Episodes

Food can have a positive impact on the land and our communities. “But our planet is in danger and it’s time for us to think even bigger.” These words of wisdom are surprisingly to be found on a climate smart Kernza Grain cereal by Cascadian Farm. Thanks to the research and development at the Land Institute in Salina Kansas, the deep rooted, soil healthy perennial grain will store more carbon, prevent soil erosion and preserve clean water. Plus it makes nutritious tasty cereal and soon other food...

The health of land and the health of bodies are connected. Or as Kate Kavanaugh explains it\’s about mind, body and soil. Kate is a butcher, a farmer, a newly podcast host and more — all existing within the regenerative ag space. As a butcher, she founded Western Daughters Butcher shop in Denver featuring local grass fed beef, pork and chicken from local regenerative farms. As a farmer, she raises low-PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) pork and poultry (chicken, duck, and goose) focusing on feed...

Sheep may be today’s most popular animal for a new breed of sustainable farmers and ranchers with new consumers who are discovering a taste for lamb, raised right. To meet this opportunity lamb processor Superior Farms and sheep producers from six states have launched a state-of-the-art sheep facility, in Nephi, Utah. Superior Farms CEO, Rick Stott explains that the venture will converge the farming methods of traditional lamb production with advanced sheep industry technologies, production prac...

Seeds are the source of all food. Will seeds save us? The FAO reports that only nine crop species now account for the majority of the world’s food supply. There has been a 90% decrease in plant breeding diversity since the early 1900’s. Farmers are not able to save seeds for future planting that are protected by intellectual property laws and 4 corporations control 70% of the current $90+ billion seed system. As Co-Founder of Seed Linked, Dylan Bruce thinks of that future, focusing on no-till ve...

Worthwhile endeavors that are to protect and regenerate the Earth, must be \”Earthwhile\”. Nestled in the heart of California\’s San Benito County among sweeping oak-studded hillsides, Paicines Ranch is habitat for a diversity of wildlife including animals, birds, insects, trees, plants, grasses, springs, rivers, and more. Ranch owner,Sally Callhoun says their mission is to work with the dynamic natural world at the ranch to regenerate the health of the ecosystem from the soil up while growing d...

Regenerative agriculture can significantly curb climate change, but only if it’s coupled with racial and land justice. UC Santa Barbara professor and writer Liz Carlisle\’s book, Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming explores how we got here and how we heal the earth and the food system. Along the way she shares the stories of female farmers of color who are reviving ancestral methods of growing food, reclaiming their communities’ relationship to land, and...

A food system revolution is under way that begins with farming better. From his Blue Dasher Farm in South Dakota and the non-profit Ecdysis Foundation, Jonathan Lundgren professes that \”we can grow food and conserve biodiversity and environmental health\” by making innovative practices scalable and transferable to as many farms as possible . Nothing less than a paradigm shift is anticipated as soon as farmers are ready to farm in nature’s image. www.ecdysis.bio.hub www.bluedasher.farm

Caroline and Jesse McDougall work everyday to build abundance, diversity, and resilience on their farm in rural southern Shaftbury Vermont. Studio Hill Farm transitioned from conventional chemical management to organic holistic management in 2012. To rehabilitate 250+ acres of degraded land, they raise sheep, pigs and poultry on pasture and use regenerative management to foster healthy, biologically-active soils—something they’ve mastered to become a Savory Influencer Hub. In order to help pay t...

Almost 50 years ago the Agriculture Council of America started National Ag Day. Since then across America, agriculture has been recognized and celebrated on a day or all week in March of every year. It is based on the belief that everyone should:understand how food and fiber products are produced; appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products; value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy; and acknowledge and consider career o...

Country music legends and livestock on a farm in East Tennessee surprisingly have something in common. Aliceson and Barry Bales own a family farm in East Tennessee where they raise grass fed and finished beef, pastured pork and chicken and their CEO (Chief Egg Officer) son has a pastured egg operation. Aliceson has published a cook book and Barry is a long time musician with Alison Krauss and Union Station (along with a few other folks) and a songwriter. How do you top winning 15 Grammies as wel...

Local Butcher Shops are coming back as more consumers want to experience the craft, knowledge and quality assurance of old. The new version of an old tradition provides local, humanely treated, pasture raised beef, lamb, pork and poultry. Expert butchers not only know how to cut meat, they can answer questions on production practices, menu ideas and cooking instructions. One of the leaders in this butcher shop movement is Eric Veldman Miller and his Butcher Shop in East Sacramento, \”V Miller Me...

Food insecurity is a reality for 16% of the public and 32% are waiting for their next pay check before they can buy food. Trends like this matter and are now being discovered by the Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability at Purdue University. The Head of the Center and Head of the Purdue Ag Econ. Department, Dr. Jayson Lusk believes that to be successful in the food business you must understand your consumer segment and what it is that they are caring about. To fill that need Purdue ...

The most hated chore on most farms is paperwork. From her family farm in Nebraska Peggy Meyer thought there had to be a better way, so she created an app to help farmers manage their paperwork more efficiently. She felt the pains of time management and record keeping and wanted to build something to help! Somehow between raising 6 kids and farming, she created \”Field Pocket\”. Peggy believed she could make it App \’N and farms across the MidWest are glad she did. The app is called Field Pocket.

When we think of pasture sounds, it\’s moo, baaa, or whinnies. So why not quacks, clucks and honks.? Well poultry in the pasture is the gateway to farming since the aspiring farmers can start with just a few acres, as did Jeff Siewicki in South Carolina. He had to figure out how to start with low investment and no experience but with passion to spare. Ducks have become the poultry preference in his pasture . With a profitable pasture poultry base he now shares how to farm without buying land, wi...

Some are concerned about whether or not the foods they buy contain GMO, genetically modified organisms, or what USDA refers to as Bioengineered. As a result of a 2016 Bill passed by Congress and signed into Law by President Obama, USDA regulations have just gone in to effect that specifies that foods that are bioengineered or contain bioengineered ingredients must disclose that information to consumers with text, symbol, QR code or telephone. Greg Jaffe, the Project Director for Center for Scien...

Technology in smart phones and watches help people identify current and emerging issues that Doctors can address. Do animals deserve any less? Rapidly improving technology helps ranchers, farmers and their veterinarians know everything they need to about an animal\’s current condition and anticipate problems that are likely to occur. Beyond monitoring, DNA technology allows all of the information a chef or an end consumer may want to know about the history of their dinner. Dr. Paulo Loureiro, is...

Regenerative? Organic? Real Organic? Non GMO? Sustainable? Biodynamic? Consumers understandably get confused by the terms when they just want to buy the best food for themselves and their families. \”Best\” can mean everything from climate to nutrition but always includes taste. On his \”Save Our Soil\” (SOS) farm in Australia, Mark Rathbone is a firm believer in Biodynamic and his customers believe he is right especially when they taste what he grows on his farm about 3 hours north of Melbourne...

President Biden has launched a well-funded action plan for a \”Fairer, More Competitive and More Resilient Meat and Poultry Supply Chain. Jenny Lester Moffitt, the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs says that the new program will effect the entire meat supply chain from farm to table by: expansion of independent processing capacity; jump starting independent processing projects; strengthening finacing systems; and backing private lenders that back these new or expanding indep...

There have been major, well-documented problems with child labor overseas in production of various food imports. These foods make their way into the US market–another reason consumers want to know who produced their food. Anne Ross with Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services emphasizes that it isn\’t fair for ethical farmers to have to compete with those who are using forced labor for profit. It\’s even worse that these practices are a direct impact on the liberty of people in addition to the devast...

Bacon crisis? Or not? Since Californians voted to require more space for pigs, chickens and veal calves, consumers have started to worry about what it will mean for the price and availability of bacon. The effects will not only be felt in California but nationwide for pig farmers, meat packers, food distributors, restaurants, supermarkets and consumers. UC Davis AG Economists, Daniel Sumner and Rich Sexton have studied the situation and identified what to expect when consumers in one state want ...

“To make a living is not to make a killing. It’s to have enough.” says Wendell Berry in many ways, in scores of books over the years. As we consider the future of the world we need to reflect on the counsel of Wendell Berry who reminds us that the world will take care of us if we take care of it; knowing and loving it. If there was a poet laureate for agriculture, it should be Wendell Berry. A few years ago the renowned Bill Moyers was successful in interviewing Wendell and he agreed we could sh...

With climate change what is the future of agriculture? The author of The Dreamt Land, Mark Arax draws from his chronicles of California over the past three decades to consider where we\’ve been and where we\’re headed to address the future of agriculture in a time of climate change. No writer has devoted more pages to the story of California agriculture—small farmers and big farmers, conventional farmers and organic farmers, the migrants who work the crops—than Arax. A “culture of extraction” ha...

Because ‘we are what we eat,’ the Native American food sovereignty movement is working to revitalize and perpetuate traditional food systems in order to promote good physical, cultural and spiritual health for Indigenous peoples. This is being done through the promotion of seed sovereignty and the reclamation and rematriation of Native heirloom seeds; through the work of Native chefs seeking to reclaim and define Indigenous cuisine; and in fighting for a clean environment in which to nurture the...

Small holder farmer provide over 80 to 90 % of food production in Africa. However much more food is needed and farmers need to earn more money to lift them and their families beyond subsistence, just getting by. Larta Institute has introduced Farm to Table Talk to OCP a Moroccan based global plant nutrition company serving farmers on five continents. The potential for African farmers to improve their livelihood, food availability and eventually export is huge. Dr. Donald Madukwe, the Head of Agr...