The History of Earth Day We’re 5 1/2 weeks away from the celebration of Earth Day. On April 22nd people from all over the world will acknowledge and celebrate this very important day. This holiday is particularly special for the Organic and Natural Foods Industry as we are deeply connected not just to the products we sell, but to the much larger Environmental Movement that is so important, particularly at this time. Below is an article written by Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wisc.) – the founder of Earth Day – providing insight into the early origins of this important celebration.

What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked.

Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political “limelight” once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.

I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation’s political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.

After President Kennedy’s tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called “teach-ins,” had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me – why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?

I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try.

At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air – and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office.

Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events:

“Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation’s campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam…a national day of observance of environmental problems…is being planned for next spring…when a nationwide environmental ‘teach-in’…coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned…

” It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities.

Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.

Senator Nelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in September 1995 in recognition of his environmental work. He passed away in 2005 at the age of 89.

In a study released by the International Journal of Biological Sciences, analyzing the effects of genetically modified foods on mammalian health, researchers found that agricultural giant Monsanto’s GM corn is linked to organ damage in rats.

UNFI distributes a a full line of natural, organic and specialty products from distribution centers located across the US.

We provide our customers with groceries, organic produce, personal care items and nutritional supplements as well as a range of business development services. Our customers include a wide variety of retail formats and the foodservice industry.

UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.) is our primary product provider. To learn more, visit https://www.unfi.com/.

Albert’s Organics has been a pioneer in the organic fresh foods industry since opening our doors in 1982. Since then we have grown to become America’s largest, most knowledgeable organic fresh foods specialist with distribution centers in California, Colorado, Florida, New Hampshire, Minnesota, North Carolina and New Jersey. We have our own national and regional buying centers creating long-standing, mutually supportive relationships with organic farmers and food artisans locally, regionally, and globally.

Each month, we offer a huge selection of fresh organic produce, prepared foods and fresh meat products from Albert’s Organics. This portion of the ordered is delivered along with the UNFI order for your convenience. Many of these items require advance ordering, so watch your inbox or the Yahoo! group calendar for order notices. Albert’s Organics orders are placed at www.foodclub.org/seminole/. If you don’t know your login information, contact the buying club coordinator

Frontier Natural Products Co-op specializes in natural and organic products. Our products are found in natural products stores and specialty shops throughout the United States and Canada, as well as right here on our website. By offering easy access to high-quality, competitively priced choices that are both environmentally friendly and socially responsible, Frontier seeks to lead the way in bringing nature — and peace of mind — to our customers.

As a leading supplier of organic herbs and spices, we hold a leadership position, not only in the marketplace, but also in the effort to convert food producers to sustainable farming and production practices. Our work is driven by the belief that fostering environmental responsibility is crucial to our world’s future.

Our wide selection of aromatherapy products provides the highest quality and purity available. We also have the largest selection of organic aromatherapy products available.

Each month, the coordinator places a group wholesale order for products from Frontier Natural Products. Frontier ordering is allowed only for approved members and there is a waiting list to order. Ordering restrictions are in place because when the order becomes too large, it’s difficult to manage and transport. Frontier orders must be submitted using the Excel spreadsheet provided in the Files section of the Yahoo! group.

Members on the waiting list are encouraged to team up with other buying club members in their area to open their own account. The minimum order amount to qualify for free shipping is $250.

Click here to learn more about Frontier Natural Products: http://www.frontiercoop.com/

Click here to download/order a free wholesale catalog: https://wholesale.frontiercoop.com/requestwcat.php

To learn more about Aubrey Organics, click the following link: http://www.aubreyorganics.com/

Click here to learn how to read the catalog: http://www.unitedbuyingclubs.com/RESOURCES/BCHelp/HowToUsePricelist.htm.

Under the info column, the catalog now lists “wrhs/info” instead of just “info”, although the information is basically the same as what’s explained online. The first part of the column indicates warehouse availability and the second part is related to organic content and other ingredients, as explained in the section linked above.

To change membership settings, click the “Edit Membership” link at the top of the page after logging in to the Yahoo! group.

You can modify your membership settings to have the online posts delivered to any valid email address (does not have to be a Yahoo! address).  From the Edit Membership page, click “Add new email address”.

You can also modify your membership to not receive email in your inbox, in which case you will need to use your Web browser to access the Yahoo! group site and read and post updates there. You can also select the Daily Digest option, which will consolidate all the emails from each day into a message with links so you can click and view the messages that apply to you.

Please do not select the “Special Notices” option since it is not used by the coordinators.

IMPORTANT: It is your responsibility to check email often and stay informed of club information.

Once your membership is approved, please review recent messages and check the online Calendar for ordering and delivery dates.