Media Advisory
Press Contact: Creek Hull
Ecological Farming Association
(831) 763-2111 creek@eco-farm.org

‘Organic Oscars’
Lifetime Achievement Awards Honor Stewards of Sustainable Agriculture

PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (February 9, 2006) – The Ecological Farming Association (EFA) presented four lifetime achievement awards in sustainable agriculture at the 26th annual Ecological Farming Conference – America’s oldest and largest organic and sustainable agriculture event – held last week in Pacific Grove. Akin to winning an Oscar for farming, the Steward of Sustainable Agriculture award, known as the “Sustie,” was founded in 1988 to recognize long-term contributions to sustainable agriculture and the establishment of the organic industry.

“We work for change, not for the spotlight,” said 2006 award winner Bob Scowcroft, Executive Director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (www.ofrf.org). “This award is the organic icing on the cake.”

This year’s awards recognized contributions in the field and in the media. Sustie recipients included seed archivist and photographer Doug Gosling, Garden Manager of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center; sustainable farming pioneers Rick and Kristie Knoll of Brentwood, California; and organic farming advocate and media voice Bob Scowcroft.

The evening’s awards also included the new award for Social Justice in Agriculture, founded last year by EFA to recognize exemplary contributions to social and labor aspects of farming. The 2006 “Justie” was awarded to Jim Cochran, President of Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport, California for his exemplary efforts to address social equity on the farm through practices including profit sharing with workers and cooperation with labor unions.

At an awards ceremony attended by more than 1,000 farmers and organic industry representatives, participants celebrated achievements in sustainable farming while enjoying a seasonal organic foods banquet. The long list of past award winners have literally helped to make organic a household word and to bring national standards and regulation to organic farming. Past honorees include Robert Rodale, Alice Waters, and famous California farming families such as the Lundberg, Frey, and Straus families.

For more information contact EFA at (831) 763-2111 or visit www.eco-farm.org.

More on the award winners…

Doug Gosling, long-time gardener, botanist, and photographer, has been an international spokesperson for organic gardening, preservation of biodiversity, and edible landscaping. Gosling has served as director of the seed collection for the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, in Occidental, California where he has worked since the early 1980’s. In addition to his contributions in gardening and seed saving, Gosling has been a pioneer in horticultural therapy. Through his library of breathtaking photography, Gosling has helped convey the poetry and beauty inherent in sustainable farming.

Bob Scowcroft, Executive Director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), in Santa Cruz, California was recognized for his extensive work in the non-profit world, first with Friends of the Earth, then as Director of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), and now as the Director of the OFRF. A well respected authority on organics in the media, Scowcroft has seen the industry grow in his 20 years of involvement. Through his current work at OFRF, the first and only nationally recognized organic farming foundation, he has been instrumental in providing information on organics to farmers and media outlets.

Rick and Kristie Knoll have been farming in Brentwood, California for 20 years. They have developed a diversified selection of fruits and vegetables, reintroducing old varieties to new and specialized markets. The Knolls have become well known for their pioneering efforts in direct marketing their crops. The couple has developed their own label system and earned recognition for the quality of their produce and their active role in their community.

The second annual “Justie” was awarded to Jim Cochran, President of Swanton Berry Farm in Davenport, California for his exemplary efforts to address social equity on the farm. Cochran has introduced practices including profit sharing with workers and cooperation with labor unions –Swanton Berry Farm was the first strawberry farm and the first organic farm in the United States to sign a contract with the United Farm Workers of America/AFL-CIO.

For more information contact EFA at (831) 763-2111 or visit www.eco-farm.org.