Remembering Bob McClendon, a pioneer of organic farming in the Valley

A stalwart Arizona farmer who championed local, organic practices, has died. Robert “Bob” McClendon, the patriarch of McClendon’s Select, died from heart failure on Saturday, Feb. 7, his son Sean said. He was 82 years old. 

McClendon’s Select is one of the state’s only certified organic farms. The farm is run by three generations of McClendons and grows more than 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables, and produces honey and bee pollen, on about 25 acres in Peoria. McClendon’s has long been a go-to for chefs and farmers market shoppers alike. 

The farm’s patriarch and founder was a familiar face to many in the Valley. Shoppers at Phoenix’s Uptown Farmers Market and the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market can find the McClendon’s Select stand, with its thick-font sign featuring colorful wedges of citrus at its center. Those browsing produce also may have encountered its founder.

“(He) just really wanted to educate people on good eating,” his son said. “He’s just a kind soul and a loving, caring person who really affected the lives of thousands over the years, and I’m going to miss him.”

McClendon was known to slice up apples for kids to try and chat with adults about how to prepare different varieties of vegetables at home. He was energized by requests from chefs to experiment with growing something new for them to work with, Sean recalled. 

“It was just a passion for doing this,” his son said. “He loved to see what chefs could do with his vegetables. He was so impressed by that and so impressed by their work ethic.”

McClendon was among Phoenix New Times’ 100 Tastemakers, a series highlighting the people who shaped the Valley’s culinary scene.

He is survived by Marsha, his wife of 59 years, his son Sean, daughter-in-law Kate and grandson Aidan.

McClendon’s funeral will be held at 2 p.m. on March 10 at Phoenix’s All Saints’ Episcopal Church. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations in honor of McClendon be made to the Blue Watermelon Project, a nonprofit founded by chef Charleen Badman that works to bring fresh, seasonal foods into Arizona schools.

‘He was just a curious guy’

McClendon was born in Tucson on Nov. 2, 1943. He met Marsha while the two were in the Catalina High School photography club. He attended the University of Arizona, graduating from its pharmacy school with honors in 1966. 

McClendon would spend more than three decades in medicine, Sean said. That included a tenure at Phoenix’s St. Joseph’s Hospital, where he rose through the ranks to pharmacy director. Then, McClendon launched his own medical business, pioneering home infusion therapy, and added his name to a handful of medical patents, Sean said. 

During that time, the family lived on acreage in the West Valley, where they could keep horses and livestock and tend to citrus and a verdant vegetable garden. 

“He’s just a curious guy,” Sean said. “He’s fascinated by science, biology and I think that’s what really brought him into organic farming.”

McClendon seemed never to tire of taking on new hobbies or exploring new businesses. He was a hot air balloon pilot, ferrying the family above the citrus trees that once populated much of the West Valley. McClendon launched The Stock Shop in Glendale, Sean said, and ran a wrought-iron furniture outfit.

Farming unlocked a passion within McClendon. In the 1990s, he became interested in organic diets and started looking into organic farming. With his wife’s help, he began converting their land in Peoria to adopt organic practices.  

McClendon began pursuing farming in earnest after closing his furniture business in 2002, and McClendon’s Select received organic certification in 2006. He started growing so much produce, it became beyond what the family could realistically eat.

“It became kind of out of control,” Sean recalled, with a chuckle, “like, my mom was going to kick him out if he didn’t go to the farmers market and sell all the vegetables.”

The McClendons got a booth at a market at the Shops at Town & Country, the shopping center at Camelback Road and 22nd Street. It was there that McClendon met chef Chris Bianco. 

Bianco, the restaurateur behind Pizzeria Bianco, Tratto, Pane Bianco and Bar Bianco, recalled meeting McClendon more than 20 years ago in a post on Instagram. He was in search of a new farmer to source tomatoes. He’d seen McClendon’s “expanding arsenal” of produce that was quickly stretching beyond citrus, dates and arugula. 

This connection “began the start of our restaurant business that we currently have today,” Sean said. The appreciation for that partnership was mutual.

“Any success I’ve ever had I owe to my farmers, and none more than Bob McClendon,” Bianco wrote in his post. “Things arrived w(ith) miraculous perfection all I could try to do was not to screw them up.”

McClendon’s Select expanded to include plots in Peoria and Goodyear. Sean and his family joined the business more than 15 years ago, and he continues to work the land today. McClendon’s Select provides produce to about 75 restaurants in the Valley and northern Arizona, along with the farmers markets.

McClendon remained active in the business until November, when health challenges forced him to step away, his son said.

“This was his love,” Sean said, “and he worked all the way up until the very end.”

Chefs share tributes to McClendon

When McClendon’s death was announced this week, several chefs and restaurateurs shared their condolences and tributes on social media. 

Badman, whose work with produce at her Scottsdale restaurant FnB has earned her the moniker “the veggie whisperer,” called McClendon a “kindred spirit” in an Instagram post on her personal page.

“Side by side, we embraced the desert’s rhythms, savoring its gifts throughout the seasons: the vibrant Sungold tomatoes shimmering in the heat, the deeply-rooted Gilfeather rutabaga, and the thriving avocado squash and spigarello reaching for the light,” Badman wrote, adding that McClendon’s support of FnB and her nonprofit, Blue Watermelon Project, “will never be forgotten.”

Justin Beckett, who has helmed the kitchen at Beckett’s Table for more than 15 years, posted a tribute to McClendon.

“Bob McClendon was more than a vendor, more than a partner, more than a farmer,” Beckett wrote on Instagram. “The connection that he made with our restaurant and with me personally will forever live in our hearts and my souls (sic). Every Interaction with Bob was genuine, very personal and I always felt like I was the only person in the room when he spoke to me.”

Sedona chef and restaurateur Lisa Dahl called McClendon a “beloved friend” who took pride in his work.

“I want everyone to know that his legacy will live on through his beloved son, Sean. But there will never be another Bob,” Dahl wrote on Instagram. “In my humble opinion, Bob McClendon was the greatest Arizona brand there ever was.”

For Sean, McClendon was simply his dad, and a “great” one at that.

“I’ve learned a lot from him,” Sean said. “I plan on continuing his legacy and to keep moving forward and trying to produce the best of the best organic vegetables I possibly can.”