Rodale Institute & The Next Gen Organic Farmers
earthpure
Posted On November 30, 2011
In this blog we are sharing an interview and excerpt, from Organic Processing Magazine, with the new Executive Director of the Rodale Insititue. The interview highlights the important work being done by the Rodale Institute which was established in 1947. Earthpure is grateful for the important work being done by the researchers at the Rodale institute. Work that is and has been used to educate policy makers, farmers and individuals about the benefits of Organic Farming.
The Rodale Institute is a true friend to the organic farming industry and if you haven't heard too much about them then read on to discover not only some of its history but also what's next for this great organization.
An Interview with Mark “Coach” Smallwood, the New Executive Director of the Rodale Institute
In 1981, when Robert Rodale met with policymakers in Washington, D.C. to make the case for organic farming, he asked, “What is it going to take for you to take me seriously and understand the importance of organic agriculture?” And they said to him, “Where’s your research?”
So that same year, Rodale launched the Farming Systems Trial (FST). Now, 30 years later, it’s America’s longest-running side-by-side comparison of organic and conventional agriculture. Over the years, the FST has helped raise the profile of organic farming in the eyes of the government, farmers and consumers. This year, the institute produced a comprehensive report based on three decades of FST data which proves that when compared to conventional, chemical-based farming, organic methods are far superior at building and maintaining soil and provide the same or better yields. The FST also proves that organic is much more sustainable when it comes to economic viability, energy usage and human health.
Recently, the Institute has launched several new efforts to support the growth of organic agriculture. Leading these initiatives is Rodale’s new executive director, Mark “Coach” Smallwood. The first 18 years after college, Smallwood was a high school basketball coach. He applied this same coaching methodology to help businesses “green” their operations. Now, he’s recruiting and coaching another group—organic farmers. To support this effort, the Rodale Institute recently launched a farmer scholarship program called “Your 2 Cents.” In coming years, Rodale will also be starting a “New FST” to study the differences in nutrient density between organic and conventional foods. Smallwood took a few minutes away from the field to chat about the FST report and Rodale’s new initiatives.
OP: How did you go from coaching to agriculture?
Coach: After almost two decades of coaching, I opened a consulting firm to basically coach small businesses in everything from manufacturing to finances. I noticed that several businesses were into environmental sustainability, and the green movement was just getting to a tipping point. Soon I was going into garden centers, golf courses, municipalities and school systems, or any other business, and taking all the chemicals off the shelf and replacing them with organic products and teaching them environmentally correct methodologies.
From there, I started working with an organic fertilizer line based in Canada and brought them to 26 states in the United States over a 15-month period. During that time, I traveled across the country and I saw what I called the agrarian genocide, the disappearance of the small family farmer. So my wife and I decided to sell our house and take on a small operation somewhere. In 2005, I was recruited by a small chain of stores called My Organic Market (MOMs) and became their first environmental coordinator. Then in 2006, some folks from Whole Foods were in the audience at a presentation I gave on sustainability and they asked me to be their Green Mission specialist. Covering six states in the mid-Atlantic region, I focused mainly on the environmental impact of the stores on an operational level, and after three years, the 38 stores I worked with were diverting 85 percent of their waste from the landfill.
I then moved on to become a “local forager,” which entailed sourcing local food in these six states. I also helped build a few co-ops and helped small operations prepare to learn how to work with Whole Foods. As I began to make inroads in local communities, Whole Foods said that they [wanted] every store in the region to have community garden space, so we set up gardens in schools, assisted-living facilities and even an alcohol rehab center. Then a landlord located by a store in Richmond, Va., gave us six acres to work with and we developed it into community garden space for the residents and to produce food for the store too. The press release on that was picked up by Organic Gardening magazine, and after spending a half a day with the editor of the magazine, she said, “You know, I would love to introduce you to the Rodale Institute. They’ve posted for a new leadership and I think you’d make a nice fit.”
OP: In the year you have been with Rodale, you have spearheaded many initiatives including the Your 2 Cents program—can you tell us more about this?
Coach: Your 2 Cents was developed to help manufacturers join us in creating a new generation of organic farmers. The old adage is, “Well, I’d like to put my 2 cents in,” so we’re letting them do that. To be a part of this, manufacturers commit to donating 2 cents per case good to support scholarships for students who want to go into organic agriculture and new farmer grants. When a company becomes a member, they get to be part of our advisory council and vote on how the money gets spent. Our very first manufacturer partner is Uncle Matt’s organic orange juice out of Clermont, Fla., which is giving us 2 cents per case good on all of their 59 oz organic juice products.
All together, there are four areas where we’re planning to focus grants through the 2 cents program. First, we’re going to support students through their degree in organic agriculture. Secondly, that same student could apply for a new farmer grant. Thirdly, we could outfit them with a labor force by literally bringing in the Marines through an organic farming training program we developed for the Farmer-Veterans Coalition. Lastly, we would help these students create research projects on their farms.
OP: You are also launching some community-based programs as well, right?
Coach: Yes, we’re doing a little twist on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). We’re calling our program “Agriculture Supporting Communities.” We’re going to start our first model here at the Institute. We’ve identified three local food deserts, and we’re going to offer a pay-as-you-go shareholder situation so that people don’t have to come up with the lump sum that many CSAs require. Then we’re going to teach people how to prepare and preserve the food in the bag for that week—and of course we’ll have a harvest celebration with all of our shareholders. Interns will also be recruited from other food deserts to do a nine-month internship with us where we teach them the Agriculture Supporting Communities business, and how to grow it. Then we send them back into their own communities. Even with just 100 customers, at $15 a week, the gross sales would be $1,500 a week or $6,000 a month for nine months of farming. That’s a living wage, even after costs. These farmers will be able to rejuvenate vacant inner city lots, provide good organic food to their community and make a living doing it.
Upon graduation from the Rodale Institute training program, they’ll have a manual, a business plan and we’ll even teach them how to pitch the idea to potential investors. Interns may also qualify for new farmer grants to begin their own business through our Your 2 Cents program. We’re working with groups like Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Boys and Girls Clubs to find leaders for this. We really want the cream of the crop, so our first group of graduates can become instructors as well.
These farmers also will act as part of the Rodale Institute Extension Service. This means that it doesn’t matter where you live; eventually, you’ll be able to pick up the phone and find a Rodale Institute farmer. From this Rodale Institute trained farmer, you can learn the system firsthand and then replicate it and create your own business operation based on what we know works and, just as importantly, what we know doesn’t work.
OP: What were some of the major findings over the 30 years of the FST? Also, you are launching the “New FST.” How does this differ from the first FST?
Coach: After 30 years of studying soil and plant health, yields, energy inputs and economic viability on 72 plots with six different treatments of organic and conventional grown side by side—its clear that organic is the winner. We found that conventional and organic agriculture yield about the same—except when there are issues like drought. Under these conditions organic far outperforms conventional. We proved that organic agricultural energy inputs are much lower and the viability in terms of economics is clearly in organics’ favor as well.
Through the FST, we have proven that organic can feed the world. What we want to do next is show how we can feed them very well. Thus, we preparing to close the door on the 30-year FST and we’re beginning the “New FST.” We’re going to start to grow all types of food, not just commodities like wheat, soy and corn, the focus of the first study. Then we are going to prove that organic food is more nutrient dense than its conventional counterpart, showing that healthy soil makes healthy food. The focus of the first FST was on the larger commodities, because the folks in D.C. said, “If you want to have us listen to you, you’ve got to replicate what we do.” Four years ago, we even added genetically modified crops in our Farming Systems Trial, because that is “what they do.” The results on those trials are showing that yet again, organic wins. All of these trials were done exactly the same way farming is done in the real world; we replicated the same exact methodologies, cultural practices and inputs. The only difference between us and the farmers was that we collected data—30 years of data led by Ph.D. scientists and published in peer-reviewed journals. The results are indisputable.With the New FST, we’re going to focus on nutrient density. We believe that when the soil is healthy, the plants are more nutrient dense. When plants are more nutrient dense, they become more than just food. We have an opportunity to take healthy soil, grow healthy food, use it as medicine and create healthy people. So when you have a nutrient-dense apple, versus an empty-calorie apple, you eat less. So we’re looking at things like obesity, we’re looking at diabetes, we’re looking at using food to help mitigate and maybe even prevent some of the issues that are just hurting Americans. We’re going to replicate the same seed, same treatments, same planting time, same irrigation, so on and so forth, conventional right next to organic. What we do know is that there are two types of systems in our trials. There’s one that relies on a science called chemistry, that’s conventional agriculture, and there’s one that relies on a science called biology. Organic growers are biological farmers and biologically healthy soil creates nutrient-dense, healthy plants, therefore healthy food. We’re in that design phase right now, but we know we will have spring, summer and fall crop rotations.
OP: What other projects is the Rodale Institute working on?
Coach: Another challenge we have been tackling is how to generate revenue besides grants and donations. This economy is really tough, and so gifts aren’t as forthcoming as they have been, and so my thought was to begin to create our own revenue. So we are now working with an organic fertilizer manufacturer to develop a private label retail line for home lawn and garden that we hope to launch by next spring.
To help farmers really understand organic agriculture, we’re also going to have some educational events revolving around Dr. Elaine Ingham, our chief scientist and a world renowned soil microbiologist. Starting this fall, she will be offering classes that show that when soil microorganisms are healthy, plants thrive and weeds, disease and pests do not. She will also work with farmers to identify under a microscope the organisms that are in their soil (or not in their soil) and how to improve them. The first class will be at the Institute, but we can do classes remotely and on the web. She is available for growers at any level, be it backyard or major agriculture. I want to create a massive awakening about the importance of soil health and have this information make its way into the mainstream.
Photos courtesy of Organic Processing Magazine
Whew! Did you manage to "digest" all that information? We love to read up on the Rodale Institute and hope you enjoy it as well. Can't wait to see what the future holds for organic farming, sustainability and most importantly, our planet.
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