Down to Earth: The Planet to Plate Podcast

Zachariah Ben is a sixth-generation farmer from Shiprock, New Mexico. He and his family founded Bidii Baby Foods. Using traditional Navajo food traditions, they provide healthy, nutritious, and locally-grown food to Navajo people, many of whom are living in food deserts. And, through entrepreneurship and traditional farming, they seek to heal generational trauma by fostering not only physical health but also spiritual connection to land and community––from surviving to thriving. 4'12 traditional Navajo farming principles 5'01 trauma healing 5'31 farming with the stars, singing, birth rituals as strategies for successful farming 8'05 sharing/trading seeds to keep biodiversity, human beings as seeds 10'35 the ritualistic culture at the root of healthy food 11'36 corn at the base of all their foods 12'50 traditional Navajo foods 16'07 taking care of elders 17'43 majority of the market for the baby food is their own people 19'05 resistance of commercialization 20'22 goal of investing across the community through their non-profit 22'53 developing a business on tribal trust land, with all its legal and regulatory issues 25'48 the insanity of bureaucracy and red tape 28'19 dealing with water, irrigation, water rights 30'15 difficulty of local leadership because they've dealt with hardship all their lives 31'08 what "bidii" means 33'53 they don't believe in a diet that subtracts food, but one that adds 35'07 a lot of people on the reservation don't have access to electricity and running water 37'25 Navajo nation junk food tax on the food that is the only affordable food for many 40'24 building up the next generations to be thriving, not just surviving--and healing 42'14 a healed self is a healed community 43'37 annihilating the monsters of anxiety and depression 46'55 Zach is a sand painter 48'59 now he sees the farm as the medium for his art 49'43 looking not for return on investment but return of impact 50'16 contact Bidii via social media

Gilles Stockton is author of the new book, Feeding a Divided America: Reflections of a Western Rancher in the Era of Climate Change, published by University of New Mexico Press. A third generation cattle rancher, he raises beef cattle and sheep on a 5000-acre ranch in Grass Range, Montana. He’s also an international agriculture development specialist and an advocate for ranching and farming communities. The new book imparts a lifetime of wisdom and analysis of what happened to our agriculture system, why, and how we can create a system that gives power back to the farmers who are actually growing our food. 3’01 the book is an extension of his op-ed pieces 4’24 multi-generation ranch background 6’30 raises cattle and sheep, as well as hay 7’14 how Western ranching improves the land 7’46 overgrazing damaged the land; it developed from the collapse of homesteading 9’47 ranching the only sustainable model of large scale agriculture in the US 10’48 the decline of his town early 20th century, and the decline of farms in general 11’57 overproduction led first to subsidies, then to the elimination of small farms 13’37 200,000 farms produce 80% of our food. The rest are trying to survive in an industrial agriculture economic model that doesn’t really want them 14’48 how megafarms came into being in the 1980s–the decision not to enforce antitrust laws, leading to monopolies/cartels 16’57 the problem of externalities 18’11 the difference between competitive capitalism (free enterprise where buyer and seller have equal power) and cartel capitalism–which is more like old-style communism 20’33 cartels can raise prices indiscriminately 21’14 not enough slaughterhouses–system is too centralized 21’52 agriculture has never had a golden age–it’s always been difficult 22’48 farmer gets 15.9¢ out of consumer dollar 23’22 the system steals from the farmer and farm labor 24’25 the “illusion of economies of scale” 24’45 smaller farmers are better farmers 25’20 the role of the farmer has been squeezed out in the name of “efficiency”…then there’s no advocate for the land and animals 26’24 what’s lost when you don’t have the farmer on the ground…the land, the workers, the animals 27’20 corporate boards instead of farmers are making decisions about things they know nothing about 28’23 why monocrops systems are so un-resilient, especially during climate instability 29’39 the problem of the super wealthy buying farm land–looks like colonialism 30’11 the wealthy neighbors don’t understand how their elk sanctuary affects their ranching neighbors 32’02 rural people hate environmentalists more than they hate the corporations that are ruining them 32’36 the sense that their vote doesn’t count 33’32 “they don’t ask our opinion” 35’16 policy for the last 50 years has been anti-rural. Rural voters vote red, but they don’t do anything for rural people. But blue doesn’t either. 36’15 climate change is making things existential 36’46 there’s a movement for anti-trust enforcement, which is encouraging 37’54 we need to decentralize in order to have a healthier food system — what that could look like 38’35 about 1/3 of food in France is sold locally, unlike the US where it’s more like 3% 39’16 the US imports more food than it exports. So much for “feed the world” 39’47 the need for auction markets for all food commodities (instead of contract work) 40’46 we don’t need new anti-trust laws, just enforcement of the existing ones 43’04 Citizens United decision of 2010 was a huge gain for the wealthy and corporate power 44’15 revitalizing rural communities = revitalizing democracy 45’05 the importance of being organized around an idea and staying with it 47’04 the local foods movement is extremely important. But it’s very libertarian in its politics, which means that they don’t deal with the globalized competition, they just do their own thing and stay a part of the 3% of local food 48’33 the Farm Bill isn’t so much a farm bill as an ag business bill. The orgs doing good work need to organize with each other more 49’42 what gives him hope 50’35 what happens after Gilles, what is the plan for the next generation

Bryan Hummel is a big-time water nerd. Specializing in nature-based solutions to watershed and land management issues, he has brought his expertise to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Air Force, industry, and agriculture. The key to preventing flooding, he says, is to restore degraded land so that the soil becomes like a sponge, absorbing water and recharging subterranean aquifers––and in the process preventing flooding and contributing to the success of farming and ranching businesses, which thrive with abundant water resources. His techniques include beaver and bison biomimicry and permaculture techniques that slow, spread, and sink water into the soil instead of letting it run off.

Doctor and professor of public health Wendy Johnson saw in her medical practice people who thrived against all odds, and those who suffered grave challenges due to environmental factors like toxicity, poverty, stress, loneliness, and isolation. Her new book, Kinship Medicine, explores the reality that 80% of our health is determined by factors outside of us—which are largely ignored by our industrialized medical system. What's missing is ecological thinking, and understanding ourselves as part of an environment—from our microbiome to our community, to our ecosystem.

Orion Kriegman and his friends started clearing a trashed vacant lot in Boston to create green space and grow food. City hall was not on their side at first, but with persistence and community effort they were able to secure that lot as permanent green space—and so The Boston Food Forest Coalition was born. A dozen more urban lots were acquired and put into Community Land Trust by the coalition, but the stewardship and management of each food forest belongs to the neighborhoods. These are spaces for food, community, shade, gardening, education, wildlife, kids, and more. With more food forests created every year, the Coalition is part of a web of urban ecosystems throughout the city that are little oases of greenery—and hope.

Montana rancher Amber Smith didn't grow up in agriculture, but ranching became her life's work. As a young adult Kristen Kipp left the family ranch in the Blackfeet but felt a deep longing to go back to her home and the work of raising livestock. Amber is the executive director of Women in Ranching, which was first a part of the Western Landowners Alliance and then later became an independent non-profit, and Kristen is a board member. They talk about raising families on the ranch, about discrimination against women and Native people in agriculture, and about leadership that challenges the dominant model––and is often more effective because it brings people together and gives them all their own voice.

The Transition Movement is a worldwide network of people working locally to move away from fossil fuel-base infrastructure toward locally-based systems. Projects include community-owned renewable energy utilities, local food security projects and farmers markets, local currencies, conversions of lawns into edible landscapes, waste reduction, ecosystem restoration, social entrepreneurship—all things that cultivate resilient and healthy communities. Don Hall, long-time leader in the Transition Towns movement, with a background in permaculture and organic farming, is author of the new book, The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World. In the podcast he talks about some of the many successful projects of the movement, as well as the stages of development inherent in movement-building and social change.

Eileen Napier and Stan Hayes of Ramstead Ranch teamed up around their common interests in organic gardening, permaculture, and healthy living. They started on two acres and sold eggs on the honor system, and then the project grew––they bought ranch land in the Pend Oreille Valley, in the northeastern corner of Washington State and soon expanded to 240 acres. Brining in business skills from their own experiences outside of agriculture, they've built a enterprise that employs twelve people and has a thriving online component, while still serving a predominantly local community.

Paul Rice started out as an anti-capitalist labor organizer, working with coffee farmers in Nicaragua in the 1980s. Over time he saw that what growers needed most was a fair price for their product––and so began his work as a Fair Trade advocate. He returned to the US to study business, and founded Fair Trade USA, where he was CEO for 26 years. Winner of many awards for social and ethical innovation, he’s author of the new book, Every Purchase Matters: How Fair Trade Farmers, Companies, and Consumers Are Changing the World.  

Since the new administration took office, programs benefitting farmers have been slashed, frozen, paused, and canceled––and the effect is leaving agrarians in a tough position. Carolina Mueller, Associate Coalition Director of the National Young Farmers Coalition, and Leah Ricci, Interim Executive Director of Quivira Coalition join us on today's podcast to talk about what they're hearing from folks on the ground, what resources are available to help people navigate, and what ordinary citizens can do to make their voices heard.