You may know of Jim Hightower for his larger than life personality and quick wit, but his tenure with the Texas Department of Agriculture is no laughing matter. In his eight years in office, he ushered in a wave of populist reforms that have largely been written out of history. View our Blog Posts View our Video Essays […]
Texas Organic Label First in Nation
First Texas official Organic Label Texas was first State to certify an Organic Label for produce. That’s right—TEXAS! In 1987, the Texas Department of Agriculture established an official State label guaranteeing that the produce was organically grown. It is a little known fact. It is so little known that it has almost been completely written out of the history books. […]
Texas Ag Department and Nuclear Waste
Billboard in Deaf Smith County This is the first post on PHIT’s oral interviews with Texas Department of Agriculture Hightower years( 1983-1991). The goal of the TDA was to create an agricultural economic environment that would deliver food that was safe for the consumer, safe for the farmworker, safe for the planet, and would allow the family farmer and family […]
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 […]