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The Center of Opposition: Council for Agricultural Science and Technology

Anneliese Abbott

2 days ago3 min read

The Center of Opposition: Council for Agricultural Science and Technology

The original headquarters of CAST was in Agronomy Hall at Iowa State University It’s the first week of November, and I’m on the road...

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Compost and Community: Biodynamic Farming at Threefold Farm

Anneliese Abbott

Dec 193 min read

Compost and Community: Biodynamic Farming at Threefold Farm

The Pfeiffer papers are in the basement of this building at Fellowship Community My final stop on my June research trip is in New York,...

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Traveling to Bethlehem (Pennsylvania): The Rodale Archives

Anneliese Abbott

Dec 123 min read

Traveling to Bethlehem (Pennsylvania): The Rodale Archives

The July 1940 issue of You Can't Eat That contains the first article that J.I. Rodale reprinted about organic farming “But now you’re...

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Cows, Horns, and Biodynamic Dairy Farming

Anneliese Abbott

Dec 53 min read

Cows, Horns, and Biodynamic Dairy Farming

It’s 6:30 a.m., the sun is shining, and it’s milking time in the Camphill Village Kimberton Hills dairy barn. I walk over from Sherry’s...

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Off to Pennsylvania: Tales from My Organic Research Trip

Anneliese Abbott

Nov 283 min read

Off to Pennsylvania: Tales from My Organic Research Trip

What better time than Thanksgiving Day to look back with gratitude on all the amazing experiences I’ve had this year? I know, it might...

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Preparing for the Apocalypse: Doomsday Fears and Homesteading

Anneliese Abbott

Sep 263 min read

Preparing for the Apocalypse: Doomsday Fears and Homesteading

I find connections to organic farming in the most unexpected places. This time, it was in a random book I just picked up from the library...

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An Inconvenient History: The Racist Roots of Progress

Anneliese Abbott

Sep 193 min read

An Inconvenient History: The Racist Roots of Progress

After completing my master’s degree at UW-Madison and moving home, I spent over a year trying to understand why highlighting a connection...

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Forbidden Perspectives: How Breaking Academic Consensus Cost Me a PhD

Anneliese Abbott

Sep 123 min read

Forbidden Perspectives: How Breaking Academic Consensus Cost Me a PhD

There’s a big difference between graduate and undergraduate college classes. In most undergraduate classes, you sit and listen to a...

26 views2 comments

Is the Scientific Consensus on Evolution Free or Forced?

Anneliese Abbott

Sep 53 min read

Is the Scientific Consensus on Evolution Free or Forced?

To fund my second year in graduate school at UW-Madison, I applied for several different teaching assistantships. One was to teach...

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Are Christianity and Environmentalism Incompatible? Refuting Lynn White, Jr.

Anneliese Abbott

Aug 292 min read

Are Christianity and Environmentalism Incompatible? Refuting Lynn White, Jr.

I am a Bible-believing creationist Christian. I am also an environmentalist and an organic farmer. I see no conflict between the two. But...

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Spiritual Narratives: Pope Pius XI's Catholic Critique of Materialism

Anneliese Abbott

Jul 183 min read

Spiritual Narratives: Pope Pius XI's Catholic Critique of Materialism

All of the historical narratives that I’ve discussed so far have one thing in common—they are secular. They focus almost exclusively on...

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When Facts Don't Fit: Limitations of Critical Race Theory

Anneliese Abbott

Jul 113 min read

When Facts Don't Fit: Limitations of Critical Race Theory

I was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2020 to 2022—during some of the most tumultuous years politically in...

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The Newest Narrative: Critical Race Theory and Agricultural History

Anneliese Abbott

Jul 43 min read

The Newest Narrative: Critical Race Theory and Agricultural History

There’s one more major narrative about agricultural history that I haven’t mentioned yet—not because it isn’t important, but because it’s...

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Sir Albert Howard's Version of Agricultural History

Anneliese Abbott

Jun 273 min read

Sir Albert Howard's Version of Agricultural History

Organic farming has always questioned the progressive narrative of history. It has to. After all, if the progressive narrative is true,...

25 views1 comment

Why the Anti-Organic Historical Narrative Is Progressive

Anneliese Abbott

Jun 202 min read

Why the Anti-Organic Historical Narrative Is Progressive

History is storytelling, and there are different types of narratives that can be used to frame a historical event. Last week, I...

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Storytelling and History: Why Narratives Matter

Anneliese Abbott

Jun 133 min read

Storytelling and History: Why Narratives Matter

One of the most important things I learned in graduate school was that history is storytelling—and that there are different ways to tell...

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What Really Happened? How the Pandemic Changed My View of History

Anneliese Abbott

Jun 63 min read

What Really Happened? How the Pandemic Changed My View of History

When I first started writing about the past, I had lofty ideals. My goal was simple—to find the truth and tell it. I often wished that it...

25 views1 comment

Long Hair, Love, and Organic Farming: Euell Gibbons and the Counterculture

Anneliese Abbott

May 233 min read

Long Hair, Love, and Organic Farming: Euell Gibbons and the Counterculture

One stereotype of the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s was that young people didn’t listen to—or trust—anyone over thirty. That may...

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Foraging and Farming: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

Anneliese Abbott

Apr 253 min read

Foraging and Farming: Are They Mutually Exclusive?

As I write this, the wild pin cherry trees are just finishing blooming, white petals drifting down to the ground in a fragrant snow. The...

12 views1 comment

Toxic Labs: Why I Don't Have a Graduate Degree in Plant Science

Anneliese Abbott

Apr 183 min read

Toxic Labs: Why I Don't Have a Graduate Degree in Plant Science

Note: Everything in this post is true, but I have omitted the name of the professor and the research institution to protect everyone...

49 views1 comment

History of Organic Farming in America

By Anneliese Abbott

Organic History

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