Point Reyes Light - December 5, 2002
Environmentalist-rancher Ellen Straus dies
By Larken Bradley
Marshall dairywoman and environmentalist Ellen Straus, matriarch of Straus Family Creamery’s innovative organic dairy and co-founder of Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), died Saturday, Nov. 30, in her Marshall home of brain cancer. She was 75.
Visionary activist
A visionary activist who maintained a belief in the viability of sustainable agriculture, Mrs. Straus’ love for West Marin fueled her with energy strong enough to beat developers off with a broom. Since 1980, when she and biologist Phyllis Faber founded MALT, the organization has acquired easements on 47 ranches and dairies covering 32,000 acres, nearly one-quarter of Marin County’s farmland.
MALT has grown to become a model program for other land trusts throughout the country.
Mrs. Straus was awakened to the importance of environmental stewardship after reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, while her children were young. Over the years she sat on the boards of directors of more than 10 environmental action groups. She was a key member of the coalition that led to the formation of Point Reyes National Seashore.
Possessed of a gift for building bridges between factions typically at one another’s throats, be it ranchers, environmentalists, or oyster growers, "she was incredibly good at finding a way of getting people to talk," noted her daughter Vivien Straus.
One of three children whose father was a diamond broker, Ellen Tizra Lotte Prins was born in Amsterdam, Holland, on Feb. 21, 1927. In 1940 her Jewish family fled the country for New York just ahead of the Nazi invasion. She graduated from Bard College, a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, with the intention of pursuing a career in medicine.
Inspired by pictures of a farm
A year after graduation she was introduced to Bill Straus, a German-Jewish immigrant whose family came to the US via Palestine. After a brief courtship the couple married in 1950 and began their life together on the Marshall farm Mr. Straus bought in 1941 which his bride fell in love with through photographs. After 52 years of marriage, "she was still on her honeymoon," her daughter said.
A supportive mother to her four children, "family came first, MALT second," her daughter laughed. Horrified by the suffering of her people under Hitler’s tyranny, "what she learned from the Holocaust is that you should never stand by," added Vivien Straus.
In 1994 the Straus dairy, free of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics, converted to become the first organic dairy west of the Mississippi. Albert Straus, the couple’s oldest son, opened the creamery to produce milk, cream, yogurt, cheese, and butter which homemaking maven Martha Stewart, labeled "extraordinary," the family noted.
Sue Conley, proprietor of Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes Station learned much about her craft from working at the Straus Family Creamery. Guided by Mrs. Straus in developing a business plan for her own fledgling creamery which uses Straus products, Conley said with fondness, the experience was like being with "Golda Meier trying to organize Israel."
Family agriculture
In her early conversations with ranchers, some of whose enterprises were on the brink of failing, "Ellen grew to understand what kept [family agriculture] from succeeding was the lack of certainty," said Faber. Noting that young people left farms in droves from fear of not being able to earn a living, Mrs. Straus felt it was understandable that ranchers were tempted to sell out to developers. Mrs. Straus believed it was fine to save the land, added Conley, and crucial that farms, dairies and ranches in turn become profitable.
"She was such an interesting combination of an optimist and a pragmatist," said Elisabeth Ptak, assistant director of MALT and Light columnist. "It was always the warmth of her personality that allowed her to connect with people."
A fun-loving woman, "food was a medium for her," observed Ptak. A visitor to the family home was always invited to sit down at the kitchen table covered with a red and white tablecloth and given something good to eat. "Ellen brought all of her wisdom to every board meeting.... She also brought a bundt cake," Ptak added.
Tolerant of others and even-handed in her dealings, Mrs. Straus also knew her own limits. In the confines of her family, "she had a tongue," observed Faber. With her children, "she had a set of standards and she didn’t bend on those standards."
"She was an open book," added her daughter. "She was who she was."
A talented artist, Mrs. Straus sculpted big-eyed folk-art cows, and painted them in psychedelic colors with geometric patterns adorning their full-figured udders. She also created watercolor landscapes.
In what little free time she had left, Mrs. Straus enjoyed watching reruns of Matlock and televised boxing matches. "Her chief ambition," noted her daughter, "was to help create peace in the Middle East." Given a little more time, she probably could have done it, friends remarked.
In 1996 Mrs. Straus was admitted to the Marin Women’s Hall of Fame. Two years later, the American Farmland Trust in Washington, DC, presented her with the annual Steward of the Land Award in recognition of her lifelong advocacy for family farms. In 2001 the White House declared her a "Points of Light" winner, in honor of a lifetime of volunteer service.
Mrs. Straus was predeceased by her brother, Geert Prins.
She is survived by her husband, Bill Straus; son and daughter-in-law, Albert and Jeanne Straus; and son Michael Straus, all of Marshall; daughter, Vivien Straus of Los Angeles; daughter and son-in-law, Miriam Straus and Alan Berkowitz, of Salt Point, New York; grandsons, Rubin Straus of Marshall; and Isaac, Jonah, and Eli Berkowitz, of Salt Point, New York; her sister, Anneke Prins Simons, of Jersey City, New Jersey; and 270 milking cows, all of Marshall.
The family has suggested that any memorial contributions be made to Marin Agricultural Land Trust, PO Box 809, Point Reyes Station, 94956.