Title: Lynn Coody Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1986-2002 (bulk 1995-1999)

Creator:

• Coody, Lynn S. (Lynn Stockton), 1952-

Call Number: Mss 1187

Quantity: 1.0 cubic foot (1 records center carton)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers, mainly 1995-1999, of Lynn Coody, organic systems consultant, technical advisor, and policy analyst, documenting her work on organic standards writing, systems analysis, and evaluation of organic agriculture inputs. Included are materials for two National Organic Standards Board meetings (1995 and 1996), related to consideration of materials on the National List used in organic food production, and working files for the Organic Trade Association's American Organic Standards project (1999).

Note:

Forms part of the Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Collection.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss01187

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Lynn Stockton Coody was born in 1952. She graduated from Colby College with a B.A. in biology and environmental studies in 1974, and from the University of Oregon with a M.S. in biology with a specialty in systematic ecology in 1978.

From 1978 to 1983, she taught biology at a community college, where she developed a course on organic farming. During this time (1978-1986) she also served as general manager of an organic farm that introduced community supported agriculture in Oregon. In 1982 Coody founded Organic Agsystems Consulting, which provides consulting services and technical advice to the organic food industry. She served on the Executive Committee (1982-1987) of the Tilth Association, a five-state organization supporting organic agriculture research and education, and served as President for two years. She also acted as technical advisor (1989-1990) to Kathleen Merrigan, an aide to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) who introduced the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.

Coody served on the Materials Review Committee (1992-1996) sponsored by Oregon Tilth and California Certified Organic Farmers and the Materials Evaluation Committee of the Organic Foods Production Association of North America (OFPANA, 1986-1991). She continued her involvement with OFPANA's successor organization, the Organic Trade Association (OTA), also noted here. From 1988 to 1999 she co-authored and served as principal lobbyist for the Oregon Organic Food Law (Senate Bill 400). She served in various capacities at Oregon Tilth, a statewide organization that supports organic agriculture: founding President (1984-1987); chair of the Agricultural Policy Committee (1988-1995); Agricultural Policy Director (1995-1999); Director of Technical Programs (1993-1999); Advisory Committee Convening Chair, Secretary, and member (2012-2015); and worked on writing its first organic standards in 1987. She was also a member of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Advisory Committee on Organic Farming and chair of the Materials Subcommittee (1989-1991).

She served as a member of the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) for the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) from 1994 to 2000 and participated in its review of materials under consideration for the National List of approved and prohibited substances for use in organic agriculture. From 1996 to 1998 Coody served as founding policy director of the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), an independent evaluator of inputs for organic agriculture production, processing, and handling. She also served on the Standards Committee of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM, 1996-1999), and was an officer of IFOAM's 2002 General Assembly.

In 1999 she was one of the authors of the American Organic Standards (AOS), a project initiated by the Organic Trade Association that attempted to establish a unified, community-based, national organic standard that was developed in response to the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Proposed Organic Rule, and was built on existing OTA guidelines for organic production (including crops, livestock, processing, handling, and labeling). It also sought to establish certification and accreditation guidelines, to comply with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and recommendations of the NOSB, and to represent a codified position, based on organic stakeholder input, in anticipation of the next USDA Proposed Organic Rule. The AOS project was managed by OTA's Quality Assurance Committee, its Organic Certifiers Council, and a representative from the Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture's Organic Working Group. Coody's other leadership roles in the OTA include: Accreditation Subcommittee member and co-chair (1999-2001), chair (2002-2005); Certification Subcommittee member (1999-2005); Quality Assurance Council (standards setting body) member (1999-2005).

She served as founding chair (2005-2009) of the Oregon Organic Coalition, and wrote its articles of incorporation and other organizational documents, as well as acting as organic policy representative on its Leadership Council (2005-present). Coody also worked on the National Organic Action Plan (NOAP) project as a writer and committee member (2005-2009). From 2002 to 2014, she acted as technical advisor to the National Organic Coalition and from 2004 to 2012 as an assessor and technical expert for the National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation program of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Coody has given numerous presentations at professional conferences, and testimony before government agencies including the National Organic Standards Board, House and Senate Committees, the Environmental Protection Agency, and various departments in the state of Oregon. She has written or co-written numerous publications, and served as U.S. correspondent (2002-2010) for The Organic Standard, a trade journal published in Sweden.

Included among several honors and awards Coody has received are: Organic Gardener of the Year (1985) from Organic Gardening Magazine; Safe Food Trailblazer (1990) from the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Organic Activist of the Year (1993) from the Oregon Organic Council; Tilth Pioneer (2004) from Tilth Producers of Washington and Oregon Tilth; Exemplary Service Award (2009) from Oregon Tilth; and Award for Excellence: Organic Policy (2010) from the Oregon Organic Coalition.

Currently, in addition to operating her firm, Organic Agsystems Consulting, she serves as a policy analyst and compliance consultant with the Organically Grown Company (since 1992), a policy advisor for the Organic Produce Wholesalers Coalition (2006-present), and a visiting professor in a post-graduate program on international certification and accreditation systems for organic agriculture in Bari, Italy (2006-present).

While the scope of Coody's work encompasses state, national, and international levels, the present collection primarily documents her work for the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and the American Organic Standards (AOS) project. The papers consist of meeting materials, including draft minutes, correspondence, and TAP reviewer comment forms, for two NOSB meetings (Austin, Texas, 1995; and Indianapolis, Indiana, 1996) when materials were considered for the National List; and annotated first and second drafts (June and August 1999) of the AOS as well as an annotated copy of version 1 (October 1999), and public comments submitted on AOS drafts 1 and 2. The document was drafted for the Organic Trade Association and co-written by Lynn Coody (with James Riddle and Emily Brown Rosen).

Also included are two other items from the Organic Trade Association: a report comparing U.S. and European Union organic legislation and a set of industry guidelines; and a galley proof of a report by Mark Lipson on organic research from the Organic Farming Research Foundation.

Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Publications (M2016-010)

Acquisition Information

Presented by Lynn Coody, Eugene, Oregon, January 6, 2016. Accession Number: M2016-009

Processing Information

Processed by Julia Wong, January 2016.

Mss 1187	National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting materials Note: Regarding materials on the National List; includes comment forms/ballots and information on materials under consideration.
Box   1 Folder   1-14	Austin, Texas, 1995 October 30-November 3
Box   1 Folder   15-21	Indianapolis, Indiana, 1996 September 18
Box   1 Folder   21a	Draft minutes, 1997
Box   1 Folder   22	Ontario, Canada, 1998 March 16-20 Note: Also OMRI, new compost standards, 1998.
	Organic Trade Association (OTA)
	American Organic Standards (AOS) / compiled by James A. Riddle, Emily Brown Rosen, and Lynn S. Coody
Box   1 Folder   23	General, 1999
Box   1 Folder   24	Draft 1, annotated, 1999 June 1
Box   1 Folder   25-36	Comments, 1999 June 1
Box   1 Folder   37	Draft 2, annotated, 1999 August 1
Box   1 Folder   38-48	Comments
Box   1 Folder   49-50	Version 1: October 20, 1999 Note: With annotations and web updates: “official version - downloaded 12/26/02”
Box   1 Folder   51	“Organic Trade Association's Comparative Analysis of the United States National Organic Program (7 CFR 205) and the European Union Organic Legislation (EEC 2092/91 & Amendments)” / prepared by Sustainable Strategies--Advisors in Food and Agriculture, 2002 August
Box   1 Folder   52	“Guidelines for the Organic Industry” / Organic Food Producers of North America (OFPANA), 1986, 2nd rev. ed., 1992 Note: 3rd rev. in progress.
Box   1 Folder   53	“Searching for the 'O-Word'” / Mark Lipson, Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), galley proof - conference edition, 1997