Embarking on extreme tasks to bring attention to important issues.
In This Podcast:
Rob Greenfield lived a fairly normal American life until 2011 when he began reading and watching documentaries that helped him realize he was contributing to the destruction of our planet. That was enough to set him on a course of performing extreme actions in order to motivate others to change as well. Having already taken three separate bicycle rides across America doing good deeds and showing ways to make less of an impact on the planet, he’s embarking on his biggest adventure yet—going an entire year eating only what he produces or forages himself.
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Rob Greenfield is an adventurer, environmental activist, humanitarian, and dude making a difference. He is dedicated to leading the way to a more sustainable and just world.
Rob has visited 6 continents and 40 countries, lived off-grid in a tiny house, wore a trash-suit for a month, dove in more than two thousand dumpsters, cycled across the U.S. twice on a bamboo bicycle, traveled over 7000 miles from Brazil to Panama relying on the goodness of humanity, participated in a cross-country good deeds bike trek, and shared all this to inspire change in others.
His next project is going an entire year without eating food from grocery stores, restaurants, or even eating or drinking at a party. He will be growing and foraging 100% of his food for an entire year.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/foodfreedom for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
411: Rob Greenfield on Food Freedom Project.
In This Podcast:
Walking by Lloyds of London with his wife Ashley, Lloyd Hardrick was intrigued by the beehives in the windows of the famous bank that shared his name. Curiosity led to research and research led to the career path that Lloyd and Ashley ventured on—raising bees. Making an impact on their community is the primary goal for Lloyd as he works to educate people on bees and their importance in our lives. As Lloyd says, “We all depend on bees. It’s everybody’s business to want to save the bees.”
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Lloyd served in the U.S. Army for 10 years. After the army, he became a certified beekeeper and in 2015 he and his wife Ashley founded their beekeeping company. Honey Bee Goode Apiaries, is not just about bees and honey, they specialize in developing relationships with urban farmers and teaching in the local communities about the relationship between bees, flowers, and food.
Honey Bee Goode Apiaries was one of the Farmer Veteran Coalition’s 2018 Fellowship Fund Grant recipients. Honey Bee Good plants their hives on urban farms throughout their community.
Lloyd was the recipient of a $1000 Tractor Supply donation, through the Veteran Coalition’s program that offers assistance to veterans in the early stages of their farming operations.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/honeybeegoode for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
410: Lloyd Hardrick on Keeping Urban Bees
Creating healthy, nutritious snacks.
In This Podcast:
Tanya Batche loved to bake but didn’t necessarily think of it as a career. Looking at the frightening trend of obesity and diabetes, she knew there must be a way to still enjoy, and allow others to enjoy her delicious endeavors. Tanya turned her love of baking into her life’s work, teaching us how to enjoy our treats but making them much healthier. Now you can enjoy her Hunger Bomb cookies too. As well as making these healthy treats Tanya also helps private clients learn to become healthier too.
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Tanya is a Dietitian, certified in Adult Weight Management with over 25 years of experience helping patients and clients stay healthy. She has traveled most of the country as a Corporate Dietitian overseeing senior living and wellness programs in healthcare. She started baking as a little girl in Ohio, where she used to surprise her dad with treats (she hid) after he came from work.
She decided to follow her passion by combining her love of baking and her knowledge of healthy nutritious foods and started her own company! She created Hunger-Bomb Cookies, healthy treats that are delicious and filling while satisfying your sweet tooth, without spiking your blood sugar! In addition to baking and selling her treats at farmers’ markets and online, Tanya also provides nutrition consultation to clients who want to live delicious and healthy lives.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/hungerbomb for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
409: Tanya Batche on Delicious Low Sugar Treats
Preferring the taste of fresh pressed over store bought.
In This Podcast:
Curiosity on what to do with the fruit from the three large olive trees in his new yard led Ron Mantini on a quest to make his own olive oil. Over the course of several years, with trial and error and the power of the internet, Ron has discovered how to make an delicious olive oil. He has learned how to turn the olives on his and neighboring trees into a bright green, fresh and addictive pressed oil, a nice pairing for his homemade bread and pasta.
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Ron was born and raised in Lorain Ohio, 30 miles west of Cleveland on the shores of Lake Erie. He moved to Chandler, Arizona in 2000 after graduating from the Ohio State University to work for Intel Corporation, which he still does until this day. He is married with 4 children between the ages of 8-13. With several olive trees at his home, Ron taught himself how to make olive oil from scratch.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/ronsfreshpressedoil for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
408: Ron Mantini on Homemade Olive Oil
Becoming a steward of the soil.
In This Podcast:
As a contour farmer facing the problem of so much soil washing away in the rain, Steve Szudera found his solution when he borrowed a no-till drill in 1981. He never looked back as he learned how completing warm and cool crop cycles and protecting the soil from damage were keys to healthy, productive crops. Steve shares with us ways to rejuvenate our soil, and even shares how he reuses old potting soil, making it healthier than before.
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Steve is a third-generation farmer from western North Dakota with over 35 years of no-till farming experience building and maintaining soil health. After realizing that the standard farming practices done before he took over were the cause of the wind and water erosion, and that the soil was depleted of moisture and nutrients, he converted to no-till farming. He learned very quickly that just one simple practice of not disturbing the soil would allow it to rebuild and recover.
He now teaches others how to rebuild and protect the natural commodity of their own soil so that they too can become stewards.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/tabletopfarmer for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
407: Steve Szudera on Nutrient Rich Soil
Managing an urban farm for families in poverty or homeless.
In This Podcast: Being a single mother trying to provide nutritious options for her children in a food desert gave St. Vincent de Paul’s Urban Farm manager Nika Forte a great understanding and compassion for the people she serves. She shares with her belief that food should nourish the body, mind and spirit with her clientele as she encourages them to reconnect with where their food comes from as they are being helped by the many services of St. Vincent de Paul.
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Nika is the Urban Farm Manager for St. Vincent de Paul where she creates programming and community engagement events. Her job also includes managing community members who volunteer time at the Urban Farm, growing, processing and distributing freshly grown vegetables to the homeless community and needy families that they provide service for. Her role in the program is to improve food access and food security in under served communities.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/nika for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
406: Nika Forte on Farming for the Under-Served
Organically recycling through vermicomposting.
In This Podcast: Rhonda Sherman, an extension specialist in the Department of Horticultural Science at NC State University, shares how throwing away our food waste is a major problem in landfills, releasing methane gas which is a contributor to climate change and causing heavy metals to be released into water sources. She spends 90 percent of her work time educating people in what to do with their food waste instead, namely by composting or vermicomposting. Rhonda shares access to many of the publications she’s written which can be found on her website.
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Rhonda is an extension specialist in the Department of Horticultural Science at North Carolina State University, providing leadership for university outreach programs on solid waste management issues through the Cooperative Extension Service. She holds degrees in Environmental Studies and Urban/Regional Planning, and Environmental Resources Analysis with an emphasis in solid waste management.
Rhonda’s areas of expertise are vermicomposting, composting, recycling, and waste reduction. She gives about 40 presentations annually and has authored over 65 publications on these topics. Her new book is The Worm Farmer’s Handbook: Mid- to Large-Scale Vermicomposting for Farms, Businesses, Municipalities, Schools, and Institutions published by our friends at Chelsea Green.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/wormfarmershandbook for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
405: Rhonda Sherman on Worm Farming
In This Podcast: Lyndsay Ludden and her husband Eric wanted to grow real food. They talked about it all the time. This led them to take the bold step to sell their home in Phoenix and find their perfect property in Cornville, Arizona. On just over two acres of land Lyndsay and Eric built their farm from scratch, beginning with chickens and goats. Having more eggs than they could use led them to the farmer’s market. They’ve been working and adding new animals and gardens to the Hoppy Goat Farm for two years now and feel they’ve made the right choice.
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Lyndsay and her husband Eric started a farm several years ago to raise and grow their own food. Originally their intent was health related however, as “super foodies” they began realizing how much better everything tastes when they grow and harvest it themselves. They now have two large gardens, as well as goats, chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, and bees. They offer many different items from their farm including fresh eggs, cheeses, mud scrubs, soap and a special seasoning blend. Plus you can find her at the Sedona Farmers Market on Sundays.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/hoppygoat for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
404: Lyndsay Ludden as a Farmer at the Market
Training future farmers to shape the future of our food system.
In This Podcast: Wondering where the bananas came from while eating them in his native United Kingdom was just the first step for Tobias Peggs, as he sought to figure out how to grow the food in his own city that previously would have spent weeks being shipped in from different climates. He was sure he could mimic the plants’ normal environments. Peggs has not only built a working modular farm in Brooklyn, New York, but runs a Next-Gen Farmer training program to help ensure that others are working toward his mission of bringing real food to all the cities of the world.
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Tobias is cofounder and CEO of Square Roots – an urban farming company headquartered in Brooklyn, NYC. He has a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from Cardiff University in his native United Kingdom. He is a Techstars mentor, competitive triathlete, snowboarder, and ramen hunter.
Square Roots grows and sells tasty, nutritious food year-round from their Brooklyn campus of indoor, controlled-climate, modular farms. Their mission is to bring local, real food to people in cities, by empowering next-gen leaders in urban farming—because “the more of us working to shape the future of food, the better”.
Founded in 2016 by Tobias and Kimbal Musk, Square Roots is also host to a “Next-Gen Farmer Training Program”—a year-long, hands-on training program that puts participants at the forefront of the indoor urban farming industry.
Go to www.urbanfarm.org/squareroots for more information and links on this podcast, and to find our other great guests.
403: Tobias Peggs on Empowering Next-Gen Leaders