The Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture was founded in
1983 by its then and current Executive Director, Garth Youngberg. It is a
nonprofit research and education instition whose purpose is "to encourage and
facilitate the adoption of low cost, resource conserving, and environmentally
sound farming methods."
Its activities include:
1) A monthly newsletter, "Alternative Agriculture News" (which is posted on
this message group);
2) A quarterly professional journal of research and commentary, "American
Journal of Alternative Agriculture";
3) workshops and conferences, the next of which, organized jointly with
Tufts University and American Farmland Trust, is on the theme "Environmental
Enhancement through Agriculture," November 15-17, Boston, Mass. (more on this
later);
4) reports on agricultural policy issues, the most recent of which is
"Intensive Agriculture and Environmental Quality: Examining the Newest
Agricultural Myth."
5) a host of other coordination and outreach activities on behalf of
agricultural sustainability.
It originally was called simply Institute for Alternative Agriculture, but
when it was ten years old it was renamed "Henry A. Wallace Institute for
Alternative Agriculture" to honor both the distinguished Secretary of
Agriculture during Franklin Roosevelt's first two terms (and Vice President
during the third), and his daughter, Mrs. Jean Wallace Douglas, a
longstanding supporter and the Institute's Honorary President.
The reasons that Henry Wallace is an appropriate namesake were set forth in
an article by Don Hadwiger, called "Henry A. Wallace, champion of a durable
agriculture" (Am. J. Alternative Agric., Vol. 8, No. 1, 1993, pp. 2-3). Some
excerpts:
Henry A. Wallace envisioned a more enduring world, reborn from depression
and war... Wallace stated several missions for government, especially in
relation to agriculture: to help farmers gain spiritual as well as
material rewards from their chosen occupation; to stabilize the
agricultural economy; to provide an ever-normal granary that would keep
food supplies in readiness for urgent need; to preserve the soil and
other natural resources across America and throughout the world; and to
increase and sustain food production worldwide in order to meet the needs
of a massive human population.... He was convinced that human
civilizations lasted only so long as they treasured and protected the
fragile natural environments of their agricultures... His holistic
approach kept him open to new perspectives and prepared for inevitable
changes, ready to shape a more productive and durable agriculture.
For more information about becoming a member or subscribing to their
publications, you can reach them at 301-441-8777; hawiaa@access.digex.net;
or 9200 Edmonston Road, Suite 117, Greenbelt, MD 20770-1551.
William Lockeretz
Editor, Am. J. Alt. Agric.
NOTE: If you are a recent subscriber to SANET-MG, you may not have seen a
notice I posted a few months back about the conference on "Environmental
Enhancement through Agriculture." There still is time to register. I won't
clog the list with the entire message again, but those of you who want more
information should drop me a note: wlockeretz@infonet.tufts.edu.