Eve Balfour

1899 (age 91)

Dublin, Ireland

She was one of the first women to study agriculture at an English university, graduating from the institution now known as the University of Reading. In 1919, at the age of 21, she used her inheritance to buy New Bells Farm in Haughley Green, Suffolk. In 1939, she launched the Haughley Experiment, the first long-term, side-by-side scientific comparison of organic and chemical-based farming. In 1943, leading London publishing house Faber & Faber published Balfour"s book, The Living Soil. Reprinted numerous times, it became a founding text of the emerging organic food and farming movement. The book synthesized existing arguments in favor of organics with a description of her plans for the Haughley Experiment. In 1946, Balfour co-founded and became the first president of the Soil Association, an international organization which promotes sustainable agriculture (and the main organic farming association in the United Kingdom today). She continued to farm, write and lecture for the rest of her life. In 1958, she embarked on a year-long tour of Australia and New Zealand, during which she met Australian organic farming pioneers, including Henry Shoobridge, president of the Living Soil Association of Tasmania, the first organization to affiliate with the Soil Association.

Eve Balfour Edit Profile

educator farmer

Education

University of Reading.

Career

She was one of the first women to study agriculture at an English university, graduating from the institution now known as the University of Reading. In 1919, at the age of 21, she used her inheritance to buy New Bells Farm in Haughley Green, Suffolk. In 1939, she launched the Haughley Experiment, the first long-term, side-by-side scientific comparison of organic and chemical-based farming.

In 1943, leading London publishing house Faber & Faber published Balfour"s book, The Living Soil.

Reprinted numerous times, it became a founding text of the emerging organic food and farming movement. The book synthesized existing arguments in favor of organics with a description of her plans for the Haughley Experiment.

In 1946, Balfour co-founded and became the first president of the Soil Association, an international organization which promotes sustainable agriculture (and the main organic farming association in the United Kingdom today). She continued to farm, write and lecture for the rest of her life.

In 1958, she embarked on a year-long tour of Australia and New Zealand, during which she met Australian organic farming pioneers, including Henry Shoobridge, president of the Living Soil Association of Tasmania, the first organization to affiliate with the Soil Association.