History of the Organic Food Movement

Joselyn McDonald

"J.I Rodale, founder of the Rodale Research Institute and Organic Farming and Gardening magazine, is commonly regarded as the father of the modern organic farming movement. Beginning in the 1940s, Rodale provided the main source of information about “non-chemical” farming methods and was heavily influential in the development of organic production methods. Rodale drew many of his ideas from Sir Albert Howard, a British scientist who spent years observing traditional systems in India. Howard advocated agricultural systems reliant upon returning crop residues, green manures and wastes to soil, and promoted the idea of working with nature by using deep-rooted crops to draw nutrients from the soil."  (From Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education.)

Learn more about organic foods and farming here.