The Farm Report

With funding from New York State, American Farmland Trust (AFT) recently launched its most ambitious program to help young farmers access land and conserve farmland statewide. The program is modeled after the Hudson Valley Farmlink Network and is aimed at connecting landowners—especially retiring farmers—to young farmers via online listings and resources, on-the-ground support and guidance, and fi...

Aquaponics is a system that pairs produce growing with raising fish. At Oko Farms in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Yemi Amu operates the largest outdoor aquaponics farm in New York City. Amu sits down with host Lisa Held to discuss the benefits and challenges of producing food using aquaponics, how Oko Farms is contributing to healthy food access in local communities, and how she’s teaching both kids and ad...

At Soul Fire Farm , Leah Penniman has been leading a farm-based movement to uproot racism in the food system and seed community food sovereignty for years. Now, her first book, Farming While Black , digs into the injustices built into the food system and offers resources for others to follow her lead in addressing them—by growing both food and activism. Penniman calls it "a reverently compiled man...

In Newark, NJ, AeroFarms is producing greens using unique growing methods inside massive warehouse farms. Co-founder Marc Oshima sits down with host Lisa Held to talk about the approach, how it compares to traditional agriculture in terms of environmental impact, debates over soil vs. hydroponic growing, and the company's plans for future farms. Powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://...

The first apple trees were planted at Hicks Orchard , about 200 miles north of New York City, in the 1880s. Since, then multiple generations have grown apples, pears, cherries and plums to sell directly to visitors on the farm. In 2005, Slyboro Cider House was established at the farm, and its heritage ciders are becoming more widely available thanks to online seller Cider in Love . In this episode...

James Peisker and Chris Carter opened butcher shop Porter Road in order to get better meat from local farms in Kentucky and Tennessee to more restaurants and home kitchens in Nashville. Recently, they launched an online shop to sell their meat across the country. In this episode, host Lisa Held sits down with Peisker and Carter to talk about how they work with farmers raising animals on pasture, t...

Agricultural workers play a critical role in feeding people around the world. According to a new United Nations report, “they are, however, among the most food insecure, facing formidable barriers to the realization of their right to food, often working without labour and employment protections and under dangerous conditions.” Host Lisa Held speaks with labor organizers—Emma Kreyche, from Worker J...

Is goat meat inherently more sustainable than other meats? Host Lisa Held sits down with James Whetlor , founder of Cabrito and author of the book Goat: Cooking and Eating. They discuss his model of using goats from the dairy industry for meat to cut food waste, and why he thinks getting more people to eat goat would be good for the food system. The Farm Report is powered by Simplecast . See Priva...

Host Lisa Elaine Held sits down with writer-researcher Siena Chrisman to talk about her recent reporting on the dire economic realities facing farmers and rural communities across the United States. They discuss the stories and statistics that filled Chrisman’s Civil Eats story “Is the Second Farm Crisis Upon Us?” and how understanding the history of the 1980s farm crisis is crucial to figuring ou...

Some organic farmers, including Long Wind Farm’s Dave Chapman (a Vermont tomato grower), started growing food decades ago as part of a back-to-the-land movement focused on building healthier soil and communities. Now, they feel that the integrity of organic agriculture is being undermined due to developments like hydroponic production and factory-farm animal systems (CAFOs) being certified USDA or...

Why build a massive vault into permafrost on a remote island between Norway and the North Pole? To safeguard sorghum and sweet potatoes, of course. On this episode, host Lisa Held sits down with executive director Marie Haga and Tender Greens founder Erik Oberholtzer to talk about the Crop Trust’s new Food Forever program, an initiative designed to educate people around the world about the importa...

United States Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) is a former organic farmer and currently serves on the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee. She's been a longtime advocate for policies that support farmers and contribute to building a healthier, more sustainable food system—in her home state of Maine and across the country. With the Farm Bill deadline of September 30 fast approaching,...

When it comes to beef, farmer Ridge Shinn has been on a mission to get other producers and eaters to see the “big picture” for decades. “It’s the local and global perspective of our company—the awareness that soil health is the foundation of human health, and that restoring soil fertility and structure is key to solving many of today’s most confounding problems, including droughts and floods and c...

While the growth of farmers markets and CSAs have helped small farms sell their food locally over the past few decades, both models come with challenges that have become increasingly apparent. Hudson Valley Harvest and Local Roots NYC are two businesses that have introduced new channels for farms to sell their food to local eaters and rebuild regional food systems in the process. In this episode,...

For the season premiere of The Farm Report , host Lisa Held sits down with New York City Council Member Rafael Espinal. Born in East New York, Espinal is a lifelong resident of Brooklyn and currently represents the 37th district, which includes Bushwick, Brownsville, Cypress Hills, and East New York. As a Council Member, Espinal has taken on urban agriculture as one of his primary issues. In Augus...

On this special episode of The Farm Report , outgoing host Erin Fairbanks hands the reins to Lisa Held, who will be taking over the show this fall! The Farm Report is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

This week on The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks takes a trip north to the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, where she sits down with Brad Matthews and Jeffrey Minard to talk about how they make purchasing decisions for the school. The Farm Report is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-s...

In this first half of this episode of The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks speaks with Becca Rimmel, co-manager of the Ithaca Farmers Market. Becca's experience as a professional naturalist led her to begin questioning the origin of the food on her dinner plate, and how food choices affected the landscape around her. Through this curiosity, she began exploring her own bio regional food system, co...

On this week's episode of  The Farm Report , June Russell joins host Erin Fairbanks to share a bit of what's exciting in the world of grains. June Russell is the Manager of Farm Inspections and Strategic Development for Greenmarket, a program of GrowNYC. Greenmarket is the largest network of farmers’ markets in the country with fifty five locations within the City’s five boroughs. It provides re...

On an all new episode of The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks is joined by farmers Steve Burnett and Austin Maness. Steve Burnett is an extremely well-respected organic farmer of Burnett Farms in Delaware County, an active member of the community, and an advocate for the county, the region and farming in general. A marketing ex-pat from NYC, Steve has been described as a true ambassador for the c...

This week on The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks is joined by Aislynn Campbell, Executive Director of GROW Local South Texas, Sue Beckwith, Executive Director at Texas Center for Local Food, Justin Butts of Four String Farms, and Nicole DeMeo, COO & spokesperson for Barnraiser. Barnraiser is a social marketplace that makes it easy to discover, share, and fund online, the people changing how...

On the season premiere of  The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks is joined in the studio by Loren Cardeli, president and founder of A Growing Culture, an organization that supports smallholder farming across the globe through research, collective learning, and advocacy. Loren is a leader in a small but growing movement of farmer-centric organizations. He believes the key to sustainability lies i...

On an all new episode of  The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks is joined in the studio by Susan Streit Sherman. Susan is the author of the blog Crate Cooking , a journal of how she seasonally shops, cooks and eats in the small Greenwich Village studio apartment she shares with her husband and young daughter. She has worked as a private chef, a line cook, an assistant food editor at Martha Stewa...

This week on  The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks is joined by Gabriele Ludwig, Director of Sustainability & Environmental Affairs for the Almond Board of California. In her current position, she has been instrumental in the development of the California Almond Sustainability Program, and continues to encourage a diverse range of research on almonds and environmental issues. See Privacy Po...

On the season finale of  The Farm Report , host Erin Fairbanks is joined by John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, and author of the new book  The Whole Foods Diet . Mackey's mission in writing it, along with Drs. Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman (the bestselling authors of Forks Over Knives ), was to distill the huge body of science, research, and advice into one undeniable co...