The Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems is pleased to welcome Mark Lipson, a nationally recognized leader in organic agriculture and policy, to the Arizona Transition to Organic Partnership Program (AZ TOPP). As a consultant on the Swette Center team, Mark is providing support to the farming community in Arizona as they work to establish the state's first organic cooperative.
About the organic cooperative
The new cooperative in development will enable existing and emerging organic farmers in Arizona to leverage collective resources, reduce operational costs, enhance market competitiveness, and build long-term resilience across the supply chain.
The cooperative originated as an idea within the AZ TOPP community and became a full planning effort by fall 2025. The following spring, Mark traveled to Arizona to spend a week visiting farms transitioning to organic through AZ TOPP, most of which are involved in the cooperative project. Alongside Swette Center staff, he met with farmers and ranchers from Nitty Gritty Acres, Goats and Garlic, Emerald Roots Farm Collective, Scents of Lavender Farm, AZ Artisans Farms, Duncan Family Farms, Orme Ranch, Heartquist Hollow Family Farm, and Silver Lining Homestead. These productive visits allowed him to fully comprehend the scope of the operations and understand their goals for the organic cooperative.
Through collaborative workshops, monthly meetings, and on-site consultations, Mark is playing a critical role in this pivotal moment in the Arizona organic movement.
About Mark Lipson
Mark served in the Obama Administration as the first Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Policy Advisor in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. There, he advised USDA leadership on a wide range of policy issues, including integration of organic agriculture goals throughout the Department’s agencies and programs. He also helped lead the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” Initiative, accelerating USDA’s work on local and regional food systems. Following his USDA service, Mark was appointed as a staff associate with the Center for Agroecology at the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Mark was also the first paid staff of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) in 1985 and served as Assistant Executive Director until 1993. This work included midwifing the 1990 California Organic Foods Act, instigating the US Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA), and helping to found the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF). In January 2016, he was recognized by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) with the “Champion of Sustainability” award. Mark lives in California at Molino Creek Farming Collective, a cooperative multi-family organic farming community he founded in 1983.
For more information about AZ TOPP, visit arizonatopp.org. TOPP is a nationwide program of the USDA Organic Transition Initiative and is administered by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) National Organic Program (NOP).