Sally Fox (born 1955) is a

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

breeder who breeds naturally colored varieties of cotton. She is the inventor of Foxfibre®️ and founder of the company Natural Cotton Colors Inc. Fox invented the first species of

environmentally friendly Environment friendly processes, or environmental-friendly processes (also referred to as eco-friendly, nature-friendly, and green), are sustainability and marketing terms referring to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies that c ...

colored cotton that could be spun into thread on a machine. Fox has been called a "cotton pioneer" for her efforts regarding organic, colored cotton and heirloom wheat.

Early life and education

Fox was the sixth of seven children, born in 1955 in Woodside, California to two real estate agents. At the age of seven, her family moved to Menlo Park. Fox first became interested in cotton fibers at the age of 12. After purchasing her first spindle with babysitting money, she created various threads of cotton from household objects such as dog hair and linen. In high school, an

entomology Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

teacher and then

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Ph.D. student, Elizabeth Wangari, inspired Fox to take an interest in insects. Wangari helped Fox secure an internship at Zoecon Corporation in Palo-Alto. Fox went on to major in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and entomology at California State Polytechnic University at

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

. After graduation, Fox joined the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

and travelled to The Gambia, West Africa in order to learn about the environmental factors harming local rice and peanut crops. It was here that Fox was first exposed, both socially and physically, to the dangers of

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...

s such as DDT. Fox taught safety classes regarding the usage of pesticides but was forced to return home after becoming very sick (due to exposure). After her stint in the Peace Corps, Fox furthered her education by earning a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

integrated pest management Integrated pest management (IPM), also known as integrated pest control (IPC) integrates both chemical and non-chemical practices for economic control of pests. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization defines IPM as "the careful consideratio ...

from the University of California at Riverside.

Inspiration to grow colored cotton

In the early 1980s, Fox began looking for a job. However, the 1980s farm crisis during this time period created a sparse

job market Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the markets for wage labour. Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding firms. Because these labourers exist as pa ...

. Fox first found work as a pollinator for a cotton breeder in California. During this job, Fox discovered a bag of

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s that produced brown, pest-resistant cotton. After a suggestion from her employer, Fox spun out the cotton and left her job so as to plant her first fields of naturally colored cotton.

Natural Cotton Colors Inc.

Fox is the founder and owner of the company Natural Cotton Colors Inc. Fox's breakthrough occurred in 1988 at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

when she successfully produced her first species of naturally colored cotton that could be spun on a machine. After a sale with a Japanese textile mill, Fox quit her job at Sandoz Crop Protection and founded Natural Cotton Colors Inc., setting up base in

Wasco, California Wasco (formerly, Dewey and Deweyville) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California, United States. Wasco is located northwest of Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, at an elevation of . The population was 27,047 at the 20 ...

. Fox's second major sale occurred in 1989, when she sold 122 bushels of cotton to a different Japanese

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

for $279,000. Following these sales, Fox obtained Plant Variety Protection Certificates (the equivalent of patents for plants) and trademarked her cotton brand: FoxFibre. Not long after, L.L. Bean and

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

put in significant orders for FoxFibre. Fox's business, Natural Cotton Colors, soon became a company/business worth $10 million. However, Sally Fox and FoxFibre faced many obstacles in order to produce their cotton.

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

cotton growers, who feared the crop would contaminate their own produce, pushed for re-enforcement of early 20th-century legislation that placed strict laws on Fox's growing process and her fields. In 1993, she relocated to

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. But in 1999, Arizona cotton growers pushed for similar laws on Fox's fields, causing Fox to relocate once again, this time to

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

. The company faced further barriers when, between 1990 and 1995, a majority of the spinning mills in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and the United States closed down, possibly in efforts to promote

globalization Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...

and

industrialization Industrialisation (British English, UK) American and British English spelling differences, or industrialization (American English, US) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an i ...

FoxFibre

FoxFibre is the patented name of Fox's various breeds of naturally colored, organically grown cotton. Different colors available for textile industries, including Redwood, Coyote, New Green, and Buffalo. Fox herself weeded, maintained, and grew cotton, each year harvesting and breeding only the best in color and in fiber. Fox even crossbred her brown cotton with traditional white cotton so as to produce crops with longer, stronger fibers for threading. Each color of cotton takes approximately ten years of cross-breeding before it can be sold on the market. Her work mirrors, and pushed for more innovation in, the scientific field of

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

Legacy

While Fox was not the first person to invent nor harvest naturally colored cotton, she was the first to invent a species of naturally colored cotton that could be spun into thread via machine. Naturally colored cotton has short, weak fibers that traditionally required hours upon hours of expensive hand threading. White cotton has stronger, longer fibers that are able to be threaded by a machine. However, the

bleach Bleach is the generic name for any chemical product that is used industrially or domestically to remove color from (i.e. to whiten) fabric or fiber (in a process called bleaching) or to disinfect after cleaning. It often refers specifically t ...

ing process of the white cotton is not environmentally friendly, creating large amounts of

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

as a byproduct. Fox's cotton was a gateway for the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of textiles: yarn, cloth and clothing. Industry process Cotton manufacturing Cotton is the world's most important natural fibre. In the year 2007, th ...

to see how good quality clothes could be made while prioritizing the health of the environment. Furthermore, Fox grows all her cotton without pesticides or chemical pesticides, further promoting and encouraging farmers and textile industries to grow environmentally friendly products. Fox and her work has been featured in '' Civil Eats'', ''

Core77 ''Core77'' is an online design magazine that covers the field of industrial design. The site began as the graduate thesis of Stuart Constantine and Eric Ludlum in their final year at Brooklyn, New York's Pratt Institute. The site was launche ...

'', the ''

Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...

'', and ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

''.

Awards

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Programmed Award * 1992, Edison Award for Environmental Achievement by the American Manufacturing Association * Green Award from ''Green Housekeeping'' Magazine * 1993, IFOAM - Organics International Organic Cotton Recognition Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fox, Sally 1959 births Living people Cotton production 20th-century American inventors 21st-century American inventors 21st-century American women inventors People from Palo Alto, California People from Woodside, California University of California, Riverside alumni California Polytechnic State University alumni People from Menlo Park, California 20th-century American women inventors