How—and why—to be good to your microbes

In 1985 Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young organized a concert to benefit farmers and spread awareness of the crisis U.S. farmers were facing. The concert raised $7 million and spread awareness across the country. Since then Farm Aid has become a force advocating for farmers, promoting healthy, farm-grown food, providing a hotline and resource network, and giving a voice for policy change that benefits family farms over corporate conglomerates. They continue to produce a concert in a new location each year, and in recent years the concerts have become festivals featuring locally grown food and a goal of zero waste, sustainability and food organizations from all over the country, and of course abundant live music.

Nick Mendoza grew up in a cattle ranching family in New Mexico, but when he moved to San Diego he fell in love with the ocean and got hooked on fish and marine science. Taking the lessons from regenerative cattle production to the oceans, he studied Environmental and Marine Resources at Stanford University, and earned a graduate degree in graduate degree in Sustainable Aquaculture. But eventually he veered away from a career in science when he realized that he could make more of a difference by actually doing science-informed fish production. He founded Neptune Snacks, which produces four types of fish jerky––with more products on the way. Balancing transparency, science, health, sustainability, and flavor, he's part of a new generation of entrepreneurs working to transform the food system from the inside. 

Carbon credits were designed as a market mechanism to incentivize projects that sequester carbon and reduce carbon emissions. The idea is to pay people who are doing climate friendly projects, and sell credits to emitters. But do they work? Is there independent verification that carbon is really being sequestered? What does it mean when people are being paid for projects they would have been doing anyway? And who's really profiting? Ecosystem scientist Jane Zelikova, director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center at Colorado State University, guides us through these questions and more.

Katherine Miller, author of At The Table: The Chef's Guide To Advocacy, began her work toward a healthier food system with a deep background in political advocacy. She trains chefs to use their position as influencers to make change on issues like healthy and regenerative food sourcing, food waste, sustainability, fair wages, anti-sexism and -racism, and better mental health––in ways that engage the community and work with their already busy schedules.

Beehives take up little space on the land, but, like other livestock, bees need space to roam, and they need a varied diet. Beekeeper Melanie Kirby is a "landless farmer," who sets up her beehives on farms and ranches, where the bees can thrive and the agrarians can take advantage of their pollination services.
In fact pollination services have become essential to American agriculture, as monocrop farms don't provide sufficient habitat for pollinators to thrive, so beekeepers actually ship bees by the pallet seasonally to sites when trees and other crops are in bloom. In 2008 the income from pollination services exceeded the price of honey, which shifted the business model for beekeepers, especially at the large scale.
Among the many challenges for beekeepers are pesticide use, which threaten bees and in turn the foods that rely on them. Kirby is involved in helping to create pollinator protection policies to spread awareness and safeguard these essential constituents of the food system.

Anica Wong is Quivira Coalition's communications director and she had the idea for an "ask me anything" episode with Down to Earth host Mary-Charlotte Domandi ... and here it is! Listeners asked questions and we answered as best we could, in a wide-ranging discussion about everything from to Anica's urban farm to our favorite podcasts to Plato's Republic. We reference many episodes, books, people, and fun stuff, so see the timeline below for links.

Photographer Sally Thomson's gorgeous new book of photographs and texts, Homeground, is a deep exploration of rangelands in the Southwest––landscapes, livestock, water, wildlife, and the stewards who keep the land thriving. With her deep background in landscape architecture, conservation, and land use planning, Thomson photographs in ways that reveal a deep understanding and love for the land in all its richness and diversity.

Elena Miller Ter-Kuile is a sixth-generation farmer living in southern Colorado. At Cactus Hill Farm she and her father raise sheep for wool, grass-fed meat and organic grain and hay, and are in the process of restoring their family’s damaged land.

Erik Ohlsen author of The Regenerative Landscaper, is helping people, municipalities, companies, and farms create thriving landscapes at every scale––and cultivate native plants, wildlife, and food.  His new book, The Regenerative Landscaper: Design and Build Landscapes That Repair the Environment, deeply explores the theory and hands-on practice of repairing damaged land and finding ecological balance––no matter how small or large the project. 

Cole Bush is a shepherdess, entrepreneur, and educator. Founder of Shepherdess Land & Livestock and Grazing School of the West, she uses a "flerd" (flock-herd) of sheep and goats to restore landscapes and prevent fire. She's also bringing along a generation of new shepherds, and is cultivating entrepreneurial businesses that spring from this work, such as meat, hides, and wool.