Summary Information
James and Rebecca Goodman Papers
1993-2018
Mss 1174
0.8 cubic feet (2 archives boxes) and 14.7 megabytes
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers, 1993-2018, of James “Jim” Goodman, organic dairy and direct market beef farmer, writer, speaker, and activist, documenting his activities and Jim and Rebecca Goodman's involvement with environmental, consumer, and organic and sustainable agriculture organizations, including the Center for Food Safety (CFS), Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA), Family Farm Defenders (FFD), and the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES). Jim Goodman was also a 2008-2009 Food and Society Policy Fellow. Includes writings, correspondence, speaking notes, and news clippings. Also materials related to the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) in dairy cattle.
Forms part of the Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Collection.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01174 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
James P. Goodman was born in 1954 in Wonewoc, Wisconsin. The Goodman family has held land in Wisconsin since 1848, when Goodman's great-grandfather Thomas, an Irish immigrant, purchased land from a veteran of the War of 1812. Around 1898 the family purchased the land on which the present farm stands. James Goodman graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville in 1976 with a B.S. in Animal Science, and earned a M.S. in Reproductive Physiology from South Dakota State University in 1979. He and his wife Rebecca and his brother Francis began farming on his family's 430-acre dairy, beef, and crop farm in 1979. Goodman was a director of the Wisconsin Electric Cooperative Association from 1987 to 1997, and has been a director of the Vernon Electric Cooperative, Westby, Wisconsin, since 1984. Rebecca Goodman graduated from Abbott-Northwestern School of Nursing, and in addition to her work on the farm feeding cattle, managing paddocks, and direct marketing farm products, also works off the farm in nursing.
Increasingly concerned about the herbicides and chemical fertilizers that were part of conventional agriculture, the Goodmans made a commitment to using organic farming practices in 1993 (Northwood Farm was certified organic in 1999). Jim Goodman subsequently participated in numerous activities and meetings of the sustainable agriculture community, including the National Dialogue on Sustainable Agriculture (1994) and the National Farm Energy meeting (1996) among others. He has taught classes and presented workshops at the Organic Farming Conference and its Organic University, both sponsored by the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES); the Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group; the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair; University of Wisconsin-Baraboo; and Western Wisconsin Technical College in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Goodman served as a campaign consultant on farm issues to candidates for the Wisconsin governor's office, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Senate. He has also served on a number of committees for the USDA's North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program (1999-2001), was Wisconsin representative to the Administrative Council (1998- 2002 and 2011-2015) and chair (2013-2015), and a member of the USDA National Research, Education and Economics Advisory Board (two terms, 2013-2017). He has served on the Board of Advisors for the Center for Food Safety (CFS, Jim and Rebecca Goodman, 1999-present), Organic Consumers Association (OCA, Jim and Rebecca Goodman, 2005-present), and the Board of Directors of the Midwest Organic Services Association (MOSA, 2004-2008), Family Farm Defenders (FFD, Jim and Rebecca Goodman, 2009-present), and Midwest Environmental Advocates (Jim and Rebecca Goodman, 2009-present).
Deeply concerned about the movement toward genetically modified seeds as part of the globalization of agriculture, Jim Goodman has written and spoken about the threats both represent to the livelihoods of small farmers in this country and abroad. In 2000 and 2002, he and two other farmers (John Kinsman and Corky Jones) visited the United Kingdom to speak about the experience of American small farmers and the drawbacks of genetically modified crops. As part of his commitment to social justice for farmworkers, he participated in protests around the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting and the Via Campesina farmers march in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003. In 2004, he traveled to Ireland and Italy, where he was a delegate to the 2004 Terra Madre meeting of Slow Food International in Turin, Italy. He has submitted testimonies to federal, state, and local regulatory agencies related to agricultural and environmental issues and participated in sessions held by the American Farmland Trust related to the 2007 Farm Bill. He has written articles and columns for local and national publications, and was selected as a 2008-2009 Food and Society Policy Fellow, a two-year, part-time fellowship sponsored by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Jefferson Institute to enable recipients to promote sustainable agriculture through mass media. He also participated in the Occupy Wall Street Farmers March in New York City on December 4, 2011.
Scope and Content Note
The Goodmans' involvement with environmental, consumer, and organic and sustainable agriculture organizations is primarily documented by Jim Goodman's writings: articles, testimony, presentation notes, letters to the editor, and op-ed pieces written for various publications including local newspapers and other agricultural and political journals with a national readership. Also included is a small amount of correspondence. While there are no board or committee minutes, some meeting notes are included. The electronic files consist almost entirely of Goodman's writings, some of which were written during his 2008-2009 Food and Society Policy fellowship, plus a resource list he compiled for presentations, and an article by another writer that references one of Goodman's op-ed pieces. Topics most strongly documented in the writings are genetically modified (GM) crops and globalization.
Also included are papers related to the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH or BGH) or bovine somatotropin (BST) to increase milk production in dairy cattle. The rBGH issue and the mandatory assessment fees on all milk sold to fund the efforts of the National Dairy Board (NDB) were key issues that led to Jim Goodman's involvement in the Dump the National Dairy Board Campaign, an initiative that led to the founding of the Family Farm Defenders organization. Included are correspondence, filings of legal documents relating to a 1993 referendum that challenged the Dairy Promotion and Research Order assessment fees, papers on rBGH, press releases from various organizations, and news clippings.
Related Material
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by James and Rebecca Goodman, Wonewoc, Wisconsin, February 17, 2015 and December 6, 2018. Accession Number: M2015-127
Processed by Julia Wong, August 2015 and December 2018.
Contents List
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Mss 1174
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Center for Food Safety (CFS)
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Box
1
Folder
1
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Correspondence, 1998-1999
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Box
1
Folder
2
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Newsletter, 1999 Spring
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Box
1
Folder
3
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Petitions regarding transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), 1993-1999
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Box
1
Folder
4
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To Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 1999
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Box
1
Folder
5
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To Health and Human Services (HHS), 1999
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Box
1
Folder
6
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Poster: Genetically Modified [GM] Crops and Foods: Worldwide Regulation, Prohibition and Production, 2005
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Box
1
Folder
7
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Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), 1995-1997, 2006
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Electronic
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Writings, 2008, undated
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Box
1
Folder
8
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Correspondence, 1995-2000, undated
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Dump the National Dairy Board Campaign
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Box
2
Folder
1
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Expense sheet, 1993 April 9
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Box
2
Folder
2-3
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Lawsuit (NDPRB No. 93-1), filed documents, 1993-1994
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Family Farm Defenders (FFD)
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Box
2
Folder
4
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Correspondence with attorney regarding referendum, 1994-1995
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Box
2
Folder
5
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Grant application, Campaign for Human Development (CHD), 1995
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Box
1
Folder
9
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Food and Society Policy Fellowship, 2007
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Box
1
Folder
10
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Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)/rBGH, 1993-2015
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Box
2
Folder
6
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BGH Labeling Committee, Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture (CSA)/Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SAWG), 1994
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Box
2
Folder
7
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Correspondence, memos regarding rBGH, 1993-1995
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Box
2
Folder
8
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Fairview Industries BGH review, 1992
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Box
2
Folder
9
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Index of BGH documents, 1993?
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Labeling hearings (BST/BGH)
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Washington, D.C., 1993 May 6
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Wisconsin, 1993 July
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Box
2
Folder
10
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News clippings, 1993-1994
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Box
1
Folder
13
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UK tour, 2000, 2002
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Electronic
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Writings, 2003-2014
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Box
1
Folder
14
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Globalization, 2001-2015
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Box
1
Folder
15
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Occupy Wall Street movement, 2011-2012
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Box
1
Folder
16
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Speaking notes, 2002-2003, undated
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Box
1
Folder
17-18
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World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting, Cancun, Mexico, 2003 September
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Electronic
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Writings, 2003-2014
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Box
1
Folder
19
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Local and sustainable food systems, 2000, 2003, 2012
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Box
1
Folder
20
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National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) nomination, 2000
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Box
1
Folder
21
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News clippings, 1995-2008, undated
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Box
1
Folder
22
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Northwood Farm, 1995-2018
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Box
1
Folder
23
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Organic farming, 2008-2009, undated
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Electronic
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Writings, 2006, 2008, undated
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Box
1
Folder
24
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Organic Farming Conference (OFC) workshop: Beef Basics: Organically!, 2001 March 16
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Box
1
Folder
25
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Slow Food USA, 2004
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Writings
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Electronic
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Environment, 2009, 2012, undated
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Electronic
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General, 2006-2014
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Electronic
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Obama administration, 2008-2012
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Electronic
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Wisconsin Act 10 legislation, 2011-2012
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