Biography of Lynda Hopkins
Organic Farmer & Small Business Owner
After graduating from Stanford, Lynda joined the man she loves -- her husband Emmett -- in his childhood home of Sonoma County. The couple put down roots together by starting Foggy River Farm, a diversified organic farm, on the Hopkins family property. Lynda and Emmett now have two daughters, Gillian and Addy: they're the fourth generation to pick apples from the old Gravenstein apple trees by the Russian River.
Foggy River Farm is a "family-run, community-oriented farm" whose mission is to "grow food that is good for our souls, our bodies, and the land." The farm's Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program feeds over 75 families, and you can also find their produce at farmers' markets and restaurants around the county. Foggy River Farm is entering its ninth full growing season.
Community Leadership
When not busy sowing seeds or milking goats, Lynda has served the community:
- As Executive Director of Sonoma County Farm Trails, she worked with dozens of family farmers to help keep small-scale farming viable.
- As a community journalist with Sonoma West Publishers, she spent years researching, reporting and informing the community through local West County newspapers.
- As Board Secretary of Farm to Pantry, she has helped manage an organization that moved over 100 tons of gleaned farm-fresh produce to those in need, and shepherded the organization into its current 501(c)3 status.
- As a member of the Leadership Circle of Community Alliance with Family Farmers (North Coast chapter), she advocated for sensible streamlined land use policy.
Education
At Stanford University, Lynda immersed herself in interdisciplinary environmental problem solving. She studied coastal land use and environmental sciences, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree through the Oceans Track of the Earth Systems Program. As an undergraduate, she conducted research on coral bleaching and the impacts of industry on the Great Barrier Reef and a remote atoll in the Central Pacific.
Serving as a head teaching assistant for the Earth Systems program, she paid her way through two years of further study to earn a Master of Science Degree, focusing this time on mass transit, land use policy, and the communication of these topics to the public. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Creative Writing.
Skills & Philosophy
On the Board of Supervisors, Lynda brings:
- New approaches to solving old problems, and outside-the-box thinking
- A commitment to truth and accuracy
- Pragmatic idealism & community-based solutions
- An ability to bring people together for community and consensus building
- Governmental transparency
- Foresight: planning for the future, not trading short-term gain for long-term loss
- An ability to approach things from many different stakeholder perspectives
- Personal integrity, a strong work ethic, and an enthusiasm for solving problems