The owners of Dodo Farm talk about their experience running a farm that prioritizes the health of the planet and their customers.

Max Hart is the director of agricultural education at Calleva Farms in Dickerson, Maryland. Max tends to crops and animals and uses the farm as an educational tool for running the kids' program that emphasizes experiential learning. Max’s passion and eagerness to evolve as a farmer pushes him to experiment with growing methods and understand the true history of regenerative agriculture.

On the first federally recognized Indigenous Peoples' Day--October 11, 2021-- activists marched from Freedom Plaza to The White House demanding elected officials take action to protect the environment and put an end to expanding fossil fuel projects such as Line 3. Keshia Lawrence explains this movement and draws connections between environmental protection and food and land sovereignty.

Curt Canda runs an incredible school garden program at Stoddert Elementary--where kids learn about being a steward of the earth and take part in a sustainable food system. He holds a master's in Elementary Education from American University and a master's in Social Work from the University of Iowa.

Hear from experts in land sovereignty talk about the social, political, and environmental issues that intersect with land. Featuring Eric Jackson with the Black Yield Institute, Kyla and Kandeaux hosts of the Farm Plug podcast, Dr. Maria Lawrence a professor at Rhode Island College, Holly Rippon-Butler with the National Young Farmers Coalition, and Eric Cassetta with The Land Institute.

Patrick Johnson owns a farm in Richmond, Virginia called NANIH Farm and Garden. Patrick has a rich background in agriculture. He served in the Peace Corps, got his graduate degree from Cornell, and has been farming and teaching about farming for thirty years.

Today’s guest is Anh Doan. He manages a farm in Brookville MD called The Farm At Our House. I worked there a good chunk of last year. People are drawn to Anh. Our CSA is bustling with people hoping to catch a word with him—tell him about their home garden or ask advice on what to do with different greens or ask about his family even. He’s a talented farmer and loves to teach people about farming. But if you want to learn you need to be ready to give 100% --he expects this out of everyone. Including himself.

Ann Sutton or “Farmer Gale” is the owner and operator of Deep Roots Farm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. I met Farmer Gale while managing a farmer's market in Washington D.C. over the summer. One Sunday I had the chance to get to know her even better when I was asked to step in to work with her and her mother at her stand, prepping consumer orders to be rung up. We laughed, gave out bitter melon recipes, and when I started feeling the heat, they revived me with some of her mother’s homemade sorrel juice. Farmer Gale is dedicated to regenerative practices and building community through growing food.

This introductory episode is the origin story, sharing what inspired the project and what it hopes to achieve. It explains why hearing the voices of farmers is so important. Each week I will be talking with the people that grow food to nourish their communities, to gain a deeper understanding of what it will take to move towards a world that values agriculture as a tool to address climate change and eliminate food insecurity.