The papers document Schwartz’s involvement in the policymaking process for environmental legislation, organic certification on the national level and Washington State, organic livestock standards, and mobilization around the effects of international trade agreements on domestic agriculture. A folder of documents from the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting and protests in 1999 documents the relationship between food activism and other political movements. Records relating to Washington Tilth Producers, an organic growers’ organization with which Schwartz has been involved for many years, are largely represented by phone logs related to its Legislative Committee (found in the OFAC series). Records for the Washington Organic Certification Advisory Committee, on which Schwartz served, consist primarily of an information packet on the Organic Labeling Act prepared for an Alliance of Organic Food Certifiers meeting, and include sample forms for inspection reports and materials registration.
The collection includes records from several sustainable agriculture and environmental organizations with which Schwartz was involved (usually as a board member), and is organized in five series: ORGANIC FARMERS’ ASSOCIATIONS COUNCIL (OFAC), ORGANIC FOODS PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA (OFPANA, later renamed the Organic Trade Association (OTA)), SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP (SAWG), WASHINGTON TOXICS COALITION (WTC), and SUBJECT FILE.
The ORGANIC FARMERS’ ASSOCIATIONS COUNCIL (OFAC) series includes administrative files, Board of Directors meeting materials and minutes, reports, member mailings, grant files, and correspondence. A considerable segment of the correspondence from 1989-1990 concerns the effort to establish a national organic standard and the accompanying debate over allowable materials in organic production. Researchers should be aware that board and committee materials are also found throughout the correspondence files. Phone logs in this series include conversations on developing organic livestock standards.
The ORGANIC FOODS PRODUCTION ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA (OFPANA) series includes meeting materials and minutes of the industry trade group (later renamed the Organic Trade Association (OTA)); records of its Legislative/Governmental Affairs Council on which Schwartz served; records of the livestock and manufacturing, processing, packaging, and labeling (MPPL) committees; files relating to organic standards and accreditation; materials list (substances allowed in organic production); and its Organic Certifiers Caucus. Included in this series are materials regarding the situation for implementation of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, and correspondence concerning evaluation of organic inputs.
The SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE WORKING GROUP (SAWG) series includes records from the National Dialogue, which was a series of meetings held around the country to encourage discussion among grassroots groups on specific policy changes on which to focus in the 1995 Farm Bill, including policy option paper drafts, a facilitator’s guide, and correspondence. Records concerning two national conferences on the National Dialogue meetings are also included. The subsequent Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture focused on guiding policies identified by Dialogue participants through the legislative and political process. Also included in these files are records relating to the formation of the Western Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (WSAWG), which began with a meeting in Reno, Nevada, in 1993. In addition to representatives from eight western states, two Canadian provinces (Alberta and British Columbia) were also represented.
The WASHINGTON TOXICS COALITION (WTC), on whose board Schwartz served, advocated for agricultural pesticide and household chemical reduction strategies. WTC files include board meeting materials, financial reports, background information on meeting topics, annual reports, a newsletter, and documents relating to litigation on hazardous waste siting, as well as general information the organization compiled relating to lowering reliance on hazardous chemicals.
The SUBJECT FILE series includes files on state, regional, and national issues. A small quantity of documents on the Organic Certification Advisory Committee and the Organic Labeling Act in Washington State is included, as well as meeting materials from the Alliance of Organic Food Certifiers (AOFC). Washington Department of Ecology records relating to Schwartz’s service on a Citizens Advisory Committee to develop an Agricultural Pesticides and Nutrient Management Strategy include meeting agendas, notes, evaluations, several working drafts of the group’s final paper on pesticide and nutrient strategy and ground water protection, and public meeting comments. Also included are files on certification programs in other states and in Europe, and passage of the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990. The sustainable agriculture folders contain information on various organizations across the country, and include sample newsletters from several of the groups. The series also includes documentation on attempts to mobilize the sustainable agriculture community on international trade agreements and ramifications for domestic farm policy, environmental regulations, and consumer food safety issues. One folder concerns activism centered on the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting in Seattle in 1999, particularly Food and Agriculture Day on December 2, 1999.
