Down to Earth: The Planet to Plate Podcast

Frances Whitehead is an award-winning transdisciplinary environmental artist who integrates art with plants, soil, food, and agricultural sustainability. Having spent much of her career in cities of the Great Lakes Basin, she moved to New Mexico five years ago because she wanted to live in a dry climate and work on what she calls "arid reworlding" — which is all about responding to climate change by building a healthy future that uses less water. On a trip to Mexico, her life was changed by an encounter with the Nopal cactus, which has been a staple of Mexican culture for millennia. This led to her project, Nopalogy, which addresses the potential role of Nopal as a future food in colder climates. In this podcast we explore the work with Nopal, as well as the role of the artist in agriculture and the food system, the latest research on Nopal, and the new field trials she's initiated in Santa Fe. 

Karl Thidemann is co-founder of Soil4Climate, a non-profit that advocates for regenerative agriculture, with a focus on grazing and the restoration of grasslands. In this podcast he makes the case, supported by extensive scientific research, that the restoration of grasslands can provide a multi win-win––for the climate, biodiversity, soil health, good nutrition, farmer profitability, the water cycle, rural communities, anti-desertification, and maintaining traditional agrarian practices worldwide. He also challenges vegan narratives about food and climate, and, with a poem and a song, reminds us that the arts are an important part of the change toward a greener, healthier world. Thidemann makes references to many farmers and ranchers during this podcast, and I've linked to their work in the timeline below.

Gary Paul Nabhan is an agricultural ecologist, ethnobotanist, Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, and author of thirty-four books who has devoted his life to understanding the relationships among species in ecosystems and between human beings and their environments. His work spans regenerative agriculture, habitat conservation, indigenous communities, and so much more. In addition to his work in science, for which he has won many awards, including a MacArthur "Genius" grant, he is a poet, artist, and writer. In this podcast we talk about his latest book, Water in the Desert: A Pilgrimage.  

Roxanne Swentzell was a young mother on a small piece of land at Santa Clara Pueblo when she was introduced to permaculture design principles––which dovetailed with indigenous patters of thinking and land use. She turned her yard from hard, sun-scorched earth into an agroforest that provides food, wood, fiber and habitat. She founded the Flowering Tree Permaculture Institute, which focuses on teaching principles and practices of desert gardening, composting, seed saving, animal husbandry, beekeeping, building, and maintaining cultural knowledge--based on principles of integrity, love, reciprocity, communication, work, and consideration.

At last year's Regenerate conference, I attended a session about climate emotion, led by Addie Candib of American Farmland Trust, in which participants were asked two questions: What is one thing you have lost to climate change? and What helps you build resilience in yourself/your land/your world?  The answers were profound and fascinating. So I decided to ask some of the participants in that session to speak with us on the podcast. Addie Candib introduces the podcast, and then we talk to: Jonathan Cox,Policy Manager with Painterland Sisters Organic Yogurt in Westfield, Pennsylvania Alex and Clare McKeon, Father and daughter ranchers in Oakdale, California Laura Paskus, Environmental writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico Adrienne Dorsey, Land steward from Durango, Colorado Craig Conley, Land steward in Northern New Mexico