The Farmer's View

Interview

Jordan Brown of The Family Garden

“The farm is certified by the Agricultural Justice Project as a fair farm, which entails worker protection standards, paying a living wage, giving the right of association to workers, and generally maintaining a safe and respectful work environment.”

Jordan Brown owns and operates The Family Garden in Gainesville, FL. Jordan is focused on efficiently growing affordable veggies for the Gainesville community. Read on to find out why he decided to become the first Food Justice Certified farm in the South, and how members of The Family Garden’s CSA played an active role in the farm’s development.

Interview

Soil Soft as Devil’s Food Cake, Katie Kenney’s Illinois Farm

“I lost the belief in farming as something I could actually do with my life. Because I had a lot of academic aptitude, and because I didn’t come from a farming or entrepreneurial family, there was a sense that a professional, egg-heady, indoor life was what was expected and supported by those around me and became what I expected of myself, as well.”

Katie Kenney abandoned childhood dreams of farming for a career as an academic. That career took her to Central Illinois, where amid fields of soy and corn, she rekindled her desire to grow food—not in long, straight lines, but in a patchwork of plants and livestock. Katie shares why and how she transitioned from working as a full-time university professor to running a small, diversified farm.

Interview

Growing Food, Gathering Stories with Natasha Bowens

“I see farming as an invaluable tool that can not only feed our bellies and the soil that sustains us, but also fuel powerful change and build thriving communities.”

Farmer, storyteller, activist, photographer, organizer. All could be used to describe Natasha Bowens. In 2010, Natasha travelled across the country in search of the under-told stories of farmers of color. Her resulting book, The Color of Food: Stories of Race, Resilience and Farming, tells these stories, and features portraits of the farmers she met along the way. Natasha runs the community gardens in her hometown, Fredrick, Maryland.

Interview

Amanda Midkiff of Locust Light Farm

“Farming is not just a career: it is my entire life. It is the spiritual expression of my own existence. It is my contribution to my community. It is the expression of love between Jamie and I. It grounds us to this place, and this moment, in a way that nothing else can.”

Amanda Midkiff’s dream of attending law school faded after she spent a summer volunteering on a vegetable farm. Now, as owner of Locust Light Farm, Amanda and her partner, Jamie Sims, grow medicinal herbs and are pioneering a Community Supported Wellness program in Pennsylvania.

Interview

Bren Smith of Thimble Island Ocean Farm

“Rather than asking what consumers want us to grow, our model values that which our oceans are able to provide sustainably. Our model is a response to the question, ‘What can we grow within the confines of our oceans that can sustain both consumer and sea?’ The answer comes from Mother Nature’s own technologies, seaweed and shellfish, designed to naturally mitigate harm.”

Bren Smith grows seaweeds and shellfish off the Connecticut coast. Bren’s 2014 New York Times editorial called attention to the challenges beginning farmers face and advocated for farmer-led change. Now, he’s aiming to help train a new generation of restorative ocean farmers through his nonprofit program, GreenWave.