More than a century ago, the economy of the United States was based on a large farming population living on freely available farmland. Few farmers possessed the knowledge needed to change the face of agriculture from subsistence farming to a production system serving the economic and food and fiber needs of the nation. The government met this crisis by providing funds for a new type of institution, a land grant university that would conduct research, teaching, and outreach in agriculture and the mechanical arts and provide access for all to higher education. The land-grant university proved to be a powerful tool for advancing agriculture, through the extension of basic research developments in germplasm, cultural practices, and machinery, to the nation's farmers. At the dawn of the 21st century, California often a bellwether for the nation and the world faces a crisis of equal magnitude. Unplanned growth and depletion of natural resources threaten the state's prosperous food production systems, its natural and biological resources, and the quality of life of all Californians. The University of California, like other institutions whose roots have been in agriculture, must respond to this crisis. It must restate its mission, emphasizing the total human food and fiber system from production to consumption. It must also recreate its scientific and public identities to survive in an era of rapid scientific change, vigorous policy debate and si@cant public disunity. We must link science, technology and productivity to environmental stewardship, land-use planning, sociopolitical concerns, and the preferences and practices of diverse consumer cultures. To address the connections among such themes, it is imperative that universities move beyond organizational structures that segregate knowledge into discrete compartments. The University of California must be at the forefront of this new imperative, given its mandate to serve a large and multicultural population, a wide-ranging environment, and diverse and extensive food growing and processing industries.