418: Is Small Farming Sustainable?
Wise Traditions
Weston A. Price Foundation
4.7 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2023
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 2022, Vermont had 130 organic farms. Just one year later, there are only 60, with another 30 expected to go out of business in the next 12 months. How can we turn things around? And is small farming actually sustainable?
Cynthia and Rich Larson of Larson Farm in Vermont are grass dairy farmers that are working on the sustainability of their own farm and of those around them, too. They know that sustainability has to do with more than just what works for the land. It must also be valuable for the community and economically sustainable for the farmer. This is one reason they have joined hands with a local Land Care Community of 17 grass-based dairies in Vermont. They are a group that wants to leave the land in better shape than when they found it. They are working to improve the ecosystem, protect the watershed, reduce pollution and regenerate the soil. They use modern equipment and strategies for facing farming challenges.
Rich and Cynthia today tell their story about that partnership, how and why they transitioned from commercial farming to organic, and why they invite others to get into farming, too.
Check out their website: larsonfarmvt.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Weston A Price Foundation, welcome to the Wise Traditions Podcast for Wise |
| 0:10.7 | Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts. |
| 0:14.0 | We are your source for scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom to help you achieve |
| 0:18.2 | optimal health. |
| 0:20.7 | And now here is our host and producer, Hilda Labrata Gore. |
| 0:25.0 | Hey! |
| 0:26.0 | Hilda here! |
| 0:27.7 | In 2022, Vermont had 130 organic farms. |
| 0:32.3 | Just a year later there are only 60, with another 30 expected to go out of business this year. |
| 0:38.7 | How can we turn things around? |
| 0:40.8 | Is small farming sustainable at all? |
| 0:43.4 | This is episode 418 and our guests today are answering these very questions. |
| 0:48.5 | They know that sustainability has to do with more than just what works for the land. |
| 0:53.5 | It is an approach that is good for the land, yes, but also valuable to the community, |
| 0:59.1 | and economically viable for the farmer. |
| 1:02.0 | Our guests are grass-fed dairy farmers from Vermont, and they are members of a land-care |
| 1:07.1 | community of 17 grass-based dairies in Vermont that are joining hands as a group to leave |
| 1:13.5 | the land in better shape than when they found it. |
| 1:16.7 | And to lift one another up, it's a collaborative community rather than a competitive one. |
| 1:22.5 | Together, they are working to improve the ecosystem, protect the watershed, reduce pollution, |
| 1:27.3 | and regenerate the soil. |
| 1:29.2 | They use modern equipment and strategies for facing farming challenges. |
... |
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