truly rewarding.
And Albert's ice cream is so good, it qualifies as a mystical
experience. |
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