This section contains a selection of key institutions and organizations involved in organic farming research, education, and outreach programming that present valuable information and reference sources on their websites. Web resources were evaluated on their relevance, authority, depth of coverage, and timeliness.

Titles contained in this section present the most relevant works published on the topic since 2000. Items were selected by considering multiple sources including holdings of major land-grant libraries, positive reviews in standard reference sources and relevant scholarly journals, citation counts in the Web of Science database, reputation of publisher, and publication date.

Lammerts van Bueren, E. T., and James Robert Myers. Organic Crop Breeding. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-470-95858-2.

This well-researched title provides an excellent overview of the theory and practice of plant breeding for organic farming systems. Organic Crop Breeding introduces readers to a number of general topics in the first part of the book and then covers specific field crops in the second part. Written by leading experts in the field, the book provides a global perspective on the important issue of organic plant breeding and contains extensive references to the scientific literature making it a valuable resource for crop breeders and geneticists, crop science professionals, researchers, and students.

Blair, Robert. Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Cattle. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-84593-758-4.

Blair, Robert. Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Poultry. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2008. ISBN: 978-1-84593-406-4.

Blair, Robert. Nutrition and Feeding of Organic Pigs. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-84593-191-9.

Written by an acknowledged expert in the field of animal sciences, this trilogy provides readers with a solid reference source for understanding and researching organic livestock production. All books provide additional references for further study and should be of interest to animal scientists, veterinarians, feed manufacturers and consultants, farmers, and students of these fields.

Reed, Matthew. Rebels for the Soil: The Rise of the Global Organic Food and Farming Movement. London: Earthscan, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-84407-597-3.

Rebels for the Soil offers a useful review of the history of organic farming as a social movement from its beginning in the 1930s to the present from a political sociology perspective. The book is well-researched and easy to read and introduces the reader to a review of social movement theory before it investigates the defining periods of the organic food and farming movement.

Barker, Allen V. Science and Technology of Organic Farming. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-4398-1612-7.

This title is recommended as a recent reference source for understanding the scientific basis of organic farming. The book provides a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of organic crop production and includes a brief bibliography and a glossary. Science and Technology of Organic Farming is a title highly valuable for students, crop scientists, agricultural professionals, and practitioners and won a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award in 2011.

Francis, Charles A. 2009. Organic Farming: The Ecological System. Madison, WI: American Society of Agronomy, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-89118-173-6.

Written by key researchers and experts in the field, Organic Farming: The Ecological System is an excellent reference source on organic agriculture and recommended reading for researchers, students, and farmers alike. Focusing on the US and Canadian context, the twenty-nine authors review the current knowledge of organic farming systems and provide a well-written summary of the history of the organic movement, organic certification, design of organic farming systems, production practices, marketing and food systems, and implementation and outreach activities. The book also presents a survey of the future of organic farming in the context of industrialized food production. The text provides many references for further study.

Cooper, Julia, Urs Niggli, and Carlo Leifert. Handbook of Organic Food Safety and Quality. Boca Raton, Florida: CRC, 2007. ISBN: 978-0-8493-9154-5.

This comprehensive book is a recommended reference title for researchers, professionals, and producers, summarizing available scientific evidence and best practices for the safety, sensory, and nutritional quality of organic foods. The first part of the book provides an introduction to basic quality and safety of organic food, including a discussion of factors affecting nutritional quality, quality assurance, and consumer expectations. The second part presents issues surrounding organic livestock husbandry and animal production while the third section discusses organic crop and vegetable production.

Lockeretz, William. Organic Farming: An International History. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-84593-876-5.

Organic Farming: An International History presents a comprehensive review of the origins and development of organic farming in the past century. The book’s sixteen chapters with their many references create a useful reference source for researchers, students, and the general public. The editor, an acclaimed scholar in the field himself, draws on an impressive list of leading experts to present a synopsis of the historical development of the organic movement, key policy and market issues, and a number of important organizations and institutions that shape the organic farming movement today.

Lockie, Stewart. Going Organic: Mobilizing Networks for Environmentally Responsible Food Production. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2006. ISBN: 978-1-84593-132-2.

This title presents a thorough investigation of the organic food supply chain including production, marketing, and consumption issues. Written from a social science perspective, the authors examine common misconceptions about organic food production and markets and provide valuable perspectives on the future of the organic farming movement amid the rapid growth of the organic food sector over the last decade.

Kristiansen, Paul, Acram M. Taji, and John P. Reganold. Organic Agriculture: A Global Perspective. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2006. ISBN: 978-0-8014-4524-8.

Presenting a comprehensive, scientific review of the major organic farming systems around the world, Organic Agriculture: A Global Perspective provides a valuable and useful resource for researchers and students wanting to explore the organic farming movement from a global standpoint. Written by more than fifty authors from thirteen countries, the eighteen chapters of this book provide a solid overview of technical and scientific issues surrounding organic farming systems as well as addressing the economic, social, and political dimensions of organic agriculture.

Holt, Georgina, and Matthew Reed. Sociological Perspectives of Organic Agriculture: From Pioneer to Policy. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 2006. ISBN: 978-1-84593-038-7.

This title presents a collection of eighteen essays exploring a number of contemporary issues the organic farming sector is facing. Written mainly by economists and social scientists and aimed at academic researchers involved in sustainable food systems research, the book investigates the history of organic movements in various countries and discusses a diverse range of topics, such as the quality of organic foods and consumer behavior, challenges for organic farmers around the globe, principles and practices of organic farming systems, and future directions.

Guthman, Julie. Agrarian Dreams: The Paradox of Organic Farming in California. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. ISBN: 0-520-24095-2.

This book provides an insightful account of some of the contemporary challenges of the organic farming movement using California as a case study. While realizing many of the original ideas, such as developing a more environmentally sound food production system, the book illustrates that the economic realities of present day organic farming sometimes fail to adequately address some of the social causes of the organic farming movement.

Conford, Philip, and Jonathan Dimbleby. The Origins of the Organic Movement. Edinburgh, Scotland: Floris, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-86315-336-5.

The Origins of the Organic Movement started as the first author’s doctoral thesis and developed into one of the most detailed accounts of the emergence of the organic farming movement during the early twentieth century. Much of the focus of the title is on developments in Great Britain with particular attention paid to the history of the Soil Association, but the authors include many references to other countries and continents that became critical to the philosophical foundations of the organic farming movement. This fascinating book contains a biographical list of influential people and an annotated list of important organizations and periodicals.

Materials in this section highlight different aspects on the topic. Items were selected for their relevance and content and identified by searching WorldCat, the Internet, and reviews in the literature.

Anthony, Christine, and Owen Masterson. Grow! Atlanta, Georgia: Anthony-Masterson, 2011.

Grow! is a sixty-minute award-winning documentary featuring twelve young farmers showcasing organic and sustainable farming practices on their Georgia farms.

Rogers, Shelley, Emily Triantaphyllis, John Ickerd, Frederick L. Kirschenmann, Joan Dye Gussow, and Seth Goldman. What’s Organic About Organic? United States: Shelley Rogers, 2010.

This ninety-minute documentary film contains interviews and stories of organic farmers and explores the implications of a grassroots agricultural movement evolving into a booming global industry.

Siegel, Taggart. The Real Dirt on Farmer John. New York: Gaiam Media, 2008.

The Real Dirt on Farmer John tells the story of John Peterson, a third-generation American farmer and artist, who saved his farm by transforming it to Angelic Organics, a community-supported agriculture enterprise. The eighty-two-minute feature won numerous awards.

Demers, Jocelyn, Dan Jason, Ross Huguet, Herb Barbolet, Shannon Binns, Pat Howard, Guy Dauncey, Devon Page, Dag Falck, and Sam Elkady. Gardens of Destiny. Vancouver, BC: Monde Films, 2008.

This sixty-one-minute feature presents Dan Jason’s Seed and Plant Sanctuary for Canada, a network of gardeners from around the world dedicated to preserve plant diversity. Gardens of Destiny explores contemporary issues, such as genetic engineering, terminator seeds, and the challenges of industrial agriculture in North America, and discusses a number of solutions, including to support organic agriculture.

Bedford, Christopher, and Jody Hovland. The Organic Opportunity. Montague, MI: Center for Economic Security, 2007.

This twenty-five-minute documentary presents a case study of organic farming as an economic development tool in Woodbury County, Iowa, which created a number of economic incentives for farmers who transition to organic agriculture or relocate to the county to farm organically.

Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the scholarship of organic farming, research results are broadly published in hundreds of journal titles covering the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities disciplines. The titles contained in this section are periodicals with the highest frequency of publications relevant for the topic of organic farming based on searches in Web of Science and Scopus. The titles are listed in order of impact factor.

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier B.V., 1983–. 16 issues per year. ISSN: 1873-2305.

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment publishes papers focusing on the interface between agro-ecosystems and the natural environment. Specifically, the articles focus on the influence of agriculture on the environment and the impact of those changes on agro-ecosystems.

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (formerly: American Journal of Alternative Agriculture). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004–. 4 issues per year. ISSN: 1742-1713.

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems publishes papers focusing on the economic, ecological, and environmental impacts of agriculture, the effective use of renewable resources and biodiversity in agro-ecosystems, and the technological and sociological implications of sustainable food systems.

Journal of Sustainable Agriculture. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Taylor & Francis, 1982–. 8 issues per year. ISSN: 1540-7578.

The Journal of Sustainable Agriculture publishes papers focusing on the emerging fields of agro-ecology and sustainable agriculture. It promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the design and management of food systems as one process in a complex landscape of agricultural production, conservation, and human interaction.

Biological Agriculture and Horticulture. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Taylor & Francis, 1982–. 4 issues per year. ISSN: 2165-0616.

Biological Agriculture and Horticulture publishes papers focusing on alternative systems of biological husbandry in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and other essential topics in both temperate and tropical climates, with a particular focus on the biological approach to food production.

Acta Horticulturae. Leuven, Belgium: International Society for Horticultural Science, 1975–. Irregular, 40–50 volumes per year. ISSN: 0567-7572.

Acta Horticulturae is a peer-reviewed monographic series containing mainly the proceedings of International Society for Horticultural Science symposia and the International Horticultural Congress. These publications cover all branches of horticultural sciences and frequently contain reports and papers on various aspects of organic horticulture.

The following research databases, listed in alphabetical order, are recommended because of their comprehensiveness, coverage, and content relevance for researching the scholarship of organic farming.

AGRICOLA. Ipswich, Massachusetts: EBSCO, coverage varies

AGRICOLA (Agricultural Online Access) provides access to over 4.9 million bibliographic references to agricultural literature acquired by the National Agricultural Library (NAL) and cooperating institutions, and collections of related subjects, such as food and nutrition, agricultural economics, parasitology, forestry, aquaculture, wildlife, and environmental science supplied by information centers. AGRICOLA has used the freely accessible NAL Thesaurus as indexing vocabulary since 2002. A search for “organic production OR organic farming OR organic agriculture” returns approximately five thousand results, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, theses, technical reports, and trade publications ranging from 1941 to the present. AGRICOLA is also freely accessible through NAL’s public interface at http://agricola.nal.usda.gov.

AGRIS. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 1975–.

AGRIS (International Information System for the Agricultural Sciences and Technology) created by the FAO as an open access database to facilitate information exchange and to identify world literature dealing with all aspects of agriculture provides access to 2.8 million bibliographic records. A search for “organic farming OR organic agriculture” returns more than seven thousand results, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, technical reports, and trade publications ranging from 1976 to the present.

CAB Direct. Wallingford, UK: CABI, 1910–.

The premier databases for the applied life sciences provides access to over 9 million bibliographic references covering research and development literature in the fields of agriculture, forestry, human health, human nutrition, animal health, and the management and conservation of natural resources. CAB Direct incorporates CAB Thesaurus, an online index of CABI terms. A search for “organic farming OR organic agriculture” returns more than fifteen thousand results, including peer-reviewed journal articles, conference proceedings, book chapters, and trade publications ranging from 1973 to the present.

Organic Eprints. Tjele, Denmark: International Centre for Research in Organic Food Systems, 2002–.

This international open access database indexes papers and projects related to organic food and farming research with the goal of improving the dissemination and impact of research findings and facilitating international use and cooperation. Organic EPrints provides access to more than ten thousand bibliographic references.

Scopus. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier B.V., 1823–.

This multidisciplinary database indexes over nineteen thousand titles from more than five thousand international publishers and provides access to over 47 million bibliographic records for the scientific, technical, medical, social sciences, and arts and humanities fields. Scopus provides citing reference information for 26 million records dating back to 1996. A search for “organic farming OR organic agriculture” returns more than four thousand results, mostly peer-reviewed journal articles and conference proceedings ranging from 1954 to the present.

Web of Science. New York, New York: Thomson Reuters, 1898–.

This multidisciplinary database consists of multiple citation indexes and provides access to more than 46 million bibliographic records covering more than twelve thousand high-impact titles from the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. Web of Science provides citing reference information for journal articles dating back to 1898, conference proceedings dating back to 1990, and books dating back to 2005. A topic search for “organic farming OR organic agriculture” returns approximately 3,400 results, including peer-reviewed journal article, conference proceedings, and book chapters ranging from 1928 to the present.