Reuther Farming Project Collection (VFC2021-0003)

Reuther Farming Project Collection (VFC2021-0003)

African American farmers

Agriculture

Agriculture--Environmental aspects

Agriculture--Environmental aspects

Biodynamic agriculture

Community-supported agriculture

Dairy cattle

Dairy farming

Dairy products

Farm mechanization

Farmers

Flour mills

Food consumption

Food production

Forage plants

Grain

Grain--Milling

Grazing

Land use, Rural

Local foods

Maple sugar

Maple syrup

Organic farming

Organic farming--Government policy

Pasture

Real Property (LCSH)

Soils and nutrition

Soils--Environmental aspects

Wheat

Middlebury College (Corporate Body)

Organic Valley (Corporate Body)

Real Organic Project (Corporate Body)

Vermont Farmers Food Center (Corporate Body)

The Reuther Farming Project Collection (VFC2021-0003) consists of 18 interviews conducted by Katelyn Reuther between March 22 and December 6, 2020 under the auspices of her reserarch project Understanding “Organic”: Organic Food and Agriculture in Vermont and Beyond.

The majority of people interviewed for the project are personal connections of Reuther who reside in Vermont. There are a handful more from outside of Vermont who were also included. Due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, these intervews were conducted remotely using varous platforms including Skype, Zoom and via telephone.

Reuther's efforts grew out of a desire to better understand the concept of “organic” in food and agriculture. Organic food and agriculture as we know it today - that is, standardized and regulated by the USDA - is fairly new. In the past two decades, the U.S.’s organic industry has taken off and organic products of all kinds have found their way into stores everywhere. Despite organic food’s popularity in the U.S. and across the world, there is a great amount of misinformation and misunderstanding, especially amongst consumers, about what “organic” actually means. At the same time, farmers and food producers themselves have varying definitions of “organic” and use different production practices depending on their own set of values.

The increasing commercialization and industrialization of organic agriculture has given rise to a wide spectrum of organic producers and led to fractures within the organic community. As financial interests and social and environmental consciousness compete, many feel that the integrity and very foundation of “organic” are at risk.

With all of this in mind, Reuther set out to record the first-hand accounts of organic farmers, food makers, and other professionals working in this field. Through these accounts, she explored their attitudes and views toward organic food and farming, and sought to understand the values that drive them in their work.

Despite the limited scope of this project, Reuther hopes these individual stories can collectively help to shed light on the current state of organic agriculture within the U.S. and perhaps provide some insights into how we can increase the viability of organic agriculture long-term.

Antonucci, Gabriel (Interviewee)

Baird, Jenna (Interviewee)

Bansen, Jonathan (Interviewee)

Beidler, Brent (Interviewee)

Beidler, Regina (Interviewee)

Brakeley, Megan (Interviewee)

Chapman, David (Interviewee)

Fullam, Rebecca (Interviewee)

George, Randy (Interviewee)

Gleason, Ben (Interviewee)

Hamilton, Jamie (Interviewee)

Johnson, Peter (Interviewee)

Lynch, Heidi (Interviewee)

Martin, Ernest (Interviewee)

Mays, Rhyston (Interviewee)

Oedel, Grace (Interviewee)

Powsner, Jacob (Interviewee)

Tashie, Carol (Interviewee)

Wodehouse, Heather (Interviewee)

Yoder, Ryan (Interviewee)

2020

Reuther, Katelyn (Interviewer)

(c) 2020 Vermont Folklife Center and the respective individual interviewees.

United Sates (nation)

New York (state)

Oregon (state)

Vermont (state)