Looking Back on a Decade of Young Farmers
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 […]
Hemp, CBD, and the U.S. Green Rush
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 […]
Karen Washington on NYC Food Security and Lifting Up a New Generation of Black and Brown Farmers
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 […]
Who Owns U.S. Farmland?
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 […]
Looking to 2020: Climate Action, the Farm Crisis, and Politics in Rural America
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 […]
“Growing Pennsylvania’s Future” with Karen Gardner
“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 Recommendations to […]
Kate Greenberg: Young Farmer Becomes Colorado’s Commissioner of Agriculture
Lindsey talks with Kate Greenberg, Colorado’s new Commissioner of Agriculture, and former Western Program Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition. Lindsey and Kate check in about what it’s been like to be the youngest person, and first woman, to hold this role in Colorado, as well as Colorado’s plans to address climate change, land […]
Mai Nguyen and the 2019 California Young Farmers Report
California produces more food than any other state in the nation. Over one-third of U.S. vegetables and two-thirds of U.S. fruits and nuts are grown in California. But drought, wildfire, and the impacts of climate change are increasing across the state. How are the farmers doing? And how are the young farmers doing? Lindsey talks […]
Census Results Are In: We Need #MOREFARMERS
Last week, the USDA’s NASS released the results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture, the first count in over five years of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who run them. What do we know now about the state of agriculture in this country? Lindsey talks with Erin Foster West, Young Farmers’ federal policy […]
What Could the Green New Deal Mean for the Future of Ag?
On February 7th, 2019 Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey introduced a resolution in Congress recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal. The resolution starts by listing the many ways that climate change will devastate this country, including mass migration, wildfires, a trillion dollars of economic damage, and […]