“I laid out the results of the (Organic) task force’s work. I ended by saying something to the effect, ‘This looks doable. Let’s adopt these standards by regulation.’ This was a novel idea. Rick Lowerre (Deputy Director of Regulatory) sort of gulped and said, ‘Can we do that?’ I had read TDA’s statute and said, ‘Yes, we can.’ Nobody in […]
Organic Blog 5 Keith Jones
This is the fifth blog on the subject of Texas creating the first organic label. Please read the first 4 which explains the background of organics in Texas. Once the process of organic certification had been set up, someone needed to enforce it. In Texas, that someone was Keith Jones. “I was looking to get back into agriculture. I […]
Texas Organic Label part 4
Dennis Holbrook was appointed by Hightower to the Texas Organic Advisory Board that Dan Kelley was assembling that would craft a Texas Organic Label. We talked about that process in the previous blog. Holbrook has farmed organic in South Texas for over 40 years. Holbrook is a bit of a legend in Texas organic circles. He has a story to […]
PHIT New Project
Hightower Campaign Poster The Hightower Years Farms on Fire The Texas Camelot PHIT is beginning a new oral history project. The project title is still a work in progress, but the subject matter is pretty solid. We are collecting participant stories on the impact that the Texas Department of Agriculture made on state and national policies during the years […]