History of Organic Farming in America
By Anneliese Abbott
Organic History
Lecture Videos
I love to speak just as much as I love to write, and I give talks on all sorts of topics relating to organic farming history and science. This page links to recordings of all the lectures I have given in 2025 and 2026. I am always happy to speak again on these topics, or create custom lectures for any size gathering. Please contact me for more information about how to add one of my lectures to your next organic farming conference.
Together for Organic: 2026 OEFFA Keynote Presentation
We are in a time of unprecedented opportunity for organic farming. The organic farming movement is more diverse today than ever before, with every major segment of American society interested in making a healthier food supply. But we need to make sure that this diversity is a source of strength, not division. In this video, originally given as the keynote for the 2026 Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association conference, Anneliese Abbott encourages us to learn from the past and work together in the present to make organic farming the normal farming of the future.
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OEFFA Conference 2026: Finding Common Ground, Saturday, February 14, 2026​
Can Organic Feed the World? Science, the Cold War, and Organic Farming
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Earl Butz famously proclaimed that 50 million people would starve if all American farmers used organic methods. But where did that idea come from? Join Anneliese Abbott for an eye-opening look at how Cold War geopolitics created the “feeding the world” rhetoric in the 1950s; why agronomists felt like they had to attack organic farming and environmentalism to save the world; and how this Cold War history continues to influence discussions about "organic," "sustainable," and "regenerative."
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NOFA-NJ Winter Conference: Living Roots, Resilience, and Food Security​, Saturday, January 25, 2025
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OEFFA Conference 2025: Boldly Grow​, Friday, February 14, 2025
The Nitrogen Paradox: Can Organic Feed the World? (Part 2)
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Could we feed the world without synthetic nitrogen fixation? An often-quoted statistic claims that four billion people would starve without synthetic nitrogen. But is that true? Join Anneliese Abbott as she unpacks the "feeding the world" argument by digging into the nitrogen cycle, the troubled history of synthetic nitrogen fixation, and how organic farming can work with nature to feed the world without any help from synthetic nitrogen.
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OEFFA Conference 2026: Finding Common Ground, Saturday, February 14, 2026
Soil and Health: The Philosophies That Shaped Organic Farming
Join Anneliese Abbott for a historical journey to the roots of organic farming philosophy in the 1930s and 1940s. From the British health movement to Sir Albert Howard’s composting methods to Ehrenfried Pfeiffer’s concept of the farm as an organic whole, Anneliese will cover the origins of the organic philosophy, explain how it both overlapped with and was fundamentally different from traditional agriculture, and discuss whether organic farming is "scientific."
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NOFA-NJ Winter Conference: Living Roots, Resilience, and Food Security, Saturday, January 25, 2025
The Organic Whole: Ehrenfried Pfeiffer in Organic Farming History
Along with J.I. Rodale, Ehrenfried Pfeiffer was one of the most important leaders in the early organic movement in the United States. This presentation discusses Pfeiffer's influence on the term "organic farming," his biodynamic training school at Kimberton, his collaboration with J.I. Rodale, and his lasting influence on the organic farming movement.
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Fellowship of Preparation Makers Annual Gathering: Pfeiffer History Intensive, Thursday, January 22, 2026