Archives West Finding Aid

David Granatstein earned a B.S. degree from Cornell University and an M.S. degree from Washington State University. He joined the Washington State University faculty in 1993, working as a Sustainable Agriculture Specialist.

Historical note provided by the donor:

David Granatstein was one of the founders of The Food Alliance, based in Portland, Oregon. This began as a project funded by the Kellogg Foundation in 1995 to explore market incentives for adoption of more sustainable farming practices that offered a different path than organic certification. The project was a collaboration among Oregon State University, Washington State University, and the Washington State Department of Agriculture. The project led to the formation of Food Allinace, a 501(c)3 organization, housed in Portland with Deborah Kane as the first executive director. As of June 2018, it continues its work under the leadership of Matthew Buck.

Granatstein was involved in helping to develop the original standards with the members of the alliance, representing firms, processors, farm labor, environmental groups, and agencies. He also led the farm improvement activities in Washington State. Many of the source documents for the Food Allinace are included here, along with various iterations of the standards. There were a number of other "ecolabel" efforts at the time for food, and many more since. Documents from some of these other organizations as well as conferences on the topic are included in this collection.