The Washington Tilth Association now has its own website. Please visit
www.washingtontilth.org

"A Brief History of Tilth"

adapted by Fran Taber from "A History of Washington Tilth" by Mark Musick

(For the more detailed history go HERE)

Both the Tilth Association and Tilth Producers owe their existence to the rise of interest in ecology, the desire to ‘get back to basics,’ and the desire for the preservation of community, which had a resurgence in the early seventies. Concern for the way the agriculture of the day was causing erosion, creating hardpans with high nitrogen fertilizers, wrecking havoc with wildlife with the eradication of hedgerows and heavy DDT use, recreating conditions which had led to the dustbowl of the 30s, and finally the USDA’s pronouncements that farmers must ‘get big or get out’ led the rebellious of the era to determine to right these wrongs. To do so a group of idealists in Washington State who were willing to put their ideals to the test in pursuit of ‘real,’ back to the earth farming, got together and began to attract others who had similar concerns and goals.

It began with small meetings, grew into a statewide conference, and burgeoned into the membership organization, the Washington Tilth Association. In 1982 at the height of its strength, the all-volunteer organization had a membership of 2000 and 15 chapters, whose members were organic and sustainable growers, enthusiasts for environmental improvement, and promoters of a good and safe food supply. At the time, they were fighting an uphill battle, but as environmental disasters became apparent to the general public what with the failures of such technological advances as Thalidomide (which deformed babies), DDT; nuclear power ‘accidents,’ the nuclear waste problem, and the fears of the cold war, the environmental and eventually the organic values began to be incorporated more and more into the general consciousness. Meanwhile, the Tilth Association fell into disarray, having outgrown its ability to be run effectively by the handful of original founders and having an inadequate organizational structure to take their place.

A handful of local chapters survived, however, foremost among them Seattle and South Whidbey Tilths, running pretty much on their own until the late nineties, when a revived confederation of chapters once again began putting together the state organization which today provides coherence among the 5 active chapters, holds non-profit status and can provide a stronger voice on issues of concern than could the individual chapters.

Tilth Producers

Paralleling the growth of the Tilth Association was the growth of the Northwest Organic Food Producers Association, a group of organic farmers who cooperated to form a state-wide production, distribution and marketing group, and which became the Tilth Producers Co-operative in 1977. TPC administered the organic certification program in the state for many years. With the needs of growers as its reason for being, the co-op engaged in many activities: marketing help, growers’ meetings which turned into the annual conference and workshops, a quarterly journal; and grew stronger as more and more growers saw the benefits of organic production. In 1992, the Co-op became simply Tilth Producers, a chapter of Washington Tilth. It is the only chapter which is not ‘localized,’ but rather has approximately 400 grower-members throughout the state. It took the lead in organic certification issues in the state and is involved in working on the national organic standards. It provides a multitude of educational functions for the growers and for the general public. It works with the land grant university in research and the state department of agriculture on certification and small farm issues. It networks with other associations concerned with the survival of the small farm, the safety and purity of the food supply and issues of social equity.