Highlight on Santa Barbara County

Each monthly piece presented by CAFF seeks to bring you, the reader, closer to the food that you eat. One of the best ways to do this is by having samples, but since we can’t do that, this Highlight on Santa Barbara County in California will have to do! Bon Appetito!

The peace sign adorning the barn at Classic Organics farm in Santa Barbara County, hints at Helmut Klauer’s personal history as farmer: he first learned about commercial agriculture on a commune in the county. Today, he tends to his five acres in Gaviota, where he grows organic fruit and vegetable crops and utilizes ten acres for rotational purposes. In addition to these fruits of the harvest, the farm also has chickens for eggs. Helmut’s wife, Kathryn Lamat, works on the farm when she’s not too busy at her day job as an attorney. They both were drawn to the fertile soils and historical agricultural significance of the county and its bounty.

The Mediterranean climate of Santa Barbara, which gives the county its nickname as “the American Riviera,” provides for a year-round growing season. The county, characterized by the east-west dividing range of the Santa Ynez Mountains, and the cool coastal winds blowing off the Pacific, is home to a diversity of agricultural microclimates. Santa Barbara County’s history from 1830 to 1865 is known as “the Rancho Period,” and gives a clue that the land was once dominated by cattle ranches. When large ranches began to break up as the Rancho Period drew to a close, the area’s fertile soil was transitioned into orchards, vineyards, and row crops. The county is currently home to just over 1,400 farming operations whose top agricultural products include strawberries, citrus, lettuce and avocadoes on larger farms and includes smaller, diversified farms as well.

Agriculture sprouts life and grows communities. Some even argue that without agriculture there is no culture. The people of Santa Barbara have a great tradition of celebrating the local bounty and diversity of the county’s food and agricultural abundance. Founded in 1983, the Santa Barbara Certified Farmers’ Market Association  hosts seven, year-round markets’ six days a week. The Saturday morning farmers’ market in downtown Santa Barbara, founded in the 1970s, is especially popular. It draws growers from across the county and beyond, who in turn, attract thousands of customers hungry for a wide variety of fresh seasonal produce and interaction with the people who grow the food they love.