small farmers

This week on Meat and Three, we’re traversing across the country to learn how members of diasporic communities are preserving cultural heritage through seed saving. We’ll introduce you to farmers growing Korean perilla in California, Hmong medicinal herbs and indigenous corn in Wisconsin, and Somali water spinach in Maine. 

Further Reading:

Learn more about Trade Roots Farm here.

Hear the full episode of Eat Your Heartland Out with Yusuf Bin-Rella here.

Learn more about Kristyn Leach and Second Generation Seeds here. 

Follow the work of Liberation Farms and the Somali Bantu Community Association here. Learn more about the history of the Somali Bantu community in their own words here.

The Agrarian Trust supports marginalized communities in accessing and owning farmland through the creation of agrarian commons such as the Little Jubba Agrarian Commons.   

Keep Meat and Three on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. 

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Cultivating Resilience—it’s our title, and the goal for this podcast: to help our listeners develop mental resilience. But what is resilience? And how do you get it?

Over the course of this season, we’ve covered specific stressors and the skills that can help you manage and overcome them. But for our final episode, we’re zooming out and addressing resilience generally. Because strong people aren’t born, they’re made—which means you can learn and build resilience if you know what to practice.

On this episode, we've got three different stories of resilience for you, each highlighting multiple ways of developing your mental fortitude. You'll meet a military intelligence officer, a pumpkin with a past and Louise, the 600-pound pig. Through it all, we’ll talk about planning, adaptability, purpose and the characteristics that define a resilient person. And our guests, Matt & Stefanie Barfield (Chesterfield Heirlooms), Jeff Sale (Centurion Farm), Anne Devin (Chase Stream Farm) and Rhyne Cureton (@pork.rhyne) will share the strategies that helped them bounce back from the challenges life put in their way.

Join us for our final episode of the season, where we’ll share the roadmap to resilient living. 

Resources & Links:

• Chesterfield Heirlooms Website
• Cornell Small Farms - Centurion Farm Profile
• Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners - Chase Stream Farm Profile
• Rhyne Cureton Instagram
• University of Maine -  AgrAbility - Boots 2 Bushels Program
• Cornell Small Farms
• Psychology Today - The New 10 Traits of Emotionally Resilient People
• Psychology Today - 25 Ways to Boost Resilience
• FRSAN VetCo & University of Nebraska Bureau of Sociological Research - Farmer Veteran Survey Results Report

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co

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Content Warning: Discussions of suicide and violence
If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, emotional distress, or suicidal ideation there is help available. In the US, you can talk to someone free and confidentially, 24/7 at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 1-800-273-TALK(8255) or by dialing 988. You can initiate a free, confidential online chat with a crisis counselor via this link, or text the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.  
 

Sometimes, stress can be overwhelming. It can feel like there’s no way out. In the worst-case scenarios, those affected can harm or kill themselves. Being able to identify mental health warning signs—in yourself, friends, and family—can be life-saving. So what should you be on the lookout for?

In this episode, university extension educators Maria Pippidis and Jesse Ketterman are back to discuss some of the telltale signs that someone might be struggling across four categories: physical, emotional, environmental, and relational. Meanwhile, Keith Ohlinger, owner of Porch View Farm in Maryland, shares his experience dealing with stress, both in himself and his community. 

We’ll also cover how to open a conversation with someone who’s struggling, and what you can do to help them get back to a manageable place with their mental health. We’ll dispel some of the myths about suicide and share some common-sense solutions, even when those you’re reaching out to are reluctant to accept help.

Join us, as we learn how to look out for our loved ones and be there for each other.

Resources & Links:

·      Suicide Prevention Lifeline Website

·      Suicide Prevention Lifeline Chat

·      American Foundation for Suicide Prevention - Resources

·      AFSP – What to do when someone is at risk

·      AFSP – If someone tells you they’re thinking about suicide

·      Suicide Prevention Resource Center – Warning Signs

·      Porch View Farm

·      University of Maryland – Extension

·      University of Delaware – Extension
    

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co

 

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Succession isn’t just about passing down the farm. Because whether you realize it or not, your successors will inherit more than the land you give them. They’re getting the legacy you left behind, and if they’re your children, a lifetime of the values you’ve imparted to them. Which is why any discussion of succession starts well before you’re ready to retire.

Of course, many farms are passed down within family, which presents its own challenges. Farming with family blurs the lines between business and personal, and how you incorporate your kids into your farm life will go a long way into whether they’re ready or even willing to take over farm duties. 

Many of the stresses we hear from farmers around this stem from fundamental questions: Did I raise my children the right way? Did I farm the right way? Does it all end with me? Succession is where the rubber meets the road on a lot of these big issues, and so on this episode, we’ll cover all of it: the trials and triumphs of family farming, living your values, and the process of passing on a farm you’re proud of. 

You’ll hear from Thelma Kiernan of Kiernan Farm, who’s preparing to pass on her grass-fed beef operation, and sisters Candice White and Amanda Dotterer Condo of Dotterer Dairy, who were raised on and have since inherited a 3rd-generation dairy farm. Join us as we put the success into succession.

Resources & Links:

·      Kiernan Farm

·      Kiernan Farm – Bruynswick Winery

·      National Milk Producers Federation - Dotterer Dairy Profile

·      Candice White TikTok

·      Dotterer Dairy – Land O’ Lakes “She-I-O” Campaign

·      Nationwide – Understanding Farm Succession Planning

·      Farm Bureau – Complete Guide to Farm Succession Planning

·      University of Wisconsin-Madison Extension – 10 Things to Consider for Succession Planning

 

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co

 

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Farming can be lonely. Rural areas are spread out and sparsely populated. You can be out in the field all day and never see anyone. Some farmers love this solitude, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need community. If anything, it shows that farmers need to be intentional about building community, because there's no built-in block parties or office water coolers in rural life. 

The benefits of having a community are massive. Communities provide access to shared knowledge and resources, not to mention purpose and emotional support.

But for some, rural communities aren’t accessible. Whether it’s because of race, language, politics, sexuality, or any number of other issues, farmers might feel unwelcome or unsafe. Unlike more densely populated areas, their alternatives may be limited. So how do you find community?

On this episode, we have 4 guests, each answering that question in a different way. Some are working to change communities from the inside, others are building new communities from the ground up. Join Wichie Artu (Magnetic Fields Farm – Athens, VT), Eustacio Mil Quino (Hudson Valley Farm Hub – Hurley, NY) along with Ashanti Williams and Arian Rivera (Black Yard Farm Collective – Sloanesville, NY) as we redefine community and rediscover what it means to belong.

Special thanks to Zamir Bridgman and Jackie Lamport on this episode.

Affinity Networks

·      National Black Farmers Association

·      Queer Farmer Network

·      National Latino Farmers and Ranchers

·      Northeast Farmers of Color Network

Resources & Links:

·      Black Yard Farm Collective Website

·      Black Yard Farm Collective Instagram (@theblackyardfarm)

·      Black Yard Farm Collective Twitter (@blackyardfarmco)

·      Hudson Valley Farm Hub Website

·      Hudson Valley Farm Hub Facebook

·      Hudson Valley Farm Hub – Language Justice

·      Magnetic Fields Farm

·      Wichie Artu State Senate Campaign

·      Farm School NYC

·      The Importance of Community and Mental Health – National Alliance on Mental Illness

Feedback:
If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co

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The consequences of global warming affect farmers more than almost any other profession. A warming climate means increased droughts, heavy rain, unpredictable storms, and a fluctuating growing season, all of which can threaten a farmer’s bottom line. But climate change also poses big, existential questions: What kind of world am I leaving behind? Can we respond fast enough as a society? Am I doing enough?

These connected worries all fall under the umbrella of “climate anxiety.” And it’s the combination of practical and existential threats that makes climate anxiety uniquely difficult to deal with. But it also means there are a lot of ways to approach it. Today, we talk to Wichie Artu (Magnetic Fields Farm – Athens, VT) and Dr. Nadine Burton (Tallawah Farms – Princess Anne, MD) two farmers who are using “specialty crops” to address a variety of issues presented by climate change. Together, we’ll cover how to mitigate storm damage, protect from crop loss, and adapt your practices to minimize your environmental impact and feed a changing world.

Join us as we explore the ways you can regain control and find local solutions to a global problem.

Resources & Links:

·      Magnetic Fields Farm

·      Tallawah Farms

·      University of Maryland-Eastern Shore

·      Dr. Monica Marie White - Founder, Office of Environmental Justice & Engagement – University of Wisconsin-Madison

·      Collective Agency and Community Resilience: A Theoretical Framework to Understand Agricultural Resistance – Monica Marie White, Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, & Community Development

·      USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture – Climate Change Programs

·      Northeast Organic Farming Association

·      Farm Bureau - Farmers for a Sustainable Future

·      Farmers.gov – Specialty Crops

·      Climate Resilient Farming Grant (NY Only)

 

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co

A podcast from Cultivemos (FRSAN-NE)

 

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Not many people get into farming for the money. But that doesn’t mean money isn’t important on a farm. Finances are the root cause of a lot of farmer stress. From high up-front costs to fluctuating commodity prices and declining farm income, the worries are real. But there are also plenty of funds and fundamentals that can help you gain control of your money and alleviate the mental burden of financial anxiety.

In this episode, we talk to Valerie Woodhouse, social worker and owner and operator of Honey Field Farms in Norwich Vermont, on her own financial journey and how she addresses stress in her farming clients. You’ll also hear from university educators Maria Pippidis (University of Delaware- Cooperative Extension) and Jesse Ketterman (University of Maryland-Extension) on the essentials building blocks of healthy finances. 

Join us as we explore the green that doesn’t grow on trees: how to get it, how to hold onto it, and how to keep it from dominating your day-to-day.

Resources & Links:

·      Honey Field Farms

·      University of Maryland – Extension

·      University of Delaware – Extension

·      Dirt Capital Partners

·      Vermont Farm, Food, and Forest Viability Program

·      University of Maryland – Beginning Farmer Guidebook

·      Agriculture Risk Management Library

·      Farm Services Agency

·      List of State Department of Agriculture Websites

·      List of State Extension Programs

·      Farm Credit
 

Feedback:

If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, andrew@lowerstreet.co

A podcast from Cultivemos (FRSAN-NE)

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Introducing Cultivating Resilience, a podcast from Cultivemos (FRSAN-NE) launching May 2022.

Learn about the specific stresses that farmers face—things like family farm succession, economic burdens, and rural isolation. We’ll provide resources to strengthen your mental health and survive uncertain times.

On this episode, Johanna Rohrer interviews Raechel Sattazahn, Knowledge Center Director from AgChoice Farm Credit. She introduces the AgBiz Master’s program and discusses the benefits of enrolling in the course. Raechel also gives an overview of the program components and identifies key farm financial skills participants can expect to takeaway.

Raechel and her husband operate a dairy in partnership with their family in Womelsdorf, PA. She is a proud mom, dairy farmer, and agricultural enthusiast known for developing farm business tools to help support the future of agriculture.

This is our first episode in our Young, Beginning, Small (YBS) Farmer Podcast Series, where we’ll explore helpful resources and different types of agriculture! Subscribe for email alerts to stay in the know at mafc.com/podcast.

Episode Notes: https://www.mafc.com/blog/agvocates-podcast-raechel-sattazahn
All Podcast Notes: https://www.mafc.com/podcast

Pandemic restrictions are easing and things are changing quickly. We can eat indoors at restaurants again and host dinner parties. It’s exciting to go back to some of our favorite activities, but it can also be nerve-wracking. There might even be some pandemic-era changes that are worth keeping around.

This week on Meat and Three we bring you a survival guide for re-entering society. We offer dinner parties tips, look at what reopening restaurants might mean for communities, examine the abrupt end of to-go cocktails in New York, and consider the importance of continued support for local agriculture.

Further Reading and Listening:

Listen to Michael Davenport’s 1970’s tips for being a great host from the moment guests arrive to when you’re left with the clean up on episode 26 of The Shameless Chef. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

On episode 35 of The Big Food Question Doug Mack discusses an article he wrote for The Counter, which examines the social and cultural benefits of gathering spaces like restaurants. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.  (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

Host Lisa Held talks to farmer Becky Fullam—of Old Ford Farm in New York’s Hudson Valley—about the past year and why she’s hoping customers continue to support small farms on episode 418 of The Farm Report. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

Sother Teague runs the Manhattan cocktail bar Amor Y Amargo and is the host of HRN’s The Speakeasy. Subscribe so you never miss an episode. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

Keep Meat and Three on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. 

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Although 76% of consumers are reported to be concerned about farm animal welfare, food labels and marketing claims have become alarmingly misleading, making it incredibly difficult for consumers to have the impact they seek to make through their purchasing power. Daisy Freund, Director of Farm Animal Welfare at the ASPCA, joins host Jenna Liut to discuss the exciting work the organization is doing to help consumers navigate food labels, elevate meaningful farm animal welfare certifications, and support small farmers, large producers, independent businesses and large corporations in building a more humane, transparent and accountable food system.

Photo courtesy of ASPCA.

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How do we pay a fair price to our farmers? If not they can't take care of our land.

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Welcome to Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food.
Join our Gumroad community, discover the tiers and benefits here: www.gumroad.com/investinginregenag. 
Other ways to support our work:
- Share the podcast
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- Or buy us a coffee… or a meal!
www.Ko-fi.com/regenerativeagriculture. 

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I interviewed Osvaldo de Falco, co-founder of Biorfarm.

A platform which connects Italian organic fruit farmers directly to the end customers, while paying the farmers a fair price (usually 2 or 3 times as much compared to the traditional distribution channels).

This is key in Regenerative Agriculture because if we don't pay our farmers a fair price they can't take care of and improve the land. Osvaldo experienced this problem first hand as his farther got 0,20/0,25 cents for his organic oranges, which were sold 'fresh' in an organic supermarket in Milan for 3,5 euro. Biorfarm pays 0,90 cents to their orange farmers.www.biorfarm.com is now getting ready to scale and will try to raise crowdfunding in the next months. 

Some key take aways from the conversation:

• The farmer is happy (with a platform like Biorfarm) because (s)he gets respect as a farmers.
• The land is the past the present and the future of the farmer, but we don't give them space to improve it.
• Most farmers want to leave the land in a better shape (better soil health) to their children. Being stuck in the current value they simply can't. 
• Fresh is a supermarket could mean anything.

Show notes and links:
www.investinginregenerativeagriculture.com/2017/12/08/osvaldo-de-falco. 

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For feedback, ideas, suggestions please contact us through Twitter @KoenvanSeijen, or get in touch through the website www.investinginregenerativeagriculture.com.

Join our newsletter on www.eepurl.com/cxU33P. 

The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.

https://foodhub.nl/en/opleidingen/your-path-forward-in-regenerative-food-and-agriculture/

Feedback, ideas, suggestions?
- Twitter @KoenvanSeijen
- Get in touch www.investinginregenerativeagriculture.com

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On the season premiere of The Farm Report, Erin Fairbanks returns to hosting duties! She sits down with Kamal Mouzawak, who started Souk el Tayeb, the first farmer’s market in Beirut, Lebanon.

Souk el Tayeb promotes unity around a common respect for food, land, and agricultural traditions. It aims to preserve food traditions and the culture of small farming in Lebanon, to protect the interests of the small farmers and producers and to enable them to compete with industrial and globalized food trade. The literal translation of Souk el Tayeb means “the good market” – both good in taste and character.