Frank Ford runs for Congress

Fallbrook resident and Democrat Frank Ford has joined Jeeni Criscenzo and Lars R. Grossmith as a write-in candidate in a try to oust incumbent Darrell Issa from his seat as the 49th US Congressional District race nears election time.

Although Ford is a newcomer — he relocated to Fallbrook from Irvine in March — his understanding of national politics is extensive. Ford says he and his wife came to Fallbrook to garden and get back to his roots in farming, and for a while he was content. However, once exposed to Darrell Issa’s comments about hostilities in the Middle East, particularly his stand on Lebanon, Ford decided to run for Issa’s office.

“[Republicans] doubled the national debt and put us into a stupid war while Mr. Issa has been Congress,” Ford says — this from the man who, as a Texas Republican in 1950, founded Arrowhead Mills, a company that became a leader in the organic foods movement.

Ford’s dogged determination to fight for his principals is well-known in the halls of Congress. While his company grew in Hereford, TX, his reputation for taking tough environmental issues to Washington and winning raised his stature in the Republican Party, and at one time, “I was asked by [George W.] Bush to run for governor of Texas,” he says. Now his dissatisfaction with the Republican Party he supported most of his life resulted in leaving it to register as a Democrat and try again to effect changes as he did before.

His concerns are not only national. “I want to see Fallbrook keep its current personality,” he says. Ford adds, if elected, “I will work for small business, small farmers, our troops and veterans.” He plans to serve one term only.

His background of service is extensive. While in Texas he was president of the County Farm Bureau; served on advisory committees to three US Secretaries of Agriculture; named American of the Year in 1976; in 1980 he received the Rachel Carson Environment Award; and in 1999 he was honored by colleagues in the Organic Trade Association for his inspiration.

Ford is former-chairman of the National Nutritional Foods Association and past-present of the Natural Food Associates. By 1990, Arrowhead Mills was the number one US supplier of Certified Organic foods. Ford sold the company in 1999.