Frank Ford (farmer)
Encyclopedia
Jesse Frank Ford, known as Frank Ford (born ca. 1933), was a Texas
farmer
and health-foods advocate who in 1960 founded Arrowhead Mills
, the largest natural foods wholesale
r in the United States
. The company is based in Hereford
, the seat of Deaf Smith County west of Amarillo
in the Texas Panhandle
. Arrowhead Mills removes impurities from corn
and wheat
and farms without pesticide
s.
in Hereford. He graduated in 1955 from Texas A&M University
in College Station
with a bachelor of science
degree in agronomy
. He was commander of the TAMU Corps of Cadets
and was active in the Campus Crusade for Christ
and its related Athletes in Action
. Himself nondenominational, Ford is a supporter of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
and advocates a "less-is-more" approach to living and spirituality
.
Ford sought to provide large-scale stone grinding of grain and to maintain natural soil nutrition. He took the view that all farming should first maintain and then improve the soil. He served as chairman of the trade association
, the National Nutritional Food Association. During the formative years of Arrowhead Mills, Ford personally did most of the growing, grinding, sacking, trucking, warehousing, shipping, and bookkeeping
. Slowly, the investment of time, money, and energy began to pay dividends from the increased national awareness of organic foods and sound nutrition
. Ford also was an advertising
spokesman for the natural food industry during the 1960s and 1970s.
Ford said that he is convinced that "the natural-foods movement is [not] over the hill at all. In fact, I think it's just coming into its own. The rest of the country is finally beginning to realize that we have to conserve our resources and utilize them correctly . . . that whole foods are best and natural growing methods are really the most efficient."
He has helped to formulate plans for sewage
recycling projects. In the 1980s, he led the opposition to an attempt by the United States Department of Energy
to locate a controversial nuclear waste site in Deaf Smith County, an action which Ford claims would have imperiled Arrowhead Mills as well as the pivotal Ogallala Aquifer
, the source of most West Texas
water
. The site was instead located at Yucca Mountain
in Nevada
.
of Melville, New York
, which maintains its public relations office in Boulder, Colorado
. Arrowhead offers 220 items.
He thereafter retired to Irvine
, in Orange County
in southern California
. In 2008, he filed as a Democratic
candidate for the District 49 seat in the United States House of Representatives
to oppose the conservative Republican
incumbent
Darrell Issa
of Vista
in northern San Diego County
. Ford withdrew from the primary because of health considerations. Issa defeated Democrat Robert "Bob" Hamilton of Fallbrook
, also in San Diego County, in the November 4 general election
.
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
and health-foods advocate who in 1960 founded Arrowhead Mills
Arrowhead Mills
Arrowhead Mills is a brand of organic baking mixes, grains, cereals, and nut butters. The brand is owned Hain Celestial Group since 1999. Its consumer affairs department is based in Boulder, Colorado.-History:...
, the largest natural foods wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
r in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The company is based in Hereford
Hereford, Texas
Hereford is a city in Deaf Smith County, Texas, United States. The population was 14,597 at the 2000 census. It is the only incorporated Hereford in the country. It is the county seat of Deaf Smith County....
, the seat of Deaf Smith County west of Amarillo
Amarillo, Texas
Amarillo is the 14th-largest city, by population, in the state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 190,695 at the 2010 census...
in the Texas Panhandle
Texas Panhandle
The Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by New Mexico to the west and Oklahoma to the north and east...
. Arrowhead Mills removes impurities from corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
and farms without pesticide
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s.
Personal background
A Hereford native, Ford was the son of Jesse Ford (1894–1969) and the late Mrs. Ford. As a teenager, Ford worked in a grocery storeGrocery store
A grocery store is a store that retails food. A grocer, the owner of a grocery store, stocks different kinds of foods from assorted places and cultures, and sells these "groceries" to customers. Large grocery stores that stock products other than food, such as clothing or household items, are...
in Hereford. He graduated in 1955 from Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
in College Station
College Station, Texas
College Station is a city in Brazos County, Texas, situated in East Central Texas in the heart of the Brazos Valley. The city is located within the most populated region of Texas, near three of the 10 largest cities in the United States - Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio...
with a bachelor of science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
. He was commander of the TAMU Corps of Cadets
Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets
The Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets is a student military organization at Texas A&M University...
and was active in the Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ
Campus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...
and its related Athletes in Action
Athletes in Action
Athletes in Action is an evangelical Christian sports ministry in the tradition of Muscular Christianity. Athletes in Action, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ, works with athletes and coaches to use the unique platform of sport to help people around the world with questions of faith...
. Himself nondenominational, Ford is a supporter of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association is an organization started by Billy Graham in 1950. The main focus of the BGEA is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible...
and advocates a "less-is-more" approach to living and spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
.
Arrowhead Mills
Arrowhead Mills operates four warehouses, containing over 30000 square feet (2,787.1 m²) of storage space, and holds tons of food for shipment to a nationwide network of distributors.Ford sought to provide large-scale stone grinding of grain and to maintain natural soil nutrition. He took the view that all farming should first maintain and then improve the soil. He served as chairman of the trade association
Trade association
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
, the National Nutritional Food Association. During the formative years of Arrowhead Mills, Ford personally did most of the growing, grinding, sacking, trucking, warehousing, shipping, and bookkeeping
Bookkeeping
Bookkeeping is the recording of financial transactions. Transactions include sales, purchases, income, receipts and payments by an individual or organization. Bookkeeping is usually performed by a bookkeeper. Bookkeeping should not be confused with accounting. The accounting process is usually...
. Slowly, the investment of time, money, and energy began to pay dividends from the increased national awareness of organic foods and sound nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
. Ford also was an advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
spokesman for the natural food industry during the 1960s and 1970s.
Ford said that he is convinced that "the natural-foods movement is [not] over the hill at all. In fact, I think it's just coming into its own. The rest of the country is finally beginning to realize that we have to conserve our resources and utilize them correctly . . . that whole foods are best and natural growing methods are really the most efficient."
Social activist
Ford claims to represent the "common man" in public affairs. A labor activist, he tried to pay higher wages at Arrowhead Mills than other such companies offer. He never drew a salary from the company that was more than three times that of his lowest-paid employee. Ford is a spokesman for small farmers through his position on an agricultural advisory committee in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
He has helped to formulate plans for sewage
Sewage
Sewage is water-carried waste, in solution or suspension, that is intended to be removed from a community. Also known as wastewater, it is more than 99% water and is characterized by volume or rate of flow, physical condition, chemical constituents and the bacteriological organisms that it contains...
recycling projects. In the 1980s, he led the opposition to an attempt by the United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
to locate a controversial nuclear waste site in Deaf Smith County, an action which Ford claims would have imperiled Arrowhead Mills as well as the pivotal Ogallala Aquifer
Ogallala Aquifer
The Ogallala Aquifer, also known as the High Plains Aquifer, is a vast yet shallow underground water table aquifer located beneath the Great Plains in the United States...
, the source of most West Texas
West Texas
West Texas is a vernacular term applied to a region in the southwestern quadrant of the United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
. The site was instead located at Yucca Mountain
Yucca Mountain
The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository was to be a deep geological repository storage facility for spent nuclear reactor fuel and other high level radioactive waste, until the project was canceled in 2009. It was to be located on federal land adjacent to the Nevada Test Site in Nye County,...
in Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
Three books
Ford has written three books:- New Harvest, a collection of his reflections and verse on national spiritual rejuvenation
- Pack to Nature: Nutrition Made Easy in the Home or in the Woods (both from Harvest Publishing Company of Fort WorthFort Worth, TexasFort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
). The third edition was retitled and released as The Simpler Life Cookbook-From Arrowhead Mills in 1974. Harvest Publishing Company. - The Deaf Smith Country Cookbook, available through Macmillan.
Democratic politician
In 1999, Ford sold Arrowhead Mills to the Hain Celestial GroupHain Celestial Group
The Hain Celestial Group is a food company whose main focus is natural and organic foods and personal care products. Their products range from herbal teas, offered through their Celestial Seasonings brand to organic free range chickens from the FreeBird brand...
of Melville, New York
Melville, New York
Melville is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Huntington in Suffolk County on Long Island, New York, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, 14,533 people resided there.-Location:...
, which maintains its public relations office in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
. Arrowhead offers 220 items.
He thereafter retired to Irvine
Irvine, California
Irvine is a suburban incorporated city in Orange County, California, United States. It is a planned city, mainly developed by the Irvine Company since the 1960s. Formally incorporated on December 28, 1971, the city has a population of 212,375 as of the 2010 census. However, the California...
, in Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In 2008, he filed as a Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
candidate for the District 49 seat in the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
to oppose the conservative Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
incumbent
Incumbent
The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...
Darrell Issa
Darrell Issa
Darrell Edward Issa is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 48th, serving since 2001. He is a member of the Republican Party. He was formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California-based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products...
of Vista
Vista, California
Vista is a city in north San Diego County, California. It was incorporated January 28, 1963 and became a charter city on June 13, 2007. Located just seven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean in northern San Diego County, the City of Vista has a Mediterranean climate...
in northern San Diego County
San Diego County, California
San Diego County is a large county located in the southwestern corner of the US state of California. Hence, San Diego County is also located in the southwestern corner of the 48 contiguous United States. Its county seat and largest city is San Diego. Its population was about 2,813,835 in the 2000...
. Ford withdrew from the primary because of health considerations. Issa defeated Democrat Robert "Bob" Hamilton of Fallbrook
Fallbrook, California
Fallbrook is an unincorporated community in northern San Diego County, California. The Fallbrook census-designated place population was 30,534 at the 2010 census, up from 29,100 at the 2000 census....
, also in San Diego County, in the November 4 general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
.