For Marty the call to action occurred when she saw the elementary school lunches being offered to her twin girls. The lunches were comprised of pre-packaged, industrial food with almost no fresh fruits and vegetables and these lunches generated a large quantity trash, especially from the use of styrofoam. Her background as a scientist in delicate island environments taught her to look for the connections between how we live and how we impact the world around us. She couldn’t understand how in a region filled with plentiful agricultural production year-round, that some of the local fruits and vegetables couldn’t find their way to the school lunch program. In 2003, together with Jim Churchill and Steve Fields, she convinced the Ojai Unified School District to bring some local produce to the school lunch program with the initiation of the first "Salad Bar Thursdays" at Topa Topa Elementary School. Marty was quick to point out that the students' experience of making their own salads was similar to a "weekly lab" (She was first and foremost a scientist and loved the teachable moments) where students could try new foods and learn the joy of eating fruits and vegetables in season.
Marty's vision was to help students and families understand that food, health and society are intricately connected and "Salad Bar Thursdays" were just the beginning. The Food for Thought executive team brought together a group of passionate professionals who created a farm-to-school program that to this day is unique and comprehensive. The Food for Thought program incorporates Nutrition Education, Agricultural Literacy, Garden-based Learning, Waste Awareness and Green and Healthy Schools. Marty also realized that a key component is Community Awareness so that the message, experiences and vision needed to be shared with the broader community. Marty was proud of the work completed through the partnership of Ojai Unified School District and Food for Thought although she felt there is still a great deal of work ahead in Ojai and throughout the country. As a result, she was eager to share the Food for Thought model with other communities, organizations and school districts looking to explore the Farm-to-School movement.
We are dedicated to continuing the work for which Food for Thought has become known.
Quotes “To say that Marty was a dynamo is an understatement. She was a force of nature. She was driven and so much of what has been accomplished has been through her will power. We has greatly enriched the lives of all of the students of the Ojai Unified School District and the greater Ojai community. We will miss her and we must continue the work to make her vision a reality.” -Steve Fields, co-founder of Food For Thought and OUSD School Board Member
"Marty was a force. She would get people fired up, bring all kinds of people together - from musicians to scientists, from artists to teachers, from kids to custodians - and get everyone working together to make a difference. I am honored to have worked with Marty and Food for Thought Ojai to make a difference in greening the Ojai schools and helping make a healthier future for all of our kids." -Deborah Moore, Executive Director, Green Schools Initiative, and advisor to FFT and OUSD on the Wastestream and Green Schools projects
"For those who didn’t have the pleasure of knowing her, Marty Fujita was one of a kind.. She was a passionate voice for the environment at the Ventura County Ag Futures Alliance. She had the unique ability to be both a tornado of concern and a ray of sunshine at the same time.Marty’s voice may have been silenced, but it will echo in the minds and hearts of those who had the privilege of working alongside her." -Chris Sayer, Farmer, Writer, Friend,Ventura County Ag. Futures Alliance.
-Steve Sprinkel, Farmer It's impossible for me to think, much less write, about Marty Fujita without feeling a sense of profound humility. As an individual, not a historian, I can only speak about the ways in which she inspired me and those are legion. Over the past several years, I often found myself conducting an inner dialogue that asked the question, "What would Marty say or think about that?" Like most visionaries, she saw, in a blade of grass, or, in her bête noire, the plastic bag, the big picture. Her take-no-prisoners uncompromising commitment to excellence, intellectual rigor and boundless energy set a standard, and I truly believe that the fate of the planet rests in our collective effort to follow her lead. It was an honor to work with Marty, to publish her writing, and to share her vast knowledge about so many issues. She made the world a better place for all of us and I feel her loss acutely. -Jane Handel, Editor and Co-Publisher Edible Ojai
Marty Fujita possessed a clarity and a largeness of vision that few are blessed, or cursed, with. A scientist by training, she combined vision with a strong moral sense that it was important to act on her knowledge, and she plunged right in. She saw the connections between the practices of industrial agriculture, degradation of the environment, and the American diet as clearly as most of us see the connection between a bat hitting a ball and the ball moving out. She couldn't stand what she saw and she was determined to do something about it. -Jim Churchill, Farmer, Co-Founder of Food for Thought
"Whenever, wherever I met up with Marty, be it at a school site, soccer field, board room, her passion, intelligence and dedication were in evidence. Marty came to Ojai and made her dream a reality. It's not finished to her satisfaction but that is one of her legacies... the opportunity to help complete it. Marty seemed to have the rare combination of great vision and attention to detail too. No wonder she made so much happen. I am grateful to have known her and will miss her presence in our lives." -Rikki Horne, Ojai Unified School District Board Member
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