National Organic and Sustainable Agriculture History Collection

Ceres Trust supported the creation of the Organic and Sustainable Agriculture History Collections Project, archived and permanently maintained by the Wisconsin Historical Society (WHS) in Madison, Wisconsin. WHS is working with more than 100 organizations, institutions and individuals interested in donating personal papers and organizational records that document the growth and significance of the organic and sustainable agriculture movements in the United States. Roger Blobaum, an advocate for organic and sustainable agriculture since the early 1970s, identified key individuals and organizations as a starting point and has led the development of the collection. Materials of interest may include paper records, photographs, audio-visual materials and electronic files.

Key collecting areas within organic and sustainable agriculture that the Society documents through this initiative include leaders and pioneers in the organic and sustainable agriculture movement; pioneering national organic agriculture organizations and development of the organic agriculture infrastructure; organizations that promote and assist organic agriculture; organic certification organizations and the standards development process; companies that develop, sell, and distribute seeds, organic fertilizer, and other organic agriculture production inputs; organic agriculture farmers and farm cooperatives; organic agriculture sales and marketing enterprises including restaurants using and promoting organic and locally-sourced ingredients, and local and alternative agricultural distribution including direct sales, CSAs, farmers markets, urban farming, and food cooperatives and warehouses.

These archived collections are accessible to historians, researchers, students and the public.