In California, the rise of counterculture activities at Berkeley led the University of California to create a new, more isolated campus in the forests of Santa Cruz, in 1965. The hope was to draw some of the more radical students of Berkeley to the overtly progressive, grade-free, cross-disciplinary educational program of Santa Cruz (UCSC) with its surrounded by nature vibe.
After opening UCSC, educators on the new campus sought to further integrate its alternative approach to education with its unique surroundings. English master gardener Alan Chadwick was hired to develop a university farm. Chadwick had studied farming from Rudolph Steiner, considered the father of biodynamics, and believed in life processes beyond mere biological or chemical means. But he also eschewed the most esoteric side of biodynamics in favor of the practical aspects that helped plants grow. Chadwick applied his experience to building the garden and farm on campus. For students, his eschewing of chemical inputs represented a possibility of self-sufficiency with nature akin to the broader desires of the time. The success of the garden attracted state and national media attention. Such articles drew even more interest for the university. But the disdain within the scientific community also grew.
Though rejected by the scientific community, organic farming appealed to those critical of mainstream society
Organic farming was not yet understood as reasonable agriculture. The FDA warned that organic foods were likely full of parasites. A Columbia professor of pathology announced in the New York Times in 1970, ‘there is no convincing scientific evidence that so-called organically grown foods contain any extra nutritional value as compared to the same food grown in a conventional way.’ The Secretary of Agriculture warned organic farming would lead to mass starvation. Even Rachel Carson, who through Silent Spring documented the harmful effects of chemical agriculture and DDT, saw organic farming as too radical. Though rejected by the scientific community, organic farming appealed to those critical of mainstream society. It represented a move away from industrial agriculture that with the use of DDT and other chemicals was too closely associated with the horrors of Vietnam. And as a return to nature, it also meant leaving the larger cultural system to build self-sufficiency.
In 1972, because of a backlash against his use of organics, Chadwick was forced to leave UCSC and the farm project behind. In 1973, he moved to Covelo, California and began the Covelo Village Garden, considered the pinnacle of his efforts in new agriculture. For many, Chadwick is still considered ‘an early visionary of sustainable food.’ He was an inspiration too to Alice Waters of restaurant Chez Panisse: it was the culture of the time, she says, to find connection with nature, whether through farming, food, or in a literal departure from society into remote areas. Waters was not the only one to feel kinship with Chadwick.
Several apprentices as well as former students followed Chadwick to Covelo. Among them were Alan York, Katrina Van Lente, and Jonathan Frey. At the age of 18, York was drafted to Vietnam. As he described, for the first time he was ‘faced with being killed or killing others,’ yet could not see ‘for what purpose.’ Inspired by anti-war protests, the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the cost Muhammad Ali faced by refusing the draft, York too refused to go to Vietnam. Once released from federal obligations as a conscientious objector, York joined Chadwick at the Covelo Garden where he met Lente and Frey. York went on to practice biodynamic farming but dismissed the spiritual aspects even more strongly than Chadwick, in favor of a commitment to practical farming. The point was to do what makes plants and soils healthy. Lente and Frey married, then established Frey Vineyards in Mendocino County. Nearby, Barney Fetzer had already established Fetzer Vineyards. As the two vineyards developed, they both hired York to help them deepen their commitment to organic farming. There he converted several hundred vineyard acres and earned them the Demeter certification for biodynamics.
Dolan went on to help expand production at Fetzer, thereby demonstrating organic farming could succeed at both greater acreage and higher volumes
York went on to work with numerous other vineyards throughout California including Mendocino’s Bonterra, Quivira in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley, Robert Sinskey in Napa Valley, and Sonoma’s Benzinger Family, among others. He also mentored numerous winemakers and viticulturists who took his practices to vineyards throughout California and beyond. York brought organic and biodynamic farming principles to Chile, and consulted on multiple vineyards in Europe, including one owned by Trudie Styler and her husband, the musician Sting.
While working with Fetzer, York befriended and guided Paul Dolan, then winemaker and eventually president of Fetzer. Dolan went on to help expand production at Fetzer, thereby demonstrating organic farming could succeed at both greater acreage and higher volumes. Dolan’s influence on California viticulture was immense. He helped develop the California Code of Sustainable Winegrowing, which became the basis for a statewide certification, as well as Parducci, the first US winery to earn a carbon-neutral certification. Dolan also helped establish the Regenerative Organics Alliance, which went on to create the Regenerative Organic Certification.
The hippie movement of the 1960s was founded by people in their twenties and thirties but it influenced younger people too. As a teenager, Phil Coturri lived in San Francisco. He joined in the activities of the cultural revolution, spending time with musicians, going to concerts, and enjoying marijuana. Worried for their son, his parents ensured he spent weekends and summers at a remote country home in the wilds of Sonoma Mountain. Though his going back to the land was imposed by his parents, it became a way of life for Coturri. While looking for something to do, Coturri befriended neighbors, including retirees, gardeners and war veterans. Asked to take over a neighbor’s garden, Coturri borrowed issues of the Rodale Catalog, one of the first organic farming resources in America, and applied its guidance to the garden.
When he proved successful at organic gardening, Coturri was pushed by a neighbor to try his hand at farming organic vineyards. In 1979, Coturri took over the Dos Limones vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, applying organic methods to 12 acres of vines. Down the hill, Cannard was already farming, and helped Coturri adapt organic methods to his new crop. In a few years, Cannard would begin providing ingredients for Chez Panisse.
The following year, Coturri started the venture Enterprise Vineyards, providing organic viticulture to sloped vineyards throughout the north coast. His influence has filled the mountains of both Sonoma and Napa Counties and ventured north into Washington state, and beyond. He and Enterprise have managed vineyards for some of California’s most celebrated sites, including Sonoma’s Rossi Ranch, Laurel Glen, Landmark, Bucklin Old Hill Ranch, and Repris, as well as Napa Valley’s Mayacamas, and Oakville Ranch.
