Here's one of the earliest recorded discussions of organic food by regulators in the state of California. Ray Green, manager of the organic program for the state department of agriculture, tells me he saved it on the way to the shredder. Click image to enlarge:
As you can see, California took a pass on deciding what Organically Grown meant. Although Europe had earlier certification schemes defining the organic method, the first one that got traction in the US was begun by JI Rodale, through his Organic Gardening magazine in the early 1970s. (If anyone knows of anything earlier, feel free to post a comment).
Very interesting - I didn't know the organic term was originally defined in the state of California. It's no wonder Alice Waters moved there!
Posted by: Hillary | October 10, 2007 at 02:09 PM
Well, it was actually defined much earlier (see my book!) but this was the first instance of the term used by California authorities.
Posted by: Samuel Fromartz | October 10, 2007 at 04:55 PM