Myra Goodman’s Bio

Myra Goodman is a pioneer in the world of organic food and farming. She and her husband Drew founded Earthbound Farm on a two-and-a-half acre backyard garden in Carmel Valley, California in 1984. Both were recent college graduates, “city kids” from Manhattan, who became self-taught farmers who intuitively resisted handling agricultural chemicals.

Earthbound Farm was the first company to successfully package pre-washed salads for retail sale in 1986, and they have been credited with popularizing spring mix salads nationwide. The company grew from humble beginnings to become the largest grower of organic produce in the world.

The Goodmans’ biography is included in the American Enterprise exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History for their role in bringing organic food to the mainstream. They were inducted into the Social Venture Network Hall of Fame as Environmental Evangelists, and were recognized with the Organic Trade Association’s Organic Leadership Award and Global Green USA’s Corporate Environmental Leadership Award. Myra was one of four farmers chosen by the James Beard Foundation and U.S. Department of State to represent the United States in a prominent “conversations” video at the entrance to the U.S. pavilion at the 2015 World’s Fair in Milan.

Myra has appeared on top national television shows, including “Oprah” (for inventing packaged salads), “Regis & Kelly” (as the organic expert during “Green Week,” with Donald Trump as co-host), and “Good Morning America Health.”  She has been featured in hundreds of publications, including People magazine, the Costco Connection, More, Forbes, The New York Times, and AARP, and has appeared on dozens of radio shows, including NPR’s All Things Considered. She has been a keynote speaker at many events, and gave a talk at TEDx Manhattan called, “In Praise of Big Organic.”  

Myra is the author of three cookbooks: Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook, The Earthbound Cook: 250 Recipes for Delicious Food and a Healthy Planet; and Straight from the Earth: 100 Irresistible Vegan Recipes for Everyone, written in collaboration with her daughter, Marea. 

Myra graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, where she earned a degree in the Political Economy of Industrial Societies. She also has an honorary doctorate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

Myra and Drew have two grown children. They still live on their original farm in Carmel Valley with their two dogs, Henry and Leo.

Selected Media