Preliminary Guide to the David Granatstein Papers, circa 1977-2018

David Granatstein was born in Syracuse, NY in 1951. He attended Cornell University for his B.S degree, starting in Civil Engineering, but quickly changing to Natural Resources. His studies piqued his interest in the interface between agriculture and the environment, which shaped the rest of his career. After graduating, he spent seven years co-managing an organic farm in the Methow Valley of WA on the east slope of the Cascades which deepened his interest in sustainability, and the role of soils. While farming, he was introduced to several researchers from Washington State University (WSU), and then decided to attend graduate school there in 1983 to study soils and sustainable agriculture with Dr. David Bezdicek. During his program, he spent one year in Lesotho, Southern Africa, on a WSU-led agriculture development project as a project agronomist. He examined the potential for dual-purpose maize (grain and fodder), the use of legume intercrops in maize to boost fertility and forage, and potential forage crops on highly acidic soils.

After graduating with an M.S. in soils, he spent two years as on-farm research director for the Land Stewardship Project based out of Lewiston, MN, working with growers to adopt more sustainable practices to address both the economic challenges and the problem of groundwater contamination from farming. During this time, he wrote an introductory book on sustainable agriculture called Reshaping the Bottom Line: On-farm strategies for a sustainable agriculture. He was then offered a position as project manager on a six-state dryland cereal-legume cropping systems project supported by the newly established USDA Low Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA, later to be renamed SARE) Program. He created an historical database of research on dryland farming for the previous century to help look for older practices that might be integrated into modern farming systems, and wrote Amber Waves: A Sourcebook for Sustainable Dryland Farming in the Northwestern United States. He also co-edited and wrote for the Sustainable Farming Quarterly newsletter. During this time, he was active with other WSU faculty in exploring the formation of a sustainable agriculture center at WSU, as had occurred at several other universities.

After the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources was formed in 1992, Granatstein was hired as the first full-time dedicated faculty member. He relocated to the WSU Tree Fruit Research and Extension Center to be more centrally located between the intensive agriculture in central WA and the urban population in western WA, and spent the rest of his career at this location. He was involved in a wide array of projects and topics, including composting, erosion control, formation of the Food Alliance, renewable energy, biological control, biochar, and organic farming. Signature efforts included Climate Friendly Farming, the WSU organic research initiative, the WSU BIOAg program, orchard floor management, and organic trends in Washington State. He gave hundreds of presentations at grower meetings and scientific gatherings, authored/co-authored 70 peer reviewed publication, wrote dozens of popular articles, and organized numerous meetings and conferences. He achieved the rank of Full Professor.

Granatstein was recognized for his work with a number of awards, including the WSU Morrison Extension Award (2002), the WSU Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Outreach and Engagement (2008), the 2009 USDA-CSREES Partnership Award for Innovative Program Models (Climate Friendly Farming), the first Washington State Horticultural Association Organic Industry Service Award (2010), the WSU CAHNRS Team Interdisciplinary Award (2011), the Advocate of the Year Award from Tilth Producers Washington (2014), and the Anne Schwartz Leadership Award in Sustainable Agriculture (2017).

The Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources was established by the Washington Legislature in 1991. This was a result of early leadership on sustainable agriculture and organic farming at WSU by a number of faculty (e.g., David Bezdicek, WSU Crops and Soils; Bob Papendick, USDA-ARS; Jim Cook, USDA-ARS; David Holland, WSU Agr. Economics; Lorna Butler, WSU Rural Sociology); the Century 2 Initiative of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics Dean Larry Schrader; the emergence of funding from the USDA Low Input Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) program, which later became SARE; and lobbying by organic farming oriented interest groups in the state such as Washington Tilth Producers. Other states such as Iowa and California had already established sustainable agriculture programs or centers. Despite the legislative authorization, no funds were appropriated. Dean Schrader decided to move forward despite no new funding and appointed David Bezdicek as the first (part-time) director in 1992. David Granatstein was hired as the first full-time dedicated Center faculty member in December 1992.

The Food Alliance 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 Dept. of Agriculture. The project led to the formation of Food Alliance, a 501c3 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.