Oct./Nov. 1983 RAIN Page 51 From the Ground Up by Kris Nelson Tilth, at its founding in 1974, was a classic example ofan organization whose time had come. The somewhat anarchistic back-to-the-land movement, prompted by a dissatisfaction with the urban monoculture, found roots in groups like Tilth. Many of the early back-to-the-landers were merely "tripping out" and ran to the shelter of the cities when the first winter hit. But others, such as the founders of Tilth, stayed on and have since become the new "oldtimers." These people, as represented by the work of Tilth, have taken on the tremendous task of turning around the trend ofagriculture during this century from centralization and dependence on fossil fuels into an artful, ecologically sound form of farming—something that remains a central hope for any of us interested in a healthful and planet-wise lifestyle. This account of Tilth's past is based in part on conversations with Becky Deryckx, Mark Mustek, and Barbara Snyder.—Sf The agriculture symposium at World Expo '74 in Spokane, Washington, turned out to be a special event. Wendell Berry, then almost a lone voice for sustainable agriculture, spoke at the symposium and later connected with other like-minded individuals: Gigi Coe, Becky and Woody Deryckx, and Mark Musick. Soon thereafter. Berry proposed that a conference be held in the Northwest for those with specific interest in creating an ecologically based food system. This loose group—which at that time was seen as an aggregation of "agricultural misfits"— soon realized that in order to successfully hold a conference some organization should be formed to sponsor it. "We didn't know what to call it," Becky Deryckx remembers, "but in one of our front porch conversations, the name Tilth came to me." It was a term that implied the cultivation of soil and wisdom and spirit, "It seemed to fit well," Becky recalls. In November 1974, Tilth brought together some 800 people in Ellensburg, Washington, for the first Northwest sustainable agriculture conference. It was a gathering that surprised many: not only did smaU-time farmers, food co-op people, food activists, and environmentalists take part, but the longer-term provisions for building Tilth into a broadly based organization were also laid down. This included the seed for the Tilth newsletter, since many people felt strongly about the need to stay informed. Woody and Becky Deryckx volunteered to write the newsletter from the Shelton, Washington, area. Eventually, Tilth and the newsletter (now a quarterly called Tilth, Biological Agriculture in the Northwest) moved to Prag- tree Farm in Arlington, Washington. During the spring of 1978, Tilth members in different communities formed the first Tilth chapters to involve themselves in local agriculture. (The chapters have since multiplied to 14, stretching from northern California to northern Idaho.) In that same year, the commercial aspects of sustainable farming came to the fore, and several growers formed the Tilth Producers' Co-op as a sister organization (P.O. Box 1005, Okanogan, WA 98840). TPC built an alcohol fuel plant that now produces 30,000 gallons of alcohol per year for northwest Washington organic farmers. It also operates Washington's Organic Farm Certification Program with Provender Alliance, the Northwest's trade association for food co-ops, natural food stores, warehouses, and producers (1520 Western Ave., Seattle, WA 98101). In 1980, the regional Tilth office, as the information exchange center between the chapters, added another dimension to its networking functions. The Tilth Information Service was established to distribute books and other resources on ecologically sound agriculture, urban gardening, sustainable forestry, protection of farmland, and related subjects. The Service has published catalogs that feature book reviews and other regional access information. Perhaps Tilth's foremost contribution to the advance of biological agriculture came with the publication of The Future is Abundant in 1982. Based on the principles of Japanese farmer Masano- bu Fukuoka, Australian environmental scientist Bill Mollison, and Tilth's classic Winter GardenCont.-
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