GRACE GERSHUNY
ORGANIC REVOLUTIONARY
What they're saying...
Colleagues, comrades, and friends have this to say about Organic Revolutionary:
Stuart Hill
Professor Emeritus, Social Ecology
University of Western Syndey, Australia
Mega well done – a great tour de force – stories that needed to be told – and a great ending – fanaticism, intolerance and a sense of superiority so often undermine genuine doable next-step progress
Joe Smillie
Organic Consultant
Previously Chair of OTA, Founding Member IOIA, NOSB Member,
QAI Vice President
South Burlington, Vermont
This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the events and ideas pivotal to the growth of the organic sector in the US.
Tena Starr
News Editor
The Chronicle
Barton, Vermont
…a provocative book written about an interesting time, an important movement, and a Northeast Kingdom woman’s role.
Brian Obach
Professor of Sociology &
Director of Environmental Studies
State University of NY, New Paltz
Gershuny’s central role in some of the most important developments in that [organic movement] history make Organic Revolutionary a must read for anyone interested in this subject.
Graham Bell
The Red Shed Nursery
Permaculture Association, UK
Coldstream, Berwickshire, Scotland
I recommend this book to anyone interested in setting standards. Grace delineates her progress from hippy farmer to state legislator in great detail. In the process she describes the challenge of setting standards for organic production in the US. Because the book took fifteen years to write there are great changes in mood. For those similarly challenged with ‘What is a good standard’ (a debate raging in various permaculture circles right now) it clearly states the different positions people will take: purist and enabler would be the extremes...
Meanwhile a very worthwhile read. I particularly like the section: ‘Soil is anything but pure’. Quote: ‘the reductionist model of nutrition gives no indication of the vital, living quality of a food product.’ ‘Those that respect the law and love sausage should watch neither being made’ – Mark Twain (AKA Sam Clements) and lastly: ‘Yet in fact the push for higher standards actually made it easier for the large, professional business organisations than for smaller owner-operators. They were simply better equipped to deal with the increasingly finicky and paperwork heavy demands of organic certification.’ A salutary lesson for us all.
Howie Ross, aka 'Mr. Awganic'
Owner , Urban Legends
Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
What you are about to read is the real life, real time, real
personal story of a true pioneer who rode the organic wave
from the grass roots movement it once was, into the legislative
hard core battlefield of government regulation and
rule making process. Grace contributed to, and survived
the journey of the creation of “organic” as we know it today.
Hers is a compelling tale of the inner workings of the organic
community and the organic industry and the processes
and characters involved.
Reeve Lindbergh
Author, Under a Wing, The Midnight Farm
Passumpsic, Vermont
Grace Gershuny, a founding member of the American organic
agriculture movement and a long-time organic farmer,
has written a thoughtfully comprehensive, entertaining,
and deeply personal account of her adventures in the movement
and on the land. Like that of most revolutionaries,
Grace Gershuny’s journey has been long and complicated,
with exhilarating highs and inevitable disappointments over
time. Her story is an important one and her ultimate conclusions,
along with her hopes for the future, are optimistic for
the new generation of organic farmers.
Bryan Endres
Associate Professor of Food and Agricultural Law
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
I really appreciated your insight into the organic regulation development process as I had not yet seen that perspective reflected in print and from a credible source. I will certainly be referencing it in future work.
J. Heckman
Professor Soil Science, Rutgers University
& Board Member of NOFA-NJ
Organic Revolutionary makes a valuable contribution to organic agriculture history. It reads like a memoir about how the USDA National Organic Standards came about.
