I was in Woody Hills Co-op, but never made it to Avenues. When I was on the board of Wheatsville Food Co-op--and working at TDA for Hightower--we hosted him for a big gathering in the parking lot as he gave Wheatsville the certificate as the first certified organic retail outlet in the state! Back up at TDA, it was Keith Jones who put together the organic project; he went on to work with the new USDA organic certification project. Of course, Frank Ford and his Arrowhead Mills organics were located in the Panhandle, where DOE wanted to dig the nation's nuclear waste dump. So, I was glad I got to meet Ford as we put out the word that a nuclear dump there would kill organic's marketability.
We do not live in Texas, but our home state of Georgia has a huge rural population engaged in agriculture (not just peanuts and peaches). The Hightower model would be such an incredible benefit! It is great to learn so much more about Jim, and we love that he did not just retire and rest on his laurels, but found other ways to work for the people who really carry this country on their backs. Thank you!
Your article reminds me of a story I heard when my wife and I visited Guadalupe Peak, in far west Texas, some years ago. There is quite a large creek that flows out of the Guadalupe massif, and we were told that, back in horse and wagon days, somebody used the water from the creek to grow vegetables, which they would take to the railroad station that is maybe twenty miles south of Guadalupe to sell their produce/put it on the train to get it to market. Because it is so hot out there and they had no way to refrigerate the produce, the produce wagons moved at night to keep the produce cool.
That's rather tangental to your account of helping midwife organic certification in Texas, but if you want to tell stories about the amazing things Texas farmers have done, it might be worth looking into for more details--I'm not sure if this horticultural outpost flourished back when everything was "organic" because that's all they had, or in the bad old days of DDT, lead arsenate, and mercury fungicides.
Thanks for reminding us of this great tale of countercultural history!
For some years, late 70s till early 90s, there was a pretty good food co-op in Athens, OH, home of Ohio U. That's in the county next to mine. We (I became a member) had Deaf Smith peanut butter in 5-gallon buckets, bring your own container. Really good! Very sorry when the co-op closed.
Once again, as the Bible states, the love money IS the root of all evil. Agribusiness is greedy well beyond measure and that is what makes them so evil and ruthless. If America fails to deal with this greed, as Teddy Roosevelt did, I fear it is doomed as a nation. America also needs to quit giving rich citizens low tax welfare.
Hightower and the Business of Organics in Texas
Such an honor to promote Texas Agriculture during those years under the leadership of Jim Hightower! Karen DeCuennick Mitchell
I was in Woody Hills Co-op, but never made it to Avenues. When I was on the board of Wheatsville Food Co-op--and working at TDA for Hightower--we hosted him for a big gathering in the parking lot as he gave Wheatsville the certificate as the first certified organic retail outlet in the state! Back up at TDA, it was Keith Jones who put together the organic project; he went on to work with the new USDA organic certification project. Of course, Frank Ford and his Arrowhead Mills organics were located in the Panhandle, where DOE wanted to dig the nation's nuclear waste dump. So, I was glad I got to meet Ford as we put out the word that a nuclear dump there would kill organic's marketability.
We do not live in Texas, but our home state of Georgia has a huge rural population engaged in agriculture (not just peanuts and peaches). The Hightower model would be such an incredible benefit! It is great to learn so much more about Jim, and we love that he did not just retire and rest on his laurels, but found other ways to work for the people who really carry this country on their backs. Thank you!
Your article reminds me of a story I heard when my wife and I visited Guadalupe Peak, in far west Texas, some years ago. There is quite a large creek that flows out of the Guadalupe massif, and we were told that, back in horse and wagon days, somebody used the water from the creek to grow vegetables, which they would take to the railroad station that is maybe twenty miles south of Guadalupe to sell their produce/put it on the train to get it to market. Because it is so hot out there and they had no way to refrigerate the produce, the produce wagons moved at night to keep the produce cool.
That's rather tangental to your account of helping midwife organic certification in Texas, but if you want to tell stories about the amazing things Texas farmers have done, it might be worth looking into for more details--I'm not sure if this horticultural outpost flourished back when everything was "organic" because that's all they had, or in the bad old days of DDT, lead arsenate, and mercury fungicides.
Thanks for reminding us of this great tale of countercultural history!
Always liked HEB. Wish they would come west...to AZ.
For some years, late 70s till early 90s, there was a pretty good food co-op in Athens, OH, home of Ohio U. That's in the county next to mine. We (I became a member) had Deaf Smith peanut butter in 5-gallon buckets, bring your own container. Really good! Very sorry when the co-op closed.
Once again, as the Bible states, the love money IS the root of all evil. Agribusiness is greedy well beyond measure and that is what makes them so evil and ruthless. If America fails to deal with this greed, as Teddy Roosevelt did, I fear it is doomed as a nation. America also needs to quit giving rich citizens low tax welfare.