Rodale Institute California Organic Center

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

The Rodale Institute has developed the Rodale Institute California Organic Center in Ventura. The center serves farmers in the region by solving agronomic challenges, conducting regionally significant research, and serving as a hub for organic education and extension.

Farm manager Nathanael Gonzales-Siemens started with Rodale when the center opened last March.

Gonzales-Siemens… “There's been a kind of a re-connection with some of the founding principles of Rodale, which is healthy soil equals healthy plants equals healthy people. A real simple idea that resonated seventy years ago, and it resonates today.”

California is one of four regional centers planted by the Rodale Institute, which is a non-profit dedicated to growing the organic movement.

Gonzales-Siemens… “That wave that we're all in the midst of, and especially the science that fuels that wave is why California is so pertinent today. Because most of the research has come out of the Midwest. Research around healthy soils has come out of the context of very continental weather systems - weather patterns - and translating that to the West of the Rockies has been really difficult for people. I mean, no one has really figured out no-till on the West coast, and you know, they've been doing that for 20 years now or more in the Midwest.”

To learn more about the Rodale Institute and their California Organic Center in Ventura, visit their website: www.rodaleinstitute.org.