Bob McClendon leaves lasting legacy on Arizona’s food scene

🚜 Bob McClendon wasn’t a prolific restaurateur or a celebrity chef. He wasn’t a social media influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers.

But McClendon was a profoundly influential figure in Arizona ‘s food industry, a farmer whose life’s work helped reshape how chefs and diners alike think about local, organic produce – and what’s possible in the Sonoran Desert.

The founder of McClendon’s Select passed away last weekend at the age of 82, his family announced Tuesday.

McClendon began farming in 1968 in a region that averages just eight inches of rainfall a year. What started as a one-acre garden in Peoria – tended while he held down a “regular job” as director of pharmacy at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center – slowly grew into something far bigger.

Originally, the garden was meant for personal use. As McClendon expanded the operation, his wife, Marsha, suggested selling the surplus. Soon after, McClendon became a regular presence at the Town & Country Farmers Market, building relationships and a reputation for quality that would become the foundation of McClendon’s Select.

Over time, that one acre grew into a 93-acre operation: 25 acres in Peoria and another 68 near Goodyear. Today, McClendon’s Select supplies more than 80 restaurants across Arizona, making it one of the most important farm-to-kitchen links in the state.

In 2001, McClendon made a pivotal decision to transition the farm to organic practices. McClendon’s Select became one of Arizona’s only USDA-certified organic farms – a distinction that reflects decades of commitment to soil health, sustainability, and transparency.

Alongside Marsha, son Sean, daughter-in-law Kate, grandson Aidan, and a team of roughly 30 employees, McClendon helped grow more than 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables, proving that thoughtful, large-scale organic farming could thrive even in one of the country’s harshest climates.

McClendon never sought the spotlight, but his influence is everywhere – in the menus of Arizona restaurants, in the expectations of chefs who demand better produce, and in the enduring belief that local agriculture matters.

My thoughts are with the McClendon family and the entire McClendon’s Select community.