groups, the long hours by dedicated staff who contribute far more than they are paid for and the key support of our membership. This is what IFOAM really stands for dedicated people who have spent the last 40 years working on behalf of all of us to promote the multifunctional benefits of organic agriculture. World Board meeting in Tholey-Theley, Germany (1997)
of organic systems for the environment, biodiversity, farmers, consumers, climate change, water use, health and the general community. In that time we have set the benchmarks for organic standards as most national standards have used the IFOAM Basic Standard as a reference. We are now redefining the complex area of sustainability in organic systems. All this work has been done by people. This includes all the unpaid work by World Board members, committees, working
IFOAM World Board in Bonn, Germany (2012)
About Typewriters and Global Action Networks by Markus Arbenz, IFOAM E.D.
Visionary was, on November 5, 1972, the gathering of five organic organizations at the Palais de Congress in Versailles. Visionary is, today, the impact that IFOAM aspires to make through its goal of the worldwide adoption of organic agriculture. The passion for an organic alternative 2
that regenerates damage, strives for sustainability and respects the integrity of systems and living beings, rather than the advancement of the industrialization of agriculture, is still alive. Rebellious souls refusing reductionist thinking and dreaming holistically of healthy systems: