In the mid-1970s, Ed Munak (pictured with his farm manager of 15 years, Hugo Gomez) and his wife Pearl were living in Los Angeles. Ed graduated from LA State college with a degree in engineering and started a career as an aerospace engineer. Pearl was attending law school.

In 1976, Pearl received her law degree and was planning on practicing law in Southern California but instead, the Munaks purchased 160 acres in Paso Robles and left city life behind. Their plan was to raise cattle for a living. Ed says they abandoned the "romantic notion" of cattle ranching to follow Ed's grandmother O'Blak's example: growing fruits and vegetables for their own table.

When they purchased their land, half was planted with apple trees. The weather in Paso Robles results in low yields for apples so 15 years ago the Munaks sold the apple acreage. Since then, they've concentrated on row crops better suited to their climate. The Munaks grew organically from the very start, and they were founding farmers when an organization of California organic growers was first formed. Though they let their organic certification lapse, Munak Ranch still uses no pesticides nor fertilizers and uses only sustainable production methods. For example, their crops are harvested during the summer and fall. Before planting for the next crop, Munak plants a cover crop consisting of five different beneficial plants.