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Levantando las voces de los trabajadores del campo a través de la organización comunitaria
El lanzamiento de V2C, de izquierda a derecha: Juan Saldana, Samantha Guerrero, Irene Ruiz, Ester Ceja, Marielena Vega, Christina Stucker-Gassi, Carrie Seymour, y Zoe Ann Olson. Se estima que más de 3 millones de trabajadores del campo inmigrantes y por temporada cosechan alimentos en los Estados Unidos. Los trabajadores del campo ayudan a proporcionar la…
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‘We Take Last Place’: North Dakota Residents Fight Industrial Dairy Threat to Land and Legacy
Above: Mary and David Stahl on their family farm. In the wide open farmland outside the quiet town of Abercrombie, ND, generations of families have built lives reliant on the health of the surrounding land. But today, many of them are staring down a future that feels like it’s being written without them—one where industrial…
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How Sandy Seed Farm is Cultivating a New Future for Urban Agriculture
It started with a small plot of land, barely a 1/16th of an acre, nestled near Old City Park in Moab, Utah. The soil was dry, the space was limited, but for Dyan Fadgen and Nicole Kreiser, it was enough. Enough to plant seeds—both into the ground and about what’s possible when you rethink farming.…
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The Magic of Plants: The Sheridan Food Forest hosts its second Northern Cheyenne Native Plant Traditional Uses & Plant Lore event
The Sheridan Food Forest recently hosted its second Northern Cheyenne Native Plant Traditional Uses & Plant Lore event, featuring Northern Cheyenne elder and ethnobotanist Linwood Tall Bull and his son, Randall Tall Bull. This event celebrated the multifaceted power of community green spaces, fostering connections through Indigenous knowledge, storytelling, and the shared appreciation of the…
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Garnet Mesa Solar Project: Driving Local Economic Growth, Sustainable Land Use, and Job Creation
On a sunny day in Delta County, Colorado, the Delta Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Garnet Mesa Solar Project, signaling a significant step toward a future powered by renewable energy. Delta County is nestled between the Grand Mesa, the West Elk Mountains, and the Uncompahgre Plateau in western Colorado. It’s…
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Living Soil Farm: Nurturing Connections, Building Economics
Above: Cameron Skinner does paper work for his farm out of a garage on his mothers property outside of Big Timber, MT. When Cameron Skinner moved to Big Timber, Montana at the age of 10 he didn’t have close ties to farming or agriculture. The move out West from Connecticut brought him closer to the…
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Farming Against the Odds: Brian Berglund’s Journey of Adaptation and Innovation
There was already sweat building underneath the brim of Brian Berglund’s worn baseball cap at 8 A.M. Wyoming’s dry August heat shimmered off of Western Variety Farm’s fields and buildings. Brian was crouched over a row of lettuce, covering the crop with a shade net, which is a clever way of adapting cooler weather plants…
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Western Colorado Alliance leaders host first of its kind grant-writing workshop for farmers
Above: Participants networked and shared experiences during the dinner break, which a local farm provided. Mastering grant writing has emerged as a vital skill for farmers and ranchers, nearly as crucial as comprehending soil health or navigating deals with processors. Through WCA’s workshops, individuals gain the expertise needed to strengthen their operations and expand the…
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Global Gardens: Cultivating Diversity, Community, and Resilience
Above: Sarbah Bi and Khadija Mberwa package produce for the upcoming farmers market. In the heart of Boise, Idaho, there’s a nonprofit organization that’s sowing the seeds of diversity, sustainability, and community resilience. Global Gardens, founded in 2004 as a modest community garden, has blossomed into a remarkable initiative that’s transforming lives and the local…
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Grassroots is Where the Change Happens
Above: Henry Red Cloud poses for a portrait in front of a solar panel array at Red Cloud Renewables, October 2022. When storms on the Pine Ridge reservation, home of the Oglala Nation, in South Dakota begin to build, they can be seen from miles away. Above rolling hills, clouds turn into waves and bring…
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Black Hills Farmers Market Expands Public Access to Local Foods
The Black Hills Farmers market was chattering with neighbors catching up, live music coming from a mom and pop band playing classic folk songs, and the smell of kettle corn drawing people in from the sidewalk. The Farmers Market Supervisor, Barbara Cromwell and Ann Eads sat at the entrance to greet people and distribute resources…
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Marielena Vega Returns to her Roots to Protect the People Growing Food in Idaho
In 2020, Marielena Vega met a farmworker with a disturbing story. While he was working in a field one day, he noticed a crop-duster flying close by. When he warned his foreman about it, he was told to just duck down and hold his breath. “When he questioned if that was safe, the foreman told…
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Farmworker-led Solutions for Health Equity in the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic
In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic began to sweep across the United States, the term “essential worker” did not hold the same weight and meaning as it does today. As stay-at-home orders were enacted, for the first time farmworkers were deemed essential and required to continue to work in the fields and food processing plants…
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More Small Scale Farms can benefit Farmers, the Environment, and the Consumer
When Michael Lobato and his wife Sara bought their five-acre farm back in 2020, it would be hard to imagine the plot would be viable for growing food. Today, there is a half-acre garden, a field of western native grasses, and the potential to grow much more. Before it’s transformation, the land had been overtaken…
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Farmers are an Aging Population, One Young Farmer has a Vision for Change
For years, Patrick Certain has imagined a gathering space for friends and family, where children in the community could come to learn where their food comes from, where all could join in a shared meal harvested from his garden. His farm would come to be called Stone Soup Garden, which began to take form in…
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Water saving practices make CSAs stronger and bring people closer to their food
Outside of Fruita, Colorado, the flatlands are speckled with small farms. Most of them are mere fragments of the size that farms once were. Wendy and Nevin Troyers’s farm is a handful of acres off of a country road. Since the turn of the century, Colorado has seen several years of drought, 2022 included. It…
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How one Small-Scale Meat Processor in South Dakota found Success in a time of Corporate Consolidation
Even before Lemmonmade Butcher opened in January of 2019, the small-scale processor had three months worth of work lined up and has continued to operate at capacity since. Lemmonmade, named after its roots in Lemmon, South Dakota, has been extremely successful considering corporate consolidation has put 40% of small-scale processors out of business since the…
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Wes Davis | A Vision for Tribal Sovereignty through Sustainable Energy
The Turtle Mountain Community College sits in the heart of Turtle Mountain Reservation just a few miles south of the Canadian border. Each morning, Wes Davis, the facilities manager scans a chart he refers to as “the heartbeat of the college.” The sensors that have been installed in the school track when doors open and…
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The Voice of the Lakota Nation runs on Renewable Energy
On the road that leads into the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota there are farm fields layered with hay bales and horses, some of which escape on the occasion and trot gently alongside passing vehicles. On the outside of the main town of Porcupine, KILI Radio Station sits on top of a hill with…
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Bison Reintroduction | Nature’s Best Tool
In several locations in the West, bison reintroduction has begun to revitalize indigenous culture, increase food sovereignty, and heal the land. The Fort Peck reservation, in northern Montana, is one such place. The Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes are leaders in buffalo restoration and have continued the expansion of their buffalo program since the…
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Fruit of the Coop | It’s your Business, Life and Community all Wrapped up in one
Fruit of the Coop, LLC is a 7-acre farm located in the watershed of the Big Sioux River near Brandon, South Dakota and is owned and operated by Stephanie Peterson. Stephanie attended Dakota Rural Action’s Farm beginning course to learn how to operate and succeed in her chicken egg business where she sells pasture raised…
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Cross E Dairy and Freedom Foods | Diversifying the Market for Producers in Wyoming
Christine Hampshire used to spend her weekends centered around getting her dairy and beef products ready for the weekly farmers market. Each weekend she would be prepping products, loading milk and cream into her truck and driving out to the market, which was her primary source of income. Being a dairy farmer, this also meant…
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Ranching Innovations during a Drought in Montana’s Golden Triangle
On a dry hillside in Conrad, Montana, a group of ranchers, farmers, environmentalists, geologists, students and teachers converge to walk Lisa Schmidt’s ranch and talk about soil health. They’re here to learn about some of Lisa’s practices and experiments for keeping up with the changing climate. This gathering is called a soil crawl. By 10am…
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Tanya Svec | Protecting Land and Resources for the Future of South Dakota
Tanya Svec moved back to South Dakota to embrace the rural and farm lifestyle with her husband and four kids. In 2021, East Dakota Beef proposed to put in a processing plant just 1/2 mile from Tanya’s home. This video goes in depth on her perspective on the development and the role of farmers in…
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Jill Morrison | 30 Years of Protecting Wyoming’s Land, Water and Air
Jill Morrison grew up on her family’s farm in Western Nebraska. The farm fell victim to the 1980s’ farm crisis, forcing the family to sell off sections of the land, piece by piece. “My connection to the land comes from my heritage. I come from farmers and ranchers on both sides of my family,” said…
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Patchwork Family Farms | Feeding Farm Aid
Farm Aid, an organization that supports and advocates for family farms year-round and holds an annual fundraising concert, celebrated 36 years this September. The lineup included Farm Aid’s founders, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, and Dave Matthews, Tyler Childers and many more. The music brought people from all over the country to gather in support…
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Jenna Vanhorne | The Future of North Dakota from Farming to State Senate
Jenna Vanhorne is a North Dakota dairy farmer, a mother, and was one of the first women of color to run for state senate in North Dakota. She operates the homestead with her mother, motivated by the lifestyle of having her kids free roaming in the backyard and the feeling of work outside, at her…
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The Edible Prairie Project | Local Solutions for Communities Facing Food Insecurity
On a warm spring afternoon in Gillette, WY, patrons line up outside the boys and girls club to receive a basket full of fresh, locally grown produce, containing a variety of food including lettuce, radishes and local honey. These baskets are offered to the community at tiered pricing to fit each individual’s budget and encourage…
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Urban Food Forests Provide Space for Community Connection, Education and Nourishment
The Sheridan Food Forest sits alongside Big Goose Creek, tucked into what was once a BMX Park in the community of Sheridan, Wyoming. The once weedy, hard packed lot is now filled with plants and trees native to Wyoming, and supplemented with fruit trees and common vegetables. The food forest seeks to provide food to…
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Online Farmers Market Keeps Community Connected to Local Produce amidst the COVID Pandemic
Driving through Sheridan, Wyoming, in early November, most of the roadside fields seem to be retired for the year. Winter looms around the corner and Wyoming has already seen it’s first snow, browning the remaining crops and closing the growing season. Despite this natural cycle in the outdoor growing season, on the weekends, Sheridan has…
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Starting a Conversation about Food Justice
“Coffee is a conversation about justice,” said Jana Joramo, co-owner of Copeka Coffee. “The people who are growing food in our fields right now, in the United States, come from the areas that prepare the coffee in your cup. We need to remember it and protect each other.” From sourcing the product, to respecting how…
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Irv Alderson: Country of Origin Labeling
Rancher Irv Alderson leaned against an old post near the tack barn at Bones Brothers Ranch near Birney, Montana. The Bones Brothers Ranch brand stamped proudly on the doors of the barn is over 130 years old. Irv readjusted his hat and looked out across the home pastures. “I grew up looking through this same…
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Grass King Cattle & Produce Company
In 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture found the average American farm operated at a net loss — requiring off-farm income and health insurance just to break even. Today, Jim and Karen Zezas are defying the odds through niche marketing and a diversified operation. Jim and Karen own and operate Grass King Cattle and Produce…
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4e Winery
4e Winery is a beacon in the soy and corn landscape that makes up most of North Dakota. The winding grapevines at the entrance of the winery, stand proudly, welcoming guests. Greg and Lisa Cook never set out to be wine makers. Greg’s intrigue in wine started as a teen with an interest in the…
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Aquaponics and Access: Swanky Roots
Above: Image courtesy of @nathansatranphoto and Swanky Roots. Montana isn’t known for its’ year-round local produce. The harsh winters and short summers can greatly impact growing seasons and deter farmers from planting certain crops. That didn’t stop Billings locals Ronna Klamert and Veronnaka Evenson from pursuing their passion. In the last decade, a significant rise…
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Holding on to the Ranch: Don Lumbardy
Don Lumbardy was born in 1948 in Mesa County, just 20 miles west of the ranch he stands on today. Lumbardy Ranch is nestled north of the Gunnison River, several miles north of the 209,610-acre Dominguez Escalante National Conservation Area, and at the western foot of the Grand Mesa National Forest. Looking out across his…
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Growing in Tandem:Diamond G Poultry
Above: Ben (left) and Jacob (right) at Gray Acres Farm. Jacob Gray and Ben Gillespie are not only business partners, they’re friends who share the same values for healthy food systems. Ben and Jacob met six years ago when Jacob was in an internship program with Ben’s family farm, The Living Farm in Delta County.…
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The Importance of Community Supported Agriculture: The Produce Peddler
Zay & Leah López are first-generation farmers. Together, they own and operate The Produce Peddler. On 26 acres at the west end of the Grand Valley, they grow a large variety of vegetables, melons, and raise chickens and sheep for eggs and meat. Zay and Leah believe that healthy food begins with healthy soil. They…
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The Role of a Rancher:Kathryn Bedell
Above: Kathryn Bedell at her ranch in Fruita, Colorado. Ranchers today find themselves needing to do more than ranching to be successful. Ranchers often take on extra roles as stewards of the land, business people, and advocates. Dr. Kathryn Bedell finds herself taking on all of these roles and then some to make her operation…
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Frank Wallis: Food Freedom
Above: Frank Wallis at the Downtown Gillette Farmers’ Market, a cooperatively owned market in Gillette. Frank Wallis wants Wyoming to be an example to the country that food freedom works — for producers, consumers, and the economy. Standing at E Z Rocking Ranch in Gillette, Wyoming, Frank explained how the Wyoming Food Freedom Act changed…
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The Handshake Diet: Green Junction Farmstead
Above: Dawn Trujillo and Brian Adams run Green Junction Farmstead in Clifton, Colorado. On just one acre of land, Dawn Trujillo and Brian Adams can feed 500 to 700 people per week. Dawn and Brian’s farmstead, Green Junction Farmstead in Clifton, Colorado, is a beacon for all things fresh, local, and delicious. Brian and Dawn…
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Swift: From Microgreen Farming to Food Waste Recycling
Above: Reed Youngbar at Swift Microgreens Farm in Billings, Montana. In farming, even if you do everything right, things can go wrong. Access to a sustainable, thriving market is essential for any farmer to succeed. New and first-generation farmers are often forced into the dilemma of either purchasing somewhat affordable land far away from the…
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Young Roots Farm: Mindful Food for Mindful People
Above: Farmer Amy Young at Young Roots Farm in Baker City, Oregon. Young Roots Farm is a small, ever-diversifying, woman-owned and operated farm raising food mindfully for family and community. In the hills above Sutton Creek, southeast of Baker City, Oregon, a group of Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs trot over sagebrush and bunchgrass filled pastures…
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John Brown: A Passion for Soil Health
John Brown views his life in cycles. He categorizes his life into different phases that have all been integral to form who he is today and how he came to be so devoted to soil health in this cycle of his life. Looking out across grassy, northern plains pastures in Shepherd, Montana, John explains how…
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Christine Hampshire: The Wyoming Food Freedom Act and Raw Milk
Above: Christine Hampshire at Cross E Dairy. Christine runs Cross E Dairy, a raw milk operation, in Leiter, Wyoming on the family beef cow and calf ranch. Leiter, Wyoming is wide open country nestled along Clear Creek in eastern Sheridan County. Although Wyoming is not known as a major dairy producing state, the openness and…
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Landless Farmer: Patrick Certain’s Story
Above: Farmer Patrick Certain at his downtown Billings, Montana apartment. Patrick has been searching for farmland for the last two years. He’s determined to find his own place soon and start planting this summer. Patrick Certain is one of the thousands of new farmers looking for farmland. Patrick sat in his downtown Billings, Montana apartment…
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Wyoming Food Freedom Act Provides Opportunity for Producers
Above: Joe Wesnitzer in his hydroponic greenhouse in Sheridan, Wyoming. Joe Wesnitzer was surrounded by the gentle hum of a heater while working in his greenhouse harvesting fresh lettuce in late October — a rarity in Wyoming. Outside, his herd of Scottish Highland cattle grazed the frosty ground. The sun was just beginning to set…
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Local Producers Connect Community to Food: B&G Produce and the Capital City Farmers’ MarketAbove
Above: Matt and Lindy Geraets standing in their greenhouse about 20 miles east of Pierre, South Dakota. Matt and Lindy Geraets never set out to be farmers. Standing in freshly fallen, early-November snow, the Geraets reflected on their missteps, triumphs and journey into farming. Matt and Lindy grew up near Pierre, South Dakota. Lindy…
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The Story of one Oregon Mega-dairy is the Story of America’s Ag Epidemic
Above: Former Department of Environmental Quality Acting Administrator Eastern Region, Mitch Wolgamott, at Oregon Rural Action office in La Grande, Oregon. A common adage in agriculture holds that most people don’t really understand where their food comes from. Former Department of Environmental Quality Acting Administrator Eastern Region, Mitch Wolgamott, understands this all too well. In…
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Rosebud Reservation Creates Economic Opportunity Through Food Sovereignty
Rosebud Economic Development Corporation (REDCO) builds Homegrown Prosperity by connecting Sicangu Lakota Oyate communities to local, traditional food. Above: From left to right, the Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative Staff, Aaron Mandell, Mike Prate, Edwin Her Many Horses, Rachel Kent, Matt Wilson and Hollis Vanderlinden in front of a greenhouse at the Keya Wakpala Garden, in…
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Booms and Busts: A century of trying to protect a family ranch
Above: LJ and Karen Turner at the Turnercrest Ranch. A homemade wooden sign hangs on a wooden post right off Highway 387, about an hour south of Gillette, Wyo. Beyond the sign is a long stretch of dusty road. A couple deer stand on alert in the tall prairie grasses, and beyond them, water tanker…
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Bill and Kate Harwell: Sky Island Farm
Above: Kate and Bill Harwell own and operate Sky Island Farm in Hoquiam, Washington. It’s 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, rain or shine. “Every single season,” Bill Harwell said, as he sorted heirloom tomatoes in the late September sun in Hoquiam, Washington. First generation farmers Kate and Bill Harwell own and operate…
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Annika Charter Williams: Food Hub
Above: Annika Charter-Williams holds her son, Willie, and daughter, Stevie at their ranch in Shepherd, Montana. Annika Charter Williams helps her 4-year-old daughter Stevie pull on a pair of pink and brown cowboy boots. It’s early morning in late-August. Annika’s father, Steve, rides up to his daughter and granddaughter on a chestnut brown horse. Annika…
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Steve Helling: Prairie Hillside Garden
Above: Steve Helling at home in Brookings, South Dakota. “I want to tell my story because I think it’s important for other people considering starting out in smaller scale agriculture to see an example of what can happen down the road. Since we’ve been doing this and living this for 38 years, it has been…
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Doug Lewis: Transitioning to Organic
Through education, patience and practice, farmer Doug Lewis has succeeded in keeping his family’s farm in business. Today Doug and his wife Mary run Agristar, an organic farm in North Powder, Oregon. Agristar was born out of the Farm Crisis of the 1980s and the Lewis’ have fought methodically and strategically to be where they…
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Nash Farms:Farming with Family
Above: Tom Tschida at Nash Farms in Carbon County, Montana. Rusty, but functioning, antique tractors and a modern solar array frame Tom Tschida as he describes the unlikely way he became a rancher. “I’d been away working for a long time when [my parents] bought this place and started building it up. A few years…
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Hyatt Family Farm
Above: Sean and Denise Hyatt run Hyatt Family Farm in Milbank, South Dakota. Sean Hyatt is a sustainable and organic hog producer in Milbank, South Dakota, two hours north of Sioux Falls. “In my mind there wasn’t any other way I wanted to farm, other than sustainably,” said Sean. Sean’s production methods of pork are…
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Ellen Hartstirn: La Grande Community Garden
Above: Ellen stands in the La Grande Community Garden. Ellen Hartstirn spends most of her time at the La Grande Community Garden in La Grande, Oregon. “It’s just a beautiful place to be,” said Ellen standing next to her budding brussel sprouts. “I grew up with parents who were gardeners and I enjoyed gardening with…
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Ernest Weston:Thunder Valley CDC
Above: Food Sovereignty Program Coordinator at Thunder Valley, Ernest Weston, stands in a newly built green house on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. “I remember the morning I left for school. I loaded up the Dodge pickup at 4 a.m. and then went inside to say goodbye to my family. We all cried.…
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Judy McCullough:Fighting for Ranchers
Above: Rancher Judy McCullough at home at Empire Ranch, in Moorcroft, Wyoming. Ranchers aren’t born, they’re honed in competition. On the ranch, you’re competing against everything. Competing against the elements, against frostbitten winters, blistered summers and drought. You’re competing against time and age. You’re competing against other producers, sometimes your neighbors and you’re always competing…
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Sara Hollenbeck:High Five Meats
Above: Sara Hollenbeck at home in Molt, Montana. Sara Hollenbeck has spent the past five years embracing the chaos that comes with running a ranch, marketing a product and becoming a mom. Sara, her husband Henry, and her father-in-law Mike Hollenbeck run High Five Meats in Molt, Montana. Together, they manage 2,500 sheep, 200 head…
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Jeremy and Trish:Cycle Farm
Above: Trish Jenkins and Jeremy Smith at Cycle Farm in Spearfish, South Dakota. New farmers Jeremy Smith and Trish Jenkins can’t help but laugh when they reflect on what it took to get their farm started 7 years ago. “We hung posters all over town inviting people to come to our home and talk about…
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Christina Stucker-Gassi:Connection through Activism
“My name is Ayisha Christina Stucker-Gassi, everyone knows me by Christina. I grew up in the Treasure Valley and I love Idaho.” Christina lives in Meridian, Idaho. She mentors youth transitioning out of juvenile correction centers. Christina has been a member of Idaho Organization of Resource Councils (IORC) since 2014. She is co-chair of the…
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Aaron Johnson:Organic Farming
Above: Aaron Johnson holds a handful of corn at his farm in Madison, South Dakota, Johnson Organic Farm. Aaron Johnson is an organic producer south of Madison, South Dakota in Orland Township. He’s been farming since 2009 and is a third generation farmer. He farms on land that has been in the family since 1939.…
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Kristi Mogen:Fighting CAFOs
Above: Kristi Mogen at home in Revillo, South Dakota. Kristi Mogen and her family left Wyoming after an oil field near their home threatened their health. “In 2012, an oil field moved into Wyoming…into our neighborhood. The first wells were about two miles from our house. We had this beautiful house, had mountain views, sunsets,…
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Gilles Stockton: Communities Over Corporations for Fair Trade System
Above: Gilles Stockton at his home in Grass, Range Montana. “In 1920 Grass Range was served by a railroad spur. There were two banks, three automobile and farm machinery dealers, hotels, department stores, a doctor, a pharmacy…and today Grass Range is a ghost town,” said Gilles Stockton. Gilles was born in France. His father was…
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Ferguson Family Ranches
Above: From left to right, Lizzie Tilles, Liza Clarke, Tyler Ferguson, Ana Worswick, Tyler’s daughter and Ana’s son at their home in Ridgway, Colorado. “I feel very fortunate to have my family living right here on this ranch. I couldn’t do this without them,” says Liza. Liza Clarke, her son Tyler Ferguson, and his girlfriend Ana…
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Ian Caselli: Sioux Falls Producer
Above: Market gardener Ian Caselli at his home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Depending on the time of the year, Ian Caselli has two very different jobs. From September through May, Ian works as a Community Facilitator for the Sioux Falls School District. During the growing season, Ian is what he calls “a market gardener,”…
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Luc and Rachel Bourgault: Local Producers
Above: Luc and Rachel Bourgault at their home in Clearmont, Wyoming. Luc and Rachel Bourgault live nestled in a hill right outside of Sheridan, Wyoming in Clearmont. They are new members of Powder River Basin Resource Council. They are local producers and the fourth generation to live on this homestead. The Bourgaults live in an earth…
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Carol LeResche:Local Producer
Above: Carol LeResche at her home in Clearmont, Wyoming. In 2003, Carol LeResche and her husband, Bob, packed up their Alaska home and moved to Sheridan, Wyoming. She was born there. And, in 1996, they had bought a ranch on Clear Creek, a few miles downstream from the little town of Clearmont, forty miles east…
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Tony Prendergast
Above: Tony Prendergast at his home in Crawford, Colorado. “The original idea was to have four shareholders who owned the ranch equally but ideally have it so that people had different interests or different ways of using the land,” said rancher and outfitter Tony Prendergast at his home in Crawford, Colorado. Today, 20 years after…
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Mabel Dobbs: Fighting for Fairness in Agriculture
Mabel Dobbs sat at her kitchen table with her hands folded neatly on a stack of papers. The room is sprinkled with family portraits and ranching memorabilia. A wedding portrait of Mabel and her late husband Grant from 1984 hangs to her left – “Bull Rider” is written in rope below the photograph. “I think…
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Brittany Moreland:The Yellowstone Valley Food Hub
Above: Brittany Moreland at her farm in Luther, Montana. “I’m a native Montanan and have always had an interest in agriculture,” said farmer Brittany Moreland in Luther, Montana. Brittany grew up in central Montana with summers spent helping on the family grain farm. Despite Brittany’s exposure to agriculture, she went on to study at the…
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Monica Wiitanen:Cottage Food Law
Above: Baker Monica Wiitanen at her home in Paonia, Colorado. “I got out a cookbook and started making yeast breads when I was 18 and I’ve been making bread pretty much ever since,” said Monica Wiitanen at her home in Paonia, Colorado. “It’s about the flavor, texture, ingredients, value. What I make is real…
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Omega Beef:Grass, Water and Community
Above: Jeanie Alderson and Terry Punt at their home in Birney, Montana. Jeanie Alderson and Terry Punt live and work at Bones Brothers Ranch in Birney, Montana. Together with Jeanie’s father, two sisters and their families, they own and operate Bones Brothers Ranch. Jeanie is a fourth-generation rancher. “I’m really proud to be part of…
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Native American Natural Foods:A Company with a Mission
Above: Karlene Hunter stands outside of her office in Kyle, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Residents of Pine Ridge Reservation in Kyle, South Dakota have to drive 85 miles to find healthy food. Their closest option to fresh fruits and vegetables is located in Rapid City. The reservation is a food desert, an…
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Shiloh Valley Family Farm
Theresa Shaw stands in a greenhouse at Shiloh Valley Family Farm as dark storm clouds fill the sky. Her youngest son, 5-year-old David, hangs on her hip as she begins her story. “The Farmer Veteran Coalition provided us a grant to buy this greenhouse as we were expanding into vegetables,” said Theresa. The Coalition…
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Steve Charter: Soil Health
Third-generation rancher Steve Charter is changing the story about agriculture. “When you use fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, over-till and overgraze, you mess up the entire relationship of the soil and the plant,” said Steve. Over the past 70 years modern agriculture’s reliance on additives has depleted soil, polluted waterways, significantly increased greenhouse gas emissions and stripped…
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Stephanie Rael:Fighting for Farms
Above: Farmhand Stephanie Rael at Peaceful Belly Farms in Boise, Idaho. “I was raised on a lot of processed food. Canned goods, Hamburger Helper, frozen entrees, that sort of thing. I’ve always loved to eat but it wasn’t until I volunteered on an organic farm in Germany that I found my passion for good, nourishing…
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Tom Varcalli
Above: Tom Varcalli at his home in Sheridan, Wyoming. Tom Varcalli wants to see farms supporting families again. In 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted that the average American farm operated at a net loss — requiring off-farm income and health insurance just to break even. “The farm can make money — but not enough…
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Wink Davis: Commitment to Consumers over the Industrialization of Small Scale Farms
On his sixtieth birthday, Wink Davis gave himself a present. He and his wife, Max Eisele, bought a farm in Hotchkiss, Colorado. Today, Wink and Max raise certified organic peaches, apples, wine grapes, table grapes and Babydoll Southdown sheep. And there’s the winery. Mesa Winds Farms & Winery rests in the North Fork Valley, north…
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Doug Yankton: Protecting Spirit Lake Nation
Above: Doug Yankton Senior, the Crow Hill District Representative of Spirit Lake Nation and the Tribal Vice Chairman. “People of Spirit Lake have been here long before the city of Devils Lake and the surrounding communities. Long before the state was even named the state. So for them to not consider us and asking us…
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Scott Horner on the Farm Bill
The Farm Bill dictates the origin of your food, the economic health of your community, the amount of control of big agriculture and factory farms, subsidies and who gets them, the price of your groceries, and whether or not you know where the food you eat comes from. It’s easy to write off the Farm…
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Wyoming Food Freedom Act Provides Opportunity for Producers
Joe Wesnitzer was surrounded by the gentle hum of a heater while working in his greenhouse harvesting fresh lettuce in late October — a rarity in Wyoming. Outside, his herd of Scottish Highland cattle grazed the frosty ground. The sun was just beginning to set but Joe was still hard at work preparing for a…
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Young Roots Farm: Mindful Food for Mindful People
In the hills above Sutton Creek, southeast of Baker City, Oregon, a group of Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs trot over sagebrush and bunchgrass filled pastures towards farmer Amy Young. She stands on a paddock smiling and ready to greet them. “My pigs are the happiest pigs you’ll ever come across,” Amy says, scratching one of…
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Susan Boyd: The Green Revolution
Susan Boyd at her farm in Union, Oregon. Today there is enough food produced to feed the entire world. Yet, an estimated 795 million people around the world go hungry. Even in the United States, where the majority of farming is industrialized, large-scale and operated on ideals that “America is feeding the world,” 1 in…
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Devils Lake, North Dakota: When a Confined Animal Feeding Operation Comes to Town
The town of Devils Lake and the surrounding counties are threatened by a CAFO that would produce 44,000 piglets a year. The area is known for serious flooding, making it a huge environmental concern for intensive animal agriculture due to run off.
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Aaron Johnson: Organic Producer
We were the laughing stock of the county, this was before I was even born so I can’t imagine what they went through. Having to put up with being an outcast like that…and then now where we are today. I feel very fortunate.