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History of Organic Farming in America
By Anneliese Abbott
Organic History
Blog


The Garden: New Book about the Counterculture and Organic Farming
Finally, a book that covers the connection between the counterculture and organic farming! What’s the connection between organic farming...

Anneliese Abbott
May 15, 20252 min read


Where Did Helen and Scott Nearing Learn About Organic Gardening?
The Nearings made compost using an all-plant-based version of the Indore Method. Countless members of the counterculture first saw...

Anneliese Abbott
May 8, 20253 min read


Dinner with Helen and Scott Nearing: Growing Vegetables Year-Round in Vermont
Helen and Scott Nearing grew all the vegetables they ate at their Vermont and Maine homesteads--all year round. When Helen and Scott...

Anneliese Abbott
May 1, 20253 min read


Earning a Livelihood: Helen and Scott Nearing's Maple Sugar Business
Helen and Scott Nearing traded labor with their neighbors to build a sugar house on their Vermont homestead and made a living selling...

Anneliese Abbott
Apr 24, 20253 min read


Not the End of the World: I Agree, but for Different Reasons
I appreciate Hannah Ritchie's optimism, but disagree about whether organic farming can feed the world. I’m always on the lookout for new...

Anneliese Abbott
Apr 17, 20253 min read


Flawed Logic: Would 4 Billion People Die Without Nitrogen Fertilizer?
This graph implies that it's impossible to feed the world with organic farming. But what data is it really based on? “Without the...

Anneliese Abbott
Apr 10, 20253 min read


Weapons and Fertilizer: The Haber-Bosch Process of Nitrogen Fixation
The Haber-Bosch process of fixing nitrogen produces a lot of fertilizer--but its first application was for weapons. Cut open one of the...

Anneliese Abbott
Apr 3, 20253 min read


The Nitrogen Paradox: Is Feeding the World the Real Issue?
Biological nitrogen fixation fed the world until the end of the nineteenth century. What changed? Is it possible to feed the world’s...

Anneliese Abbott
Mar 27, 20253 min read


Is Kottman Hall a Fallout Shelter? Cold War Institutional Architecture
When I was a student at The Ohio State University, I always wondered why Kottman Hall had so few windows. The legacies of the Cold War...

Anneliese Abbott
Mar 13, 20253 min read


"If an A-Bomb Fell Near Your Farm": Atomic Fears in the Early Cold War
As the Korean Conflict heated up in 1950, farmers were warned about what might happen in a nuclear war. “The crippled plane with its...

Anneliese Abbott
Mar 6, 20253 min read


Nuclear Tourism: How I Got Interested in Cold War History
On the surface, this just looks like a ranch-style house. But what's underground could destroy civilization. September 29, 2011—Rapid...

Anneliese Abbott
Feb 27, 20253 min read


Organic Ohio Veggies: Organic Farming in 1950s Ohio
Louis Bromfield advertised his Malabar Farm produce as pesticide-free in the 1950s. Thank you to the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming...

Anneliese Abbott
Feb 20, 20253 min read


Organic Magazine: How J.I. Rodale Popularized Organic Farming
While there's debate over who first coined the term "organic farming," J.I. Rodale was the one who popularized it. The debate over who...

Anneliese Abbott
Feb 13, 20253 min read


Who Came Up with "Organic"? Origins of the Term "Organic Farming"
This School of Living announcement from 1939 used the phrase "organic gardening" a year before Lord Northbourne. One of my favorite...

Anneliese Abbott
Feb 6, 20253 min read


"Normal Agriculture" in New Jersey: Stahrland Farm
Alden and Ruth Stahr of New Jersey promoted organic farming in their 1950s newsletter, Normal Agriculture . Thank you again to NOFA-NJ...

Anneliese Abbott
Jan 30, 20253 min read


The Big Ditch: Another Soil Erosion Landmark in Silver City, New Mexico
After the devastating flood of 1902, Silver City's Big Ditch joined the list of soil erosion horror stories. “Today the Big Ditch is a...

Anneliese Abbott
Jan 23, 20253 min read


Soil Erosion Disaster: The Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl was one of the worst ecological disasters in recorded history--and the impetus for soil conservation I actually agree with...

Anneliese Abbott
Jan 16, 20253 min read


Soil Erosion Landmark: Providence Canyon, Georgia
Providence Canyon, Georgia, was the soil erosion horror story of the 1930s. Now it's a state park. Natural erosion by wind and water...

Anneliese Abbott
Jan 9, 20253 min read


New Jersey and Ohio: My 2025 Speaking Schedule
I'll be presenting on "Can Organic Feed the World?" at both the NOFA-NJ and OEFFA winter conferences Now that the holidays are over, tis...

Anneliese Abbott
Jan 2, 20253 min read


The Center of Opposition: Council for Agricultural Science and Technology
The original headquarters of CAST was in Agronomy Hall at Iowa State University It’s the first week of November, and I’m on the road...

Anneliese Abbott
Dec 26, 20243 min read
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