By Joe Garofoli, San Francisco Chronicle

In the days before medical cannabis dispensaries offered dozens of strains, marijuana smokers blindly scored their weed on the street. Or, more likely, “from a guy I know.” Some still do.

But in this era of heirloom tomatoes and shade-grown coffee, a more discerning generation wants to meet the farmer who grew their bud — and they prefer their pot as pesticide-free as their kale.

“These are the people who shop at Whole Foods,” said Mendocino grower Nikki Lastreto as she mingled at a cannabis tasting party she helped organize this week at the Cole Valley home of a friend. “We want them to have the same experience with cannabis.”

In a backyard lit with the glow of fire pits and dusted with the smell of herb, elder statesmen like Frenchy Cannoli — a Frenchman who has been making hash for 40 years — extolled the virtues of Northern California terroir to young tech workers as he offered them a hit of his prized 5-year-old hash.

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