National Sustainable Agriculture Oral History Archive

Introduction

Through a series of video-recorded interviews, this oral history archive documents the development and evolution of public policies to advance sustainable and organic agriculture going back to the 1970’s. The women and men whose stories were recorded for this archive are among the key leaders and advocates who played significant roles in devising and promoting the laws and government programs that continue to undergird efforts to achieve a sustainable farming and food system in the United States.

In offering this collection of oral history interviews, the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture acknowledges that the Archive is by no means a complete compilation of all individuals who deserve credit. And with that understanding, we wish to thank the thousands of people around the country whose activism helped achieve the public policy gains that are highlighted in the Archive’s interviews, as well as the hundreds of thousands of farmers around the country who continue to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable and organic agriculture through their stewardship-based practices on the land.

Major topics covered in the interviews include:

• A review of the federal policy reforms achieved through the seven Farm Bills beginning in the early 1980s, along with recollections of the grassroots campaigns through which farmers and other activists advocated for the sustainable agriculture and conservation policies that were gained through those Farm Bills;
• The social and political context surrounding the formation in the early 1980s of what became the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC);
• The evolution of NSAC from its early days as an informal network of grassroots organizations -- most of which were located in the Midwest -- to the more formal structure of regional Sustainable Agriculture Working Groups (SAWGs) around the country in the 1990s, to the NSAC of today with its 120 organizations from throughout the U.S.;
• A discussion of where the efforts of sustainable and organic farming advocates came up short, as well as an exploration of further policy changes needed to advance sustainable agriculture and a healthier food system going forward.

Ron Kroese, Garden Avenue Associates, and
Senior Fellow, Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems
rkroese@visi.com