Young Farmers Podcast

The nutrition title was first included in the 1973 farm bill. It’s projected to make up 84% of total Farm Bill spending, with most of the funds going to SNAP. That’s because the program helps more than 40 million low-income individuals provide food for their families each month. Some of those people are farmers. In this episode, we talk to Mark Nicholson, Senior Director of Policy at the Fair Food...

Farmers are now dealing with the impacts of the climate crisis on a daily basis. Experts predict weather events including droughts and flooding will only get worse. Young and beginning farmers, especially BIPOC farmers, are feeling those impacts the most. Are there opportunities to advance water and climate action and justice through the Farm Bill? We interview Abi Fain, Chief Legal and Policy Off...

Why should our next generation of farmers – and just about everyone who eats – care about the Farm Bill? Celize Christy, an Organizer at HEAL Food Alliance explains the basic details on what’s in the legislation, how it gets written, and how it impacts you. Then, Young Farmers’ Policy Campaigns Co-Director Vanessa Garcia Polanco lays out the path forward in terms of the most important issues this...

Join us for a special series of The Farm Report in collaboration with Heritage Radio Network that's all about The Farm Bill. Tune in to hear from farmers, policymakers, organizers, and food advocates about all the ways the farm bill directly impacts our lives - whether we realize it or not. We’ll break down farm policy and talk to young farmers about what hangs in the balance for them as another F...

This is the third episode of our 2023 Farm Bill series, digging into the farm policy that will affect the next generation of farmers and ranchers. We’ve been asking how 1,000 pages of federal policy can provide tangible benefits and support to beginning and BIPOC farmers, our communities, and the environment. And in this episode, we're joined by Mario Holguin and Julieta Saucedo of La Semilla Food...

This is the second episode of a six-part series focused on the one thing everyone in our network – from farmers to policymakers, organizers to corporate partners – is laser-focused on right now: the 2023 Farm Bill. In this episode, we're joined by Dãnia Davy, Director of Land Retention and Advocacy for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, and Alita Kelly, Land Organizing Director at the Nation...

This is the first episode of a new six-part series focused on the one thing everyone in our network – from farmers to policymakers, organizers to corporate partners – seems to be laser focused on right now: the 2023 Farm Bill. We're joined by Billy Hackett, Policy Specialist for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC), for a high-level overview of the farm bill. We know... 1,000 page...

Access to affordable, quality farmland is the top challenge young farmers face, particularly BIPOC farmers, who today make up only 2% of farmland owners. Young Farmer's Land Campaign Director Holly Rippon-Butler talks with New York Times reporter Elizabeth Dunn about her recent article, “How ‘Fairy Tale’ Farms Are Ruining Hudson Valley Agriculture,” about the land access crisis and how the Nationa...

Today we're coming to you with a special episode from our Hoosier Young Farmers Chapter. The Hoosier chapter just released their own podcast series which shares the voices of farmers from across the state, farmers you might not think of when you picture the farmers of Indiana. This episode features stories about the challenge of acquiring affordable, quality land for farming, and some of the creat...

Jessica Manly talks with Equity and Organizational Change Director and Accountability Report author Michelle A. T. Hughes about what it means for the National Young Farmers Coalition to be accountable to its farmers, partners, and its racial equity commitments.  Read the report at www.youngfarmers.org/2020accountabilityreport and join us for our first accountability report webinar on Wednesday Jun...

Ari de Leña is a farmer at Kamayan Farm is a vegetable, flower, medicinal herb, and education farm just east of Seattle on Snoqualmie People’s land. In this conversation we dive into what it looks like to deal with stress and anxiety while being ‘August tired’. Because Ari and Elizabeth really get into the heart of stress and anxiety we decided to split our conversation into two parts. If you have...

Ari de Leña is a farmer at Kamayan Farm is a vegetable, flower, medicinal herb, and education farm just east of Seattle on Snoqualmie People’s land. In this conversation we dive into what it looks like to deal with stress and anxiety while being ‘August tired’. Because Ari and Elizabeth really get into the heart of stress and anxiety we decided to split our conversation into two parts. In the firs...

Vero Vergara is a nonbinary, disabled, brown, queer farmer and food systems cultural worker based on Coast Salish territories. Vero is a founding worker-owner of Sweet Hollow Farm in Woodinville, WA. They work at the intersection of autonomous food systems building and liberatory community care. Learn more about Sweet Hollow Farm at their website: www.sweethollow.farm or their Instagram account: @...

In part 2 of our produce safety series, Young Farmers' Produce Safety Manager, Maggie Kaiser, talks with Ellen Polishuk about integrating Lean Farming principles into your farm's food safety plan.  Visit youngfarmers.org/foodsafety for our online produce safety resource library and all of our food safety workshop episodes. Become a National Young Farmers Coalition member today for major discounts...

This week and next we'll be talking about an often overlooked, and sometimes daunting, part of farming: *food safety*! Part 1 is a conversation with Scott Chang-Fleeman, owner of Shao Shan Farm in Marin County, who grows Asian heritage vegetables. It's interesting because it seems produce safety really clicks with Scott, as does farming in general, and he has a natural ability to assess risk. He h...

Miles Griffin and Amanda Doughty currently live on 20 acres in Twisp, Washington. Amanda is a licensed therapist, who works off the farm full-time but loves a good Saturday weeding session. Miles is the owner and operator of Posterity Farm, producing pastured turkeys, wholesale organic garlic, and diversified vegetables. Miles and Amanda find deep interest in the intersection of their professions,...

Nyema Clark is the Executive Director and Farm Queen at Nurturing Roots, a farm and community garden committed to addressing food justice issues in the Beacon Hill Neighborhood in Seattle. Nyema dives into their grow-your-own program Nurturing Your Roots at Home and we talk about how farmers and food-growers can prepare for the long haul in the midst of pandemic. In the episode we talk briefly abo...

The Washington Young Farmers Coalition (WAYFC) takes over the Young Farmers Podcast to talk about resilience and community building in the time of COVID-19. Become a member of the National Young Farmers Coalition at younfarmers.org/join and sign up for our advocacy network by texting FARMERS to 40649. Tracy L. Stewart is a mindfulness based mental health therapist at the Nile’s Edge wellness colle...

John Wesley is a curator, cultural ambassador, and community organizer. He is passionate about designing and producing experiences that connect diverse cultures and cultivate joy. JW is the founder and director of Seattle Bipoc Organic Food Bank; an organization dedicated to providing everyone with clean water and organic food. Their strategy is centered around outreach to the most vulnerable and...

We turn the mic on Lindsey this week for the finale episode of our first season of the Young Farmers Podcast. The National Young Farmers Coalition's Sophie Ackoff, VP of Policy and Campaigns, and Holly Rippon-Butler, Land Access Program Director, join Lindsey in the studio to talk about the early years of the Coalition, big wins, favorite memories, and what's next. National Young Farmers Coalition...

Today we dive into the heady world of industrial hemp. Hemp is no longer just for Canadian cereal companies and scratchy beige t-shirts. This low-THC strain of cannabis, think of it as the well behaved fraternal twin to marijuana, is, as of the 2018 Farm Bill, a legal crop in all 50 states. And the hemp hype is real, mostly because of CBD, a hemp extract that's popping up in everything from $8 can...

Karen Washington is one of the most influential food and farming activists of our time. From starting the Garden of Happiness in the Bronx, Black Urban Growers, and now Rise and Root Farm, Karen is modeling a new food system based on equity, social capital, and health. New York State has over 57,000 farmers, and less than 200 of them are people of color, and this disparity holds true in every stat...

The biggest problem faced by farmers across the country is access to land. Who owns it, who rents it—it all has a big impact on the kind of food we grow and who has economic opportunity in rural communities. Young Farmers' Land Access Program Director, Holly Rippon-Butler, sits down with Megan Horst, professor of urban studies and planning at Portland State University, to talk about who owns U.S....

Lindsey speaks with Matt Russell, an Iowa farmer and executive director of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, an organization that brings people of all faiths together in conversation about critical issues, like climate change and the future of rural America. Matt sees an opportunity for farmers to be on the forefront of climate innovation and mitigation, and being in Iowa, he's in a great place to...

"We need to understand the challenges young farmers are facing regionally in order to create solutions." Lindsey checks in with Karen Gardner, National Young Farmers Coalition's Pennsylvania Policy Associate, about what she's hearing from beginning farmers in PA, and the upcoming Pennsylvania Young Farmers Report, "Growing Pennsylvania’s Future: Challenges Facing Young Farmers and R...