The Taproot Project

The Amish and Mennonite communities have had an outsized impact on agriculture in the midwest– specifically in organic dairy and the popularization of the produce auction. In this episode Kate explores why the organic dairy has come to rely on small Amish dairy farms, and how produce auctions have become fixtures of midwestern produce sales in the last few decades. The Taproot Podcast is an initia...

Fiber flax is a crop well-suited to the cooler, damp climate of the upper Midwest– but there’s never been a thriving flax market in the US. Cheap cotton, subsidized by slave labor, outcompeted all other potential fiber markets– and left a traumatic history of textiles behind it. Today, a growing group of fiber flax advocates are bringing forth a new era of US textiles rooted in right relationship....

What does the USDA organic seal really mean? The USDA organic seal represents decades of organizing within the agricultural community to establish a codified system of principles and practices for crop and food production that works in partnership with nature, rather than against it. In this episode, Kate speaks with two long-time organic advocates and farmers about the effort to establish and uph...

Any conversation about the future of farming eventually hits the issue of land access. Land is expensive, and within the market system a parcel of land will typically sell to the highest bidder– making existing farmland susceptible to development. But taking farmland out of private ownership can stabilize farmland and ensure it serves the community for generations. Our guests will share about the...

Antonio Delgado has been a trailblazer in northern Illinois’ food system since 1980, when he moved to Elgin from Michoacan, Mexico. He helped establish one of the region’s first farm-to-table restaurants and has since gone on to operate his own farm and farm-to-table restaurant. Kate speaks with Antonio about farming journey. This episode was supported by Raices Latinas, a storytelling project tha...

In the 90s, a small team of researchers from the University of Missouri tasted some elderberry wine and wondered why this ubiquitous native fruit wasn’t a part of local farming operations. Nearly three decades later, Missouri leads the country in elderberry production. Kate speaks with Patrick Byers and David Buehler, two people who helped build the domestic elderberry market, about the cross-sect...

The Delta region of Arkansas is an area of intensive chemical agriculture. The controversial herbicide Dicamba is used heavily in the area, sprayed by airplane over thousands of acres of crops like corn and soybeans. In Phillips County, in the heart of the Delta, one community dreams of an organic farm. Kate speaks with Martin and Jennifer about the efforts to establish an organic farm in Phillips...

Synthetic fibers make up 70% of the current fiber market. Natural fibers like flax linen and wool were once produced domestically as a necessity for clothing families– but today natural fiber production is largely relegated to hobbyists. Today’s guest is Charis Walker, a shepherd and sustainable wool advocate based in Southern Ohio. Charis and Kate talk about the motivation for organic practices i...

Right tree, right place, right time. That’s one way to think about agroforestry, a farming methodology and movement that advocates for intentionally incorporating trees into farm operations as a way to support farm businesses and community health. Kate speaks with Kaitie Adams of the Savanna Institute and Liz and Nate Brownlee of Nightfall Farm about why trees are a critical part of the Midwest’s...

The Midwest is sometimes called the breadbasket of America. But the infrastructure for local grain production and processing has largely disappeared, and most of the grains that are now grown here are used for animal feed. What does it take to restore a regional grainshed in the Midwest? Kate talks with folks at the Artisan Grain Collaborative about the future of grain, and with a brewer and a far...

There is a robust and growing network of grassroots organizations supporting Detroit’s urban farming and food sovereignty movement. Kate speaks with Erin Cole and Shakara Tyler, two farmers and organizers working closely with the Detroit Black Community Food Sovereignty Network (DBCSFN), about their current projects and the values behind their vision. The Taproot Podcast is an initiative of the Mi...

The prairie was once one of the largest and most ecologically complex ecosystems in the world. Today, most of that prairie has been replaced for farmland. Kate explores how the prairie is, and can be, part of our agricultural world through conversations with people who are restoring prairies in the Upper Midwest and advocating for the return of the prairie’s most important and iconic resident: the...

Hannah Breckbill joins us for this episode of the Taproot Project to explore the networks that support queer farmers in the rural Midwest. Hannah founded Humble Hands Harvest in Decorah, Iowa, in 2016 – a worker-owned organic farm cooperative that produces about 30 types of vegetables, fruit, nuts and grass-finished lamb on 22 acres. She talks with Kate about what’s helped her thrive in her life a...

Stories from changemakers in Midwestern agriculture, coming to you every other week starting this September. Subscribe now! The Taproot Project is an initiative of the Midwest Transition to Organic Partnership Program,  —a project funded by the USDA National Organic Program to support transitioning and organic producers with mentorship and technical assistance, and to grow the greater organic...