The James Riddle and Joyce Ford Papers document the activities of two individuals who have worked in organic agriculture for nearly their entire careers. Their work has influenced organic standards legislation in the United States, and organic certification inspection worldwide through their published writings and training workshops. Jim Riddle's service with multiple organizations and his role as a spokesperson for organic agriculture is also well-documented in the collection, which is arranged in five series: SUBJECT FILES, NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM (NOP) and NATIONAL ORGANIC STANDARDS BOARD (NOSB), ORGANIZATIONS, WRITINGS AND PRESENTATIONS, and TRAINING MATERIALS AND RESOURCES. The organic inspector training materials and a project comparing national and international organic standards document the work of both Ford and Riddle. Many of the other materials relate to Jim Riddle, while the materials on organic retailing practices primarily reflect Joyce Ford's work. The original collection was processed in 2013; additions to the papers were processed in 2023, with minor renumbering of some folders in the original collection. The National Organic Program (NOP) and National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) materials were moved from Subject Files to a separate series. Additions were incorporated into the existing collection, with the exception of the electronic records, including digital photographs, which form Part 2 of the finding aid.
SUBJECT FILES include papers related to topics on which Riddle and Ford focused or had research interests, such as the Farm Bill, the organic cost-share certification program, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), livestock management, and retail marketing of organic products. Also included in this series are materials documenting Riddle's service as a delegate to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, relating to international organic labeling guidelines. Other topics documented in these files include efforts to modify the organic standard to allow use of non-organic inputs, the resulting challenges and lawsuits, and the response of organic producers and consumers who sought to maintain the integrity of the organic standard, including the formation in 2003 of an organic caucus composed of legislators sympathetic to organic agriculture. The contract and consulting work Riddle and Ford performed for various projects is also part of this series.
The NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM (NOP) and NATIONAL ORGANIC STANDARDS BOARD (NOSB) series documents work on the proposed rule for the National Organic Program (NOP) and Riddle's role on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) from 2001 to 2006, including his tenure as Board chair in 2004-2005.
The ORGANIZATIONS series includes records from the Minnesota Organic Advisory Task Force (MOATF), and the University of Minnesota, where Riddle held the Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems (2003-2004) and served as Organic Outreach Coordinator for the Southwest Research and Outreach Center (2006-2013). Also included are records relating to the Independent Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA). Also included are other organizations relating to organic agriculture, such as the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) and Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides. Types of records in this series include board meeting agendas and minutes, committee records, correspondence, and working notes and research materials.
Of note under the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) are papers relating to the organic certification cost-share program, the first such program implemented in the United States. It added two organic farmers to MDA's shared savings loan review panel overseeing sustainable agriculture (SA) loans, added two organic farmers to MDA's SA technical review panel for SA research grants, and provided for general promotion of organic agriculture in the state. Governor Jesse Ventura signed the Organic Agriculture Promotion and Education Act into law on May 25, 1999. Organic certification cost-share later became a national program with the passage of the 2002 Farm Bill.
The WRITINGS AND PRESENTATIONS series includes articles, conference materials, and speech and presentation records. Some files contain copies of presentations; others primarily contain program and session information and other conference records, such as printed copies of presentations by others. Riddle and Ford's comparative analysis of national and international organic standards, What's in an Organic Standard?, is also included in this series, as well as material related to retailing. Additionally, researchers should be aware that other writings by Riddle will be found throughout the other series in the collection.
TRAINING MATERIALS AND RESOURCES include versions of the organic certification manual, organic certification form templates, training coordinators manual, and records documenting Riddle and Ford's work as organic inspector educators, including copies of workshop outlines, PowerPoint presentations, class handouts, and exercises. Electronic files document the international scope of Riddle and Ford's activities, with trainings in Canada, Russia, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, and Costa Rica, as well as many domestic trainings. Also included are some IOIA training materials written by others which were presented at sessions at which Riddle and/or Ford also made presentations.
A significant part of the collection as received by the Wisconsin Historical Society consisted of periodicals and other published materials relating to organic and sustainable agriculture. The Archives established a separate, artificial collection of Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Publications, to ensure continuing user access to relevant periodicals, conference proceedings, and other published materials that represent separations from other collections of personal papers and organizational records in the Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Collection. Internal publications and some periodicals published by the Independent Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) and the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) remain part of the Riddle-Ford collection, as do other publications annotated by Riddle.
