National Sustainable Agriculture Oral History Archive
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This Archive was created by Ron Kroese, Garden Avenue Associates and Senior Fellow in the Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota. Ron's story of creating the archive is told in Land Stewardship Project's Ear to the Ground Podcast #223: Sustainable Ag Policy's Deep Roots The Center for Rural Affairs created a podcast series based on Ron's interviews. |
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Individual Interviews: |
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| Jill AuburnFormer National Program Leader, USDA's National Institute of Food and Agriculture |
| Bob BerglandFormer U.S. Secretary of Agriculture |
| Wendell BerryAmerican Novelist, Poet, and Farmer |
| Roger BlobaumOrganic Farming & Food Policy Advocate, Educator |
| George BoodyScience & Special Projects Leader, Land Stewardship Project |
| Don BustosFarmer; Co-Founder, National Immigrant Farming Initiative |
| Denny CaneffSustainable Farming, Healthy Rivers Advocate |
| Kate ClancyFood Systems Consultant, Visiting Scholar at the Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health |
| Ken CookPresident and co-founder, Environmental Working Group |
| Craig CoxVice President, Environmental Working Group |
| Bob GrayWashington DC Rep, National Center for Appropriate Technology |
| Tom Harkin and Ferd HoefnerHarkin, Former Iowa Senator; Hoefner, Founder and Federal Policy Advocate, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition |
| Chuck HassebrookFormer Executive Director, Center for Rural Affairs |
| Elizabeth HendersonPioneering CSA Farmer and Organic Farming Activist |
| Ferd HoefnerFounder and Federal Policy Advocate, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition |
| Wes JacksonPresident Emeritus, The Land Institute |
| Loni Kemp and |
| Margaret KromePolicy Director, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute |
| Al KurkiProgram Specialist, National Center for Appropriate Technology |
| Mark LipsonResearch Associate in Organic Agriculture Policy, University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Amy LittleFormer Policy Director, NE Sustainable Agriculture Working Group |
| Kathleen MerriganDirector of Sustainability, George Washington University |
| Lorette PiccianoExecutive Director, Rural Coalition |
| Jim Riddle and Joyce FordSoutheast Minnesota Farmers, Organic Farming & Food Advocates |
 | Mark RitchieFormer President, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy |
| Ricardo SalvadorDirector, Food & Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists |
| Mark SchultzExecutive Director, Land Stewardship Project |
| Bob ScowcroftFormer Executive Director of Organic Farming Research Foundation |
| Bob Scowcroft and Mark LipsonFormer Executive Director of Organic Farming Research Foundation (Scowcroft); and Research Associate in Organic Agriculture Policy, University of California, Santa Cruz (Lipson) |
| Roundtable Session 1 |
| Roundtable Session 2 |
| Roundtable Session 3 |
| Shirley SherrodFamily Farm and Civil Rights Advocate |
| Michael SlighFarmer and Program Director - RAFI-USA |
| Sister Mary TachenyEducator, Sustainable Farming Advocate, School Sisters of Notre Dame |
| Ron and Maria Vakulskas RosmannSustainable Agriculture Policy Advocates and Organic Farmers |
| Lydia VillanuevaFounder-Director Casa del Llano |
| Bob WarrickFormer Agriculture Chair, Sierra Club |
| Mark WinneCo-Founder, Community Food Security Coalition |
| Garth YoungbergFormer Executive Director, Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture |
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 1970s. 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
kroeseron@gmail.com
Related Resources:
National Agricultural Library: Oral Histories
1988-1994
"Growing Right" Oral History Project in Ohio
Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association
Fair Use of Materials:
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"This publication was a collaborative effort of the School of Agriculture - University of Minnesota Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems and the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture."
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