Down to Earth: The Planet to Plate Podcast

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.

Minni Jain and Philip Franses are co-founders of The Flow Partnership, and they are co-authors of the new book, The Language of Water: Ancient Techniques and Community Stories for a Water Secure Future. In this podcast they explore the process of helping communities around the world to restore streams and rivers, prevent flooding, and recover local water wisdom. For decades they have been working to help communities regenerate their landscapes, using traditional methods that can be implemented and maintained by the communities themselves. The book, recently published by by Synergetic Press, tells the stories of people around the world whose land and ways of life have been upended by colonialism and industrialization––and the processes by which they reclaim not only land health but also their own sense of agency, meaning, and story-telling about their place.

Bill Zeedyk restores landscapes—streams, wetlands, even rural roads—by using simple, low-tech tools and letting nature do most of the work. The result is healthy, lush desert ecosystems. Filmmaker Renea Roberts' recently released a five-part documentary series about his work, Thinking Like Water.

Since the 1930s, Ducks Unlimited has been protecting habitat for ducks and other migrating waterfowl, and has conserved over 18 million acres of wetlands and bird habitat in North America and beyond. Founded by hunters, the organization originally focused on duck breeding habitat in Canadian prairie lands. Over the decades their conservation work expanded to including the US, Mexico, and other parts of Latin America, and embraces both public and private lands. We talk with Billy Gascoigne is DU's Director of Agriculture & Strategic Partnerships, and Ryan Taylor, Director Of Public Policy for the Dakotas and Montana and North Dakota cattle rancher, about how conservation of waterfowl habitat is a win-win for farmers and ranchers—as well as water, wildlife, communities, and climate. By promoting voluntary conservation efforts, they build long-term partnerships that aim for long-term resilience and farmer profitability.

Adam Mason is Senior Manager of Farm Animal Welfare and Environmental Policy at the ASPCA, the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In our conversation he talks about their multi-pronged approach to getting animals out of buildings and into cruelty-free lives in which they can express their natural instincts and behaviors. Farmers who make the transition from industrial/conventional livestock practices to animal-friendly practices report better lives for the animals and the farmers themselves, with benefits for land and water health, and often more autonomy and greater profitability.

Entomologist, agroecologist, farmer, rancher, and beekeeper Dr. Jonathan Lundgren was a scientist with USDA Agricultural Research Service for 11 years. He left to undertake regenerative agriculture science studies that embraced a larger paradigm, looking at the interconnection of all the living beings on the farm and in the community, from the soil microbiome to the insects to the plants and animals — and the farmers. He's founder and director of the Ecdysis Foundation, and CEO of Blue Dasher Farm, which work as a partnership. The 1000 Farms Initiative is producing extremely detailed agricultural data from farms across North America — and giving the data away for free.

Virtual fencing is a new technology that employs GPS collars to keep animals in "virtual" pastures—so instead of using physical fences, the fence lines are drawn on a computer screen, and the collars direct the animals' movements through sound cues and mild electrical stimulation. This saves ranchers on labor and materials, allows more adaptive and flexible pasture management, and allows free range for wildlife. The Nature Conservancy, whose mission is to tackle climate change by protecting land and water and fostering a healthy food system, is partnering with ranches across the US to help ranchers adopt virtual fencing systems. We talk to William Burnidge, deputy director of The Nature Conservancy's Regenerative Grazing Lands strategy in North America, and Danna Camblin of Camblin Livestock, whose ranch has been successfully employing virtual fencing for the last few years.

  Don Boyd spent a year on the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, photographing, living, and finding a deep connection to land, water, and animals—including the many migrating birds that live part-time in this magical desert wetland on the Rio Grande. Boyd connected with David and Hui-Chun Johnson, and together they are working with a small team to restore 38 acres on the refuge that have been degraded by "conventional" agricultural practices and invasive plant species. They have completed the first year of the five-year BEAM project (Biologically Enhanced Agricultural Management) using cover-crops, no-till methods, and compost tea, with the goal of creating more self-sustaining, regenerative agricultural fields that provide food for the many wildlife species on the refuge, water conservation, and a model for regenerative practices for other agrarians in New Mexico and beyond. 

Artist and science educator Robert Dash creates art from micro- and macroscopic photographs of food crops. His new  book, Food Planet Future: The Art of Turning Food and Climate Perils into Possibilities, explores both the science of our food system and the role of art in finding a more healthy and loving way forward.

Hayley and Stephanie Painter grew up on a fourth-generation dairy farm in northern Pennsylvania, and while it was an idyllic childhood, the instability of milk prices continually threatened their family's livelihood. The sisters took it upon themselves to save the farm by creating a yogurt brand, Painterland Sisters, and in the space of two years have gotten their product into stores in all 50 states and are using milk not only from their own farm but from neighboring producers. Hayley Painter talks about the practices of regenerative agriculture from a multi-dimensional perspective––not only soil health, but also animal and farmer health, food processing that retains nutrients, healthy transportation, responsible retail, and more. The key is diversity, including a diversity of farms and farm sizes, brands, and retail outlets.

André Leu is co-founder and  International Director of Regeneration International, an organization that promotes food, farming, and land use systems that regenerate and stabilize climate systems. He's author of the books, Myths of Safe Pesticides and Poisoning our Children, and is co-author with Dr. Vandana Shiva of Biodiversity, Agroecology, and Regenerative Agriculture. He has a Doctorate of Science in agricultural and environmental systems and teaches at universities and speaks at numerous conferences and United Nations events. His new book is  The Regenerative Agriculture Solution: A Revolutionary Approach to Building Soil, Creating Climate Resilience, and Supporting Human and Planetary Health, published by Chelsea Green Press. Leu is also a regenerative tropical fruit and cattle farmer in Australia, where he's been farming since the 1970s.    

Environmental historian Sara Dant's book Losing Eden traces the history of the American West from the time of elephants and camels to the near destruction of entire ecosystems—and the movement to bring nature and industry into balance. 

Gwen Cameron grew up on Rancho Durazno, her family's peach farm. She was pursuing a career in journalism when her father asked her if she wanted to come back and take over the farm. She agreed and never looked back; now she's running a farm that uses regenerative principles to keep the land healthy for their 40 acres of peaches, cherries, apricots, plums, and melons. Her Mexican field workers come through a visa program, and together they are building their participation in the Fair Food Program, which ensures safe working conditions and fair wages.

P. Wade Ross's great grandfather was a runaway slave who bought land in Texas. His descendants founded Texas Small Farmers and Ranchers Community Based Organization, a non-profit that helps Black farmers and ranchers to succeed in regenerative agriculture in the face the barriers of structural racism, trauma, imposter syndrome, and the many challenges that all farmers face. Founded by Ross's parents, W. Wade and Anita Ross, the non-profit, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, provides outreach, organizing, education, and technical assistance to agrarians across Texas, with a focus on regenerative agriculture.   

Women have been invisible in agriculture for too long: not counted in the census, not taken seriously for their work and management achievements, excluded from access to capital and credit––and even farm equipment is not made for their bodies. We talk to Jules Salinas of Women Food and Agriculture Network, which is addressing these issues in ways ranging from political action to storytelling.  

Doug Fine was an international journalist before he moved to New Mexico to start a polyculture farm and embrace a rural way of life. He's the author of six books, including four on hemp and cannabis, and his film American Hemp Farmer won Best New Mexico Documentary Feature at the 2024 Santa Fe Film Festival. He's a vociferous advocate for hemp as a source of nutrition, healing, clothing and industrial fiber, building material, energy source, and climate change solution.  

Sarah Wentzel-Fisher is executive director of Quivira Coalition. A native of South Dakota, she came to her work in agriculture and leadership via a circuitous path that included the creative arts, writing, community and regional planning, collective problem-solving. In this podcast we discuss everything from the purpose of scientific inquiry in regenerative agriculture, to Quivira's history and current programs, to her own work in farming. 

Phoebe Suina grew up on Cochiti and San Felipe Pueblos in New Mexico, where she learned about land, water, and cultural values and practices from her extended family and community. With advanced degrees in engineering and management from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, she returned to New Mexico to found High Water Mark, a Native American, woman-owned project management and environmental consulting company with a specialty in water resources. She works with local, state, and federal governments and agencies, private entities, and industry to restore landscapes after disasters like wildfires and floods, and to do planning, management, and disaster prevention. What sets her company's work apart is that they use a holistic approach that focuses not just on engineering solutions, but instead takes into account the entire landscape––including people. Favoring distributed, low tech solutions that communities can maintain over the long run, and working with the forces and flows of nature, they seek to foster resilient watersheds and landscapes, and to do so with the values of humility, respect, and cooperation. She uses and teaches consensus-based planning, a technique that involves deep listening and coming to agreement across differences of opinion and interests. And she works on legal and policy issues with tribal and state governments.  With her partner and children, Suina also farms seven acres, using no-till, traditional practices to grow food for her family and community––including the wildlife that in turn fertilize the land. 

A decade ago, filmmaker Peter Byck assembled a group of scientists who were looking at agriculture from a whole-system perspective to study regenerative and conventional grazing side by side. The result is an extraordinary new documentary, Roots So Deep You Can See the Devil Down There. It's a fascinating and enormously entertaining journey into the world of family ranchers.

Seed Savers Exchange is a small non-profit that's making a big difference. For a half century, they've been saving seeds, getting them out into gardens, telling their stories––and cultivating biodiversity that has been badly diminished with the rise of corporate agriculture and seed production. Located in Decorah, Iowa, Seed Savers has a large farm where they cultivate genetic diversity, including vegetables, flowers, fruits, and even heritage livestock. You can get and share seeds through their exchange and their seed catalog.  

Dirt Capital Partners takes a "slow money" perspective on investing, helping farmers get land access and regenerate not only the soil but also their communities.  Their goal is to not only transform how agriculture is done in the US, but how investing itself is done, by focusing on the real impact of investment, and the good––or harm––that it does to ecosystems and communities.

Matt Skoglund grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, went to law school, and for ten years worked for the Natural Resources Defense Council doing policy work to protect bison in Yellowstone. Always happy in the outdoors and with an interest in both hunting and conservation, he started a bison ranch in 2018 near Bozeman, Montana. North Bridger Bisonis a ranch that values biodiversity, wildlife, humane treatment of livestock––and healthy, nutritious meat.  

Will Harris's ranch, White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, has been in the Harris family for over 150 years. His ancestors had a polyculture farm, but when industrial tools came to ranching, his father, and then Will, went all in––corporate ranching allowed their family to make a good living. But one day, in a life-changing moment of clarity, Harris saw that the animals were suffering from the moment they left his ranch until their brutal deaths, and that the land itself was suffering from an overuse of chemicals and extractive grazing practices. He set out then and there to change the way he ranched, and without even having heard terms like "regenerative agriculture" and "rotational grazing" started down a path that made him one of the pioneers of American grassfed beef. Now a Global Savory Hub, White Oak Pastures is helping to educate others about restoring land with livestock. In his brilliant new book, A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food (which he authored with the help of the wonderful writer Amely Greeven), Harris tells the story of converting from industrial to regenerative practices on his ranch and the many challenges and adventures opened up by his decision to treat his animals and land with the respect they deserve. Helping to create a market for grass-fed beef, getting into supermarket chains and educating consumers, building a work force, helping to revitalize his rural town, educating solar entrepreneurs––these are just some of the topics he covers with an inimitable combination of simplicity, humor, and deep, land-based intelligence.

Austin Frerick grew up in Iowa, which in his youth had a robust regional food system that offered abundant produce and meat from family farms. But because of one "baron"––that's the name Frerick calls the men whose monopolistic corporations profoundly reshape markets and communities––rural areas were hollowed out, farmers were driven off their farms and into factories or other professions, and the quality of life had declined precipitously, from toxic pollution to low wages, to unhealthy food. Frerick's wonderfully readable new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry, published by Island Press, uncovers the havoc wrought by these barons in the sectors of hogs, grain, coffee, dairy, berries, animal slaughter, and groceries––some of whom are well known, while others are purposefully secretive. Their power is vast, and they stand in the way of a truly competitive, farmer-centric regenerative food system. And yet Frerick offers solutions and hope, and ways that each of us can participate.  

In 1985 Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young organized a concert to benefit farmers and spread awareness of the crisis U.S. farmers were facing. The concert raised $7 million and spread awareness across the country. Since then Farm Aid has become a force advocating for farmers, promoting healthy, farm-grown food, providing a hotline and resource network, and giving a voice for policy change that benefits family farms over corporate conglomerates. They continue to produce a concert in a new location each year, and in recent years the concerts have become festivals featuring locally grown food and a goal of zero waste, sustainability and food organizations from all over the country, and of course abundant live music.

Nick Mendoza grew up in a cattle ranching family in New Mexico, but when he moved to San Diego he fell in love with the ocean and got hooked on fish and marine science. Taking the lessons from regenerative cattle production to the oceans, he studied Environmental and Marine Resources at Stanford University, and earned a graduate degree in graduate degree in Sustainable Aquaculture. But eventually he veered away from a career in science when he realized that he could make more of a difference by actually doing science-informed fish production. He founded Neptune Snacks, which produces four types of fish jerky––with more products on the way. Balancing transparency, science, health, sustainability, and flavor, he's part of a new generation of entrepreneurs working to transform the food system from the inside. 

Carbon credits were designed as a market mechanism to incentivize projects that sequester carbon and reduce carbon emissions. The idea is to pay people who are doing climate friendly projects, and sell credits to emitters. But do they work? Is there independent verification that carbon is really being sequestered? What does it mean when people are being paid for projects they would have been doing anyway? And who's really profiting? Ecosystem scientist Jane Zelikova, director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center at Colorado State University, guides us through these questions and more.

Katherine Miller, author of At The Table: The Chef's Guide To Advocacy, began her work toward a healthier food system with a deep background in political advocacy. She trains chefs to use their position as influencers to make change on issues like healthy and regenerative food sourcing, food waste, sustainability, fair wages, anti-sexism and -racism, and better mental health––in ways that engage the community and work with their already busy schedules.

Beehives take up little space on the land, but, like other livestock, bees need space to roam, and they need a varied diet. Beekeeper Melanie Kirby is a "landless farmer," who sets up her beehives on farms and ranches, where the bees can thrive and the agrarians can take advantage of their pollination services. In fact pollination services have become essential to American agriculture, as monocrop farms don't provide sufficient habitat for pollinators to thrive, so beekeepers actually ship bees by the pallet seasonally to sites when trees and other crops are in bloom. In 2008 the income from pollination services exceeded the price of honey, which shifted the business model for beekeepers, especially at the large scale. Among the many challenges for beekeepers are pesticide use, which threaten bees and in turn the foods that rely on them. Kirby is involved in helping to create pollinator protection policies to spread awareness and safeguard these essential constituents of the food system.

Anica Wong is Quivira Coalition's communications director and she had the idea for an "ask me anything" episode with Down to Earth host Mary-Charlotte Domandi ... and here it is! Listeners asked questions and we answered as best we could, in a wide-ranging discussion about everything from to Anica's urban farm to our favorite podcasts to Plato's Republic. We reference many episodes, books, people, and fun stuff, so see the timeline below for links.

Photographer Sally Thomson's gorgeous new book of photographs and texts, Homeground, is a deep exploration of rangelands in the Southwest––landscapes, livestock, water, wildlife, and the stewards who keep the land thriving. With her deep background in landscape architecture, conservation, and land use planning, Thomson photographs in ways that reveal a deep understanding and love for the land in all its richness and diversity.

Elena Miller Ter-Kuile is a sixth-generation farmer living in southern Colorado. At Cactus Hill Farm she and her father raise sheep for wool, grass-fed meat and organic grain and hay, and are in the process of restoring their family's damaged land.

Erik Ohlsen author of The Regenerative Landscaper, is helping people, municipalities, companies, and farms create thriving landscapes at every scale––and cultivate native plants, wildlife, and food.  His new book, The Regenerative Landscaper: Design and Build Landscapes That Repair the Environment, deeply explores the theory and hands-on practice of repairing damaged land and finding ecological balance––no matter how small or large the project. 

Cole Bush is a shepherdess, entrepreneur, and educator. Founder of Shepherdess Land & Livestock and Grazing School of the West, she uses a "flerd" (flock-herd) of sheep and goats to restore landscapes and prevent fire. She's also bringing along a generation of new shepherds, and is cultivating entrepreneurial businesses that spring from this work, such as meat, hides, and wool.

Dr. Hubert Karreman started out as a soil scientist and then fell in love with dairy cows. He became a veterinarian and a regenerative dairy farmer, following a path of respect and reverence for life. He specializes in holistic and organic methods including homeopathy and plant medicine. He and his wife Suzanne own Reverence Farms, a pasture-based, diversified regenerative farm that includes dairy cows, sheep, pigs, and hens.

The Biden administration has made a great commitment to building sustainable and healthy food systems. But how to get the money from the government to folks on the land who need it but aren't skilled bureaucrats? Dave Carter  Director of Regional Technical Assistance Coordination for the Flower Hill Institute, explains.     

Joe and Jenn Wheeling talk about how to avoid the pitfalls of a family ranch business––ego, speechifying, wasted time––and arrive at consensus decisions with the full support of each family member. 

When wool processing suddenly moved overseas, Jeanne Carver and her family were left without a market for their products. Through determination and creativity, she turned a setback into a regenerative success story. They pivoted their business to a local/regional model, selling lamb to restaurants and developing an artisan-based apparel and yarn business––and eventually selling to international clothing brands. Now Carver runs Shaniko Wool Company, which comprises multiple ranches across the Western US and produces in accordance with the Responsible Wool Standard. Because of its regenerative practices, Shaniko is generating income as part of the growing market for ecosystem services and sequestered carbon.

How do you restore an entire forest, or mountain, or watershed? The key is...collaboration. Jan-Willem Jansens has been restoring landscapes in New Mexico for three decades. Owner of Ecotone Landscape Planning, he is part of a network that works to restore land that has been damaged by generations of mismanagement. Using low-tech methods, they restore soil, ground and surface water, trees, and habitat––for the benefit of large-scale landscapes, including forests and watersheds, wetlands and streams, farm and ranch lands, and human communities. As he describes in the podcast, this is the work of decades, and involves not only executing the projects themselves, but also navigating bureaucracies, organizations, landowners, culture, and history.  

Roxanne Swentzell was a young mother on a small piece of land at Santa Clara Pueblo when she was introduced to permaculture design principles––which dovetailed with indigenous patters of thinking and land use. She turned her yard from hard, sun-scorched earth into an agroforest that provides food, wood, fiber and habitat. She founded the Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute, which focuses on teaching principles and practices of desert gardening, composting, seed saving, animal husbandry, beekeeping, building, and maintaining cultural knowledge--based on principles of integrity, love, reciprocity, communication, work, and consideration.

Lorenzo Dominguez was a successful marketing and corporate communications executive in New York City. But during the pandemic he and his wife made the decision to change their lives in order to find a more nature-based and connected way of life. They bought 350 acres in northern New Mexico, called it Chelenzo Farms, and are working to restore the land, grow both market produce and desert plants, and above all to connect with neighbors and regenerative agriculture and restoration practitioners in order to foster research, education, and community.

Konda Mason is co-founder and president of Jubilee Justice, a non-profit dedicated to regenerative agriculture, racial justice, cooperative practices, and healing the wounds of Black American land loss and racism. They are in the fourth year of a rice-growing program, the system of rice intensification (SRI), a dry-land technique for growing rice that's healthy for land and consumers and efficient and productive for farmers. They have built a mill and are actively working toward a vertically integrated business model to provide domestic, regeneratively produced rice varieties.  

Oysters are delicious and nutritious. They are also a keystone species and an ecosystem engineer, which means that they provide habitat for all kinds of other species, and they filter and clean the water around them, cycle nutrients, and even remove pollutants. Native to many parts of the world, Atlantic oysters are a species found from Louisiana to Maine. Rick Karney is a shellfish biologist and Director Emeritus of Martha's Vineyard Shellfish Group. Alex Friedman is owner of Snows Point oyster farm.  

Beth Hoffman was a college professor and agriculture journalist for years before she and her husband picked up and moved from San Francisco to his family's farm in Iowa. In her book Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America, she recounts the story of transitioning the farm from commodity corn and soybean cropping to grass-finished cattle and produce––and the challenges they faced along the way, from fencing to finances.  

Corporate meat producers tout their "efficiency" but actually wreak havoc on the environment, local communities, and the animals themselves. Cole Mannix works with the Old Salt Co-op, which is pioneering vertically integrated models for regenerative, sustainable, and humane meat production––including meat processing, direct to consumer and retail sales, and restaurants––and all the while focusing on landscape health, fair labor practices, and community building.   

Tina Garcia-Shams is executive director of the Street Food Institute in Albuquerque, NM. The program teaches entrepreneurship, food preparation, accounting, marketing, and everything else students need to open a local food truck or catering business. And it's been so successful that it's spreading to other parts of the state and the country, and attracting students from all over.  

  Traditional pastoral cultures have been living in harmony with animals and land for millennia––and they persist to this day, though with serious challenges. Ilse Köhler-Rollefson's new book, Hoofprints on the Land: How Traditional Herding and Grazing Can Restore the Soil and Bring Animal Agriculture Back in Balance with the Earth, shines a light on what they can teach us.

Hydroponic agriculture systems use water––not soil––to grow crops, and yet they use water with exceptional efficiency and can produce abundantly all year round. When coupled with fish farming, the result is a nearly closed-loop system––aquaponics––in which the plants filter the water for the fish, and the fish provide fertilizer for the plants.