Will Bonsall: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Author, (vegan) farmer, and seed collector}}

{{Distinguish|}}

{{Use American English|date=February 2021}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Will Bonsall

| image =

| alt =

| caption = Bonsall in 2021

| birth_name = Will Bonsall

| alias =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|01|01}}

| birth_place = [[Waterville, Maine]], U.S.

| relatives =

| occupation = {{hlist|Author, (vegan) farmer, and seed collector}}

| years_active = Unknown–present

| spouse = {{marriage|[[Molly Thorkildsen]]|0000|2021|end=divorced}}

}}

'''Will Bonsall''' is an American author, seed saver and veganic farmer who lives in Maine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://downeast.com/land-wildlife/rare-heirloom-seeds/|title=The Maine Farmer Saving the World's Rarest Heirloom Seeds|date=2020-03-31|website=Down East|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-21}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/seeds-of-change-1.2769911|title=Seeds of change|last=Thompson|first=Sylvia|date=2016-08-27|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1986-12-30|title=Preserving 'heirloom' crops Down East|work=Christian Science Monitor|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1986/1230/hscat.html|access-date=2021-01-07|issn=0882-7729}}</ref> He is a regular speaker about [[seed saving]], [[organic farming]] and [[veganic farming]].<ref name=":2" />

Bonsall was born in [[Waterville, Maine|Waterville]], [[Maine]] in 1949. He graduated from the [[University of Maine|University of Maine at Orono]] in 1971<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://downeast.com/land-wildlife/rare-heirloom-seeds/|title=The Maine Farmer Saving the World's Rarest Heirloom Seeds|last=Poppick|first=Laura|date=2020-03-31|website=Down East Magazine|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-04-09}}</ref> and moved to San Francisco and hiked across the U.S. and Mexico. He later returned to Maine to build a homestead on 85 acres in [[Industry, Maine]] called Khadighar Farm.<ref name="Pols">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2014/02/16/the_maine_man_who_saves_the_seeds_/|title=Maine farmer, seed curator forms new grass-roots group|last=Pols|first=Mary|date=2014-02-16|website=Portland Press Herald|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref> In 2010, he self-published a science fiction novel called ''Through the Eyes of a Stranger (Yaro Tales)''.

Bonsall was married to Molly Thorkildsen and has two grown sons.<ref>[https://www.nofanh.org/copy-2-of-draft-old-workshops-sched Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire]</ref><ref>[https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.com/tag/khadighar-farm/ Dawling P. Book Review: Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening. Sustainable Market Farming: Intensive Vegetable Production on a Few Acres (Blog)]</ref> He is the founder of the Scatterseed Project and does write for organic gardening publications,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bonsall|first=Will|date=January 1, 2016|title=Using Green Manure - Organic Gardening|url=https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/gardening-techniques/green-manure-ze0z1601zbay|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-12|website=Mother Earth News|language=en}}</ref> does talks about gardening,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-04-09|title=Waterville Seed Library starts April 12|url=https://www.centralmaine.com/2021/04/09/waterville-seed-library-starts-april-12/|access-date=2021-04-10|website=Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel}}</ref> and he does share vegan recipes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yacon – An Exciting 'Root' Crop from the Andes|url=https://www.mofga.org/Publications/The-Maine-Organic-Farmer-Gardener/Winter-2017-2018/Yacon|access-date=2020-05-16|website=www.mofga.org}}</ref>

== ''Will Bonsall's Essential Guide'' ==

In 2015, [[Chelsea Green Publishing|Chelsea Green]] published ''Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-reliant Gardening: Innovative Techniques for Growing Vegetables, Grains, and Perennial Food Crops with Minimal Fossil Fuel and Animal Inputs''.

In 1981, Bonsall founded the Scatterseed Project.<ref>{{Cite news|last=English|first=Jean|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1986/1230/hscat.html|title=Preserving 'heirloom' crops Down East|date=1986-12-30|work=Christian Science Monitor|access-date=2020-02-11|issn=0882-7729}}</ref> In 1986, the ''[[The Christian Science Monitor|Christian Science Monitor]]'' reported on Bonsall and his work saving seeds and saving heirloom crops. In the early 1990s Bonsall did help found [[Seed Savers Exchange]] in Iowa to preserve heirloom seeds and share seeds.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-27|title=The Seed Saver's Predicament|url=https://modernfarmer.com/2020/10/the-seed-savers-predicament/|access-date=2020-12-17|website=Modern Farmer|language=en-US}}</ref> Differences with Seed Savers Exchange later caused problems. Potato Grower reported: "The Seed Savers Exchange and Bonsall quit each other at roughly the same time, with the group no longer giving him what Torgrimson said was an annual stipend of between $13,000 and $15,000 to grow out his collection for them, and Bonsall no longer listing his vast collection of potatoes and seeds in the group’s annual yearbook. His mysterious absence from the pages of those books, and the possible cause of it, became a question bandied about on Seed Savers’ online forum throughout 2013."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Maine Seed Curator Forms New Grassroots Group|url=https://www.potatogrower.com/2014/02/maine-seed-curator-forms-new|access-date=2020-12-17|website=www.potatogrower.com}}</ref>

In 2016, Bonsall was featured in the documentary "SEED: The Untold Story."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/seed-untold-story-932158|title='Seed: The Untold Story': Film Review|last=DeFore|first=John|date=September 23, 2016|website=The Hollywood Reporter|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/04/fighting-for-seed-diversity-documentary-seed-the-u.html|title=Fighting for Seed Diversity: Documentary SEED: The Untold Story Now Screening on PBS|last=Anna|first=Brones|date=2017-04-27|website=Paste Magazine|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-11}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.greenwichtime.com/local/article/Maine-farmer-and-seed-saver-speaks-at-SEED-The-11039310.php|title=Maine farmer and seed-saver speaks at film screening in Greenwich|last=Turiano|first=Jennifer|date=2017-03-31|website=GreenwichTime|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref>

In 2020, ''[[Down East (magazine)|Down East Magazine]]'' wrote: "Bonsall’s dispersal efforts have been so prolific that he often finds himself chasing his own tail. He’ll receive what he’s told is a rare variety of such-and-such, but in trying to trace it back to its original source, he’ll find it came from someone who got it from someone who got it from an old hippie in western Maine."<ref name=":0" /> ''DownEast Magazine'' later did report the article about Bonsall was the #1 most-read story of 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-31|title=The 10 Most-Read Down East Stories of the Year|url=https://downeast.com/features/top-maine-stories-2020/|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Down East|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2020'', [[WCAI]] radio'' reporter Elspeth Hay reported: "Around 2013, Bonsall says his collections collapsed. He couldn’t get the funding or the labor he needed to keep growing so many thousands of seeds. He still has a lot—his potato collection for instance is down to 200 varieties—but remember it used to be 700, and for him, it’s a huge loss. He says he can get many of the seeds he had back—since he’s sent so many to other growers around the world. But he’s seventy. He doesn’t want to build up his collection again just to lose it—he wants to make it sustainable, to find a way to train young farmers and pass The Scatterseed Project on."<ref>{{Cite web|title=A World-Renowned Seed Saver Shares His Story|url=https://www.capeandislands.org/post/world-renowned-seed-saver-shares-his-story|last=Hay|first=Elspeth|date=April 2, 2020|website=WCAI NPR for the Cape, Coast & Islands|language=en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-03-25|title=A World-Renowned Seed Saver Shares His Story|url=https://www.capeandislands.org/in-this-place/2021-03-25/a-world-renowned-seed-saver-shares-his-story|access-date=2021-04-10|website=CAI|language=en}}</ref>

Bonsall is a [[Veganism|vegan]] and a proponent of [[Vegan organic gardening|veganic farming]], which doesn't use animal products such as manure.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Glenza|first=Jessica|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/24/vegetables-vegan-organic-agriculture-farming|title=Are vegetables vegan? The man taking aim at animal products in organic farming|date=2019-12-24|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-02-12|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2018/06/20/ever-heard-of-veganic-farming-neither-had-we/|title=Ever heard of veganic farming? Neither had we|last=Kamila|first=Avery Yale|date=2018-06-20|website=Portland Press Herald|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> In 2015, [[Chelsea Green Publishing|Chelsea Green]] published ''Will Bonsall’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-reliant Gardening: Innovative Techniques for Growing Vegetables, Grains, and Perennial Food Crops with Minimal Fossil Fuel and Animal Inputs''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smallfarmcanada.ca/api/content/bb22fe8e-444c-11e9-913c-120e7ad5cf50/|title=REVIEW - A farming book with attitude|last=Wallace|first=Janet|date=2016-09-01|website=Small Farm|language=en-ca|access-date=2020-02-12}}</ref> He writes articles about crops for farming publications.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-21|title=GRIT {{!}} Rural American Know-How|url=https://www.grit.com/farm-and-garden/vegetables/a-guide-to-broadleaf-grains-ze0z1608zsel/|access-date=2021-06-20|website=grit.com/|language=en-US}}</ref>

Bonsall was quoted by ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper in 2019 as saying that - "We vegans like to put on our plates [vegetables] grown in methods that are very un-vegan."<ref name=":3" /> He said manure, blood meal and other animal products that are being used for agriculture are what is causing the vegetables to be un-vegan. In 2018, the ''[[Portland Press Herald]]'' vegan columnist [[Avery Yale Kamila]] reported: "Bonsall credits his “obsession with self-reliance,” interest in sustainable living, appreciation for organic farming, and an allergy to ruminant meat with propelling him toward vegan eating and farming. About five years after starting the farm in 1971, he began to question the conventional wisdom around obtaining fertilizer from animals."<ref name=":1" />

In 2019, Bonsall shared his recipe for [[succotash]] with [[PBS]] program Kitchen Vignettes. Host Aube Giroux said: "For his version of this traditional Native American dish, Will uses four main ingredients grown on his farm: corn, red pepper, zucchini, and the star of the show: shell beans."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Will Bonsall's Succotash {{!}} Kitchen Vignettes for PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/food/kitchen-vignettes/will-bonsalls-succotash/|last=Aube|first=Giroux|date=2019-08-21|website=PBS Food|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-16}}</ref>

He has been described as a "vegan homesteader."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-04-25|title=Food Autonomy: Will Bonsall on Vegan Homesteading & Radical Self Reliance|url=http://www.soleone.org/solecast/2019/4/25/food-autonomy-w-will-bonsall-on-vegan-homesteading-amp-radical-self-reliance|access-date=2021-05-09|website=SOLE|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Vegetable claims ==

In 2019, ''[[The Guardian]]'' reported that Bonsall said most vegetables are "very un-vegan.”<ref name=":3" /> Bonsall has said he is one of the "few vegans in the world who actually eats a 100 percent plant-based diet" because he grows his own food and "can vouch that it’s animal-free."<ref>{{Cite web|last=LaVaux|first=Ari|date=2016-09-29|title=Vegan food may not be as "vegan" as you think|url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/meat-eaters-feel-the-heat-from-vegans|access-date=2021-03-20|website=High Country News|language=en-us}}</ref>

==Personal life==

In late 2021, Will briefly mentioned he was going through a divorce with his now-former wife, Molly Thorkildsen while teaching some students about composting. He also mentioned that he was 72 years old, although an exact date of birth is still unknown.

== Awards ==

In 2020, The ''[[Portland Press Herald]]'' awarded Bonsall the Source Seed Saver award. ''Portland Press Herald'' reporter Bob Keyes reported: "He has 1,100 varieties of peas and other [[legume]]s, including chickpeas, favas and runner beans. He has one of the largest [[Jerusalem artichoke]] seed collections in North America, and has more varieties of [[parsnip]] seeds than just about anybody anywhere."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Keyes|first=Bob|date=2020-05-24|title=The Seed Saver|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2020/05/24/the-seed-saver/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-05-28|website=Press Herald}}</ref>

== See also==

* [[Compost]]

* [[Fertilizer]]

* [[Human waste|human manure]]

* [[Soil science]]

* [https://www.scatterseedproject.org/ Scatterseed Project]

[[Category:American veganism activists]]

[[Category:1949 births]]