The Jacobs family, from left: Julius, Ann, Rob and Halle

LIVING THE GOOD LIFE WITH ROB JACOBS

 
- Rob Jacobs, Contributing Writer

First off, I’m not the farmer in the family, that’s my brother.   But it’s our family business.  The production of food has an enormous impact on the health of the environment – probably the biggest impact in fact, and therefore it affects the health of individuals, thus communities, thus society, thus humanity.  Organic Farming builds healthy soils which in turn builds healthy plants which in turn builds healthy people.

I have an extraordinary wife, Ann Gentry, Gourmet Macrobiotic, Whole Foods Organic Vegan chef.   I met her while she had a little business delivering gourmet organic vegan cuisine to people at work.  I was spending so much money on her food that I decided to marry her.  Now we have two of the best organic vegan restaurants in the country, Real Food Daily. RFD’s mission is to raise the standards and expectations of vegetarian restaurants (I wrote that mission statement).  Since the first restaurant opened in 1993, I’d say we’ve achieved that goal.   RFD is committed to buying produce grown by local farmers and farming organically.    When Ann moved to L.A in 1988 she was expecting to find the mecca of natural food restaurants, but there were only a few, and all were “hippie-crunchy granola dives.  None were places business people or professional felt comfortable eating at and none of the food was very good.  In NYC where she lived for 10 years there were many restaurant like RFD, so she decided to open RFD and I backed her so I would have somewhere to eat.      I only recently started working for the family business, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo.   Ironically, not much of the produce we grow ends up at RFD, except when I bring home a trunk load of extra tomatoes or herbs.   RFD has local growers supplying the restaurants and JFDC grows in Santa Cruz and in Baja California.   Getting it to RFD happens sometimes, but again, either via the trunk of my car or through our distributors, if that happens to work out.  

At Jacobs Farm, the buildings are built out of rammed earth, sustainable building materials with solar heated greenhouses.  Farm labor housing is a real feather in their house for socially responsible business practices.

Ann and I have the two most beautiful and wonderful children in the world. Halle Elizabeth is turning 8 on June 15th and Julius Walker is turning 4 on June 15th.  Yes, they were born on the same day – like twins, just 4 years apart.  There’s a cosmic soul-mate story there, but that’s for another article.  Walker was born on father’s day four years ago, the best father’s day present ever.  

Halle loves picking and eating berries from her Dad's farm

My father was an environmentalist in the 1960’s.  Growing up we were often out there on the beach collecting signatures to support laws protecting the environment, stopping the Malibu Canyon Freeway (we won that one) and the Coastal Protection Act, which has helped slow development on California’s coast.    My dad got it in his blood while planting trees in northern Michigan for the Civil Conservation Corps during the depression of the 1930s.  But then spent 8 weeks in a foxhole in the rain in WW2 and swore he’d never go camping again.  But he took my brother backpacking with the Boy Scouts in the 60’s and fell in love with the High Sierras, where he took us every summer backpacking deep into the back country for days (weeks) at a time.  I’d have to say that was my personal connection to nature and the value of protecting it. Being in “the business,” eating healthy (or relatively) is just our lifestyle.  Our older daughter is now starting to realize that we eat different than most other families, but our little boy still has no idea.   Thus far I haven’t exposed them to much of the natural environment.  Their life is pretty urban, growing up in Santa Monica.  But we do get a lot of beach time in the summer and in Santa Cruz where my family resides, and Hawaii.   We’ve only made a few camping trips but once the little boy is out of diapers we’ll do more of that.  Recycling and eating a plant-based diet is a way of life and I’d say that’s the best thing an individual can do for the environment.

I eat what ever I feel like, but after 25 years in health and fitness (including 7 years at the Program Director of the Pritikin Longevity Center) my desires are for clean, plant-based cuisine.  The site of a steak or smell of a fast food joint makes me nauseous.   But the concept of “cheating” is not one I relate to.  If I really felt like a steak or something bovine and gross, I’d eat it.  I just don’t.   I’m not thrilled with my kids’ diet, but it is far better than most.  The amazing thing about kids is they are born with a very bland pallet.  They only build up an appeal for sweet, fatty, salty foods because the parents dump it on them.  I see these parents in the park giving their kids these disgusting things out of the ice cream truck and it breaks my heart.  Once they’ve had that a few times they do get addicted, just as a drug addict takes to the offerings of a drug pusher.  

Organic Farming builds healthy soils which in turn builds healthy plants which in turn builds healthy people

If we just fed our kids fruits and natural, un-processed foods, they’d be perfectly happy.   They love fruits and that satisfies their sweet tooth.   Having said all that, my kids have definitely been exposed.  Ann and I made the decision early on that we didn’t want to make our kids neurotic about food.  We didn’t want to exclude them from birthday parties and socializing (although the food I see at birthday parties and school functions turns me off).   My daughter actually finds some of those birthday cakes too sweet and doesn’t like them.  Same with some of the artificial ice creams, etc.    Our idea of an indulgence (a cheat if you want to call it that) would be Imagine Foods Rice Dream.  In fact, we just enjoyed a Mocca Moon Pie tonight.  My little boy just LOVES dried mangos, and that’s one of the foods my brother grows, so we have fantastic dried mangos.  Little Walker can’t get enough.   The kids eat Amy’s Kitchen Mac&Cheese (soy of course) and Tofu Lasagnas.  That’ also my idea of “cheating.”  Oh yes, and Veggie Burgers.  Put in a plug for Paul Wenner’s Garden Burgers – I’m missing Paul’s 60th birthday tonight because Ann is out of town on business!

The Kids do some gardening with Ann and they enjoy it.  I’m not much of a gardener.  Both love to cook, ESPECIALLY Walker, who has been flipping pancakes since he turned 3.  I have some fabulous photos of that.   They don’t really understand what I do, (I’m just in sales and marketing – does anyone understand that?!)  but they do love being on the herb farm in Pescadero, California. 

Walker flips a mean pancake

Our ideal family day: Riding bicycles and Razor Scoters to the farmer’s market.  Coming home with fresh berries and veggies.  Making smoothies and banana pancakes.  Building a fort in the driveway from left-over cardboard.  SWIMMING (both my kids have been swimming since they were infants).    Bed time stories….The beach…..