11. Roger Blobaum, organic farming & food policy advocate

Sustainable Agriculture Policy with Ron Kroese

Roger Blobaum worked on a title for the 1965 farm bill, more than 50 years ago. Then, a 1971 visit to a farm near Grinnell, Iowa, changed his life. After seeing the black soil and healthy earthworms, he decided to make organic farming his focus and life’s work.

This week, Roger talks with Ron about decades of work on sustainable ag, with a particular interest in organic work. They highlight the first organic bill in the 1980s, organic research (one particular report was saved from destruction under a new administration), and Roger’s international organic ag work in China and elsewhere.

Roger, an agricultural consultant, has been a leader in organic farming research, education, advocacy, and policymaking since the early 1970s. He has served on boards of more than 30 regional, national, and international organic, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy organizations.

He now serves as a partner in developing a national organic and sustainable agriculture history collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society.

He was a founding director of the International Organic Accreditation Service, a founder and associate director of the World Sustainable Agriculture Association, and a participant in the process of setting international organic guidelines.

He co-chaired a coalition of national consumer, environmental, faith-based, and other organizations that helped shape the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act and push it through Congress.

His research contributions include developing and coordinating Ceres Trust organic research programs that awarded more than $6 million in grants to land grant university faculty and graduate student researchers.

The interview was conducted on Feb. 10, 2016.

Links this episode:
National Sustainable Agriculture Oral History Archive (video link)
Roger’s organic farming website

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