Many of the people who participated in the organic movement during the sixties, seventies and eighties are dead, forgetful, inarticulate, sick, lost or retired. With them goes much of our knowledge of how a vision evolved into a trade that feeds millions all over the world and restores millions of acres of land. The loss of this knowledge is not nostalgia. It is the loss of how to build something out of nothing; of how to inspire, motivate, organize, and sustain people who change the world.

This knowledge can serve as an essential guide for those concerned with maintaining and broadening the embracement of wholeness, complexity, diversity, health, and justice within the food system.

The session will focus on two nascent projects, the Hall of Organic Pioneers and the Organic Elder’s Council.

The Hall of Organic Pioneers will be a mechanism for preserving our movement and trade history in the words of the people who were there, and not just leaders. It is a means of preserving the names and wisdom of as many of those who were there as possible, whatever their role. Every voice is important to the whole.

The Organic Elder’s Council will be an informal body of long-time leading lights, groundbreakers, organizers, and innovators who, nearing or in retirement - but with gas still in the tank - offer their knowledge and guidance to those now stepping into the footprints of those who have walked these paths before.

As well as discussing how these efforts might be developed, we look to celebrate the stories in the room, so bring ‘em if you got ‘em.