Interviewer: Chris Petersen
Interview Date: January 2, 2018
Location: The Valley Library, Oregon State University
Duration: 1:51:28
This is the second of two interviews conducted with Harry MacCormack. It begins with MacCormack explaining his decision to rent farmland and build a homestead in Beavercreek, Oregon. He describes how he started Sunbow Organic Farm in 1971. He then recounts how he and his ex-wife grew and sold organic produce to the community. MacCormack connects his decision to start the organic farm with his introduction to agriculture when he was a child in upstate New York.
He moves on to characterize his involvement with Oregon Tilth, an organization that he co-founded and served as executive director. He explains how he wrote the first standards and guidelines for the organization and helped establish farmers’ markets in the Corvallis area.
He then describes Oregon Tilth’s relationship with Oregon State University, specifically in the context of the sustainability grant that Oregon Tilth received from the Northwest Area Foundation.
MacCormack next discusses the soy dairy he started on his farm in 1978. He focuses on the processes he implemented on the farm to promote soy production and the products he produced and sold using the soy dairy. MacCormack also recounts his role in the foundation of the First Alternative Co-Op in Corvallis.
From there, he moves back to the formation of Oregon Tilth, and its relationships with other Pacific Northwest organic certification programs and with Oregon farmers. MacCormack also mentions the Institute of BioWisdom, Community Food Security Advocates of Benton County, and Ten Rivers Food Web, three Corvallis-area organizations he helped found to address issues relating to agriculture and hunger. The interview concludes with MacCormack discussing the writing he has done about agriculture.
Born in 1942, Harry MacCormack is a past instructor of playwriting and screenwriting at OSU, the first executive director of Oregon Tilth, an author of multiple books, and the founding owner of Sunbow Organic Farm in Corvallis.
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He moves on to characterize his involvement with Oregon Tilth, an organization that he co-founded and served as executive director. He explains how he wrote the first standards and guidelines for the organization and helped establish farmers’ markets in the Corvallis area.
He then describes Oregon Tilth’s relationship with Oregon State University, specifically in the context of the sustainability grant that Oregon Tilth received from the Northwest Area Foundation.
MacCormack next discusses the soy dairy he started on his farm in 1978. He focuses on the processes he implemented on the farm to promote soy production and the products he produced and sold using the soy dairy. MacCormack also recounts his role in the foundation of the First Alternative Co-Op in Corvallis.
From there, he moves back to the formation of Oregon Tilth, and its relationships with other Pacific Northwest organic certification programs and with Oregon farmers. MacCormack also mentions the Institute of BioWisdom, Community Food Security Advocates of Benton County, and Ten Rivers Food Web, three Corvallis-area organizations he helped found to address issues relating to agriculture and hunger. The interview concludes with MacCormack discussing the writing he has done about agriculture.
Born in 1942, Harry MacCormack is a past instructor of playwriting and screenwriting at OSU, the first executive director of Oregon Tilth, an author of multiple books, and the founding owner of Sunbow Organic Farm in Corvallis.