One Bite is Everything Dana DiPrima

"One Bite is Everything" host Dana DiPrima introduces you to the universe where everyday food, fuel, fiber, and flowers (the 4 Fs) emanate from the center of your proverbial plate to its broader impact on health, the environment, community, and the economy. Here, with One Bite, you have to opportunity to explore the countless decisions involved in how our food reaches us and connect these choices to bigger, critical life issues. This unique approach sparks a broader conversation on the interplay between our choices and societal well-being.

Healthy food should not be a privilege, yet more than 23 million Americans don't have access to fresh food. Maura "Mac" Russell is working to change this statistic, all while balancing her career as a consultant, and being a mom of four. Through Ad Astra Farms, Mac takes on food justice in the community, healthy food production and education, and the persisting trauma that many Black Americans associate with farming. This first episode of One Bite is Everything takes on personal health, community well-being, the environment, and more. Tune in until the end for some funny surprises you will relate to!

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On today’s episode of Talk Farm To Me, we hear from first generation farmer Kelley Babbin, owner and operator of Howling Flats Farms in Canaan, Connecticut. Kelley has made it her mission to create an environment of sustainable agriculture, while nurturing the land she grows on. Using sustainable practices to give her animals the utmost love and care, making for happy animals that live harmoniously with the land, Kelley has created an online marketplace to sell her meat to consumers that are looking for healthier, environmentally friendly, options.

In this episode, you will hear how Kelley became a farmer and started growing animals on pasture, the work and dedication it takes to run a farm with little help, the challenges for farmers to market their products to the masses, how Kelley created an online market for Howling Flat Farms, and why the need for convenience is hurting family farms.

This story is all about strength and determination, you don’t want to miss it!

Topics discussed in this episode:

How Kelley started raising animals on pasture
How Kelley runs her farm on her own
The types of certifications Kelley’s farm has
What Kelley’s customer base looks like
Why it is difficult to market meat on social media
How Kelley is expanding her customer base in creative ways
The need for convenience is hurting small family farms
How Kelley is improving the health of her soil

We believe in farmers being taken seriously. They are the backbone of our society after all, right? Then why are more and more farmers becoming silenced and marginalized? To answer this question and spread awareness about this topic, we have invited podcast host, author, and law and government teacher, Sharon McMahon, to shed light on how America is failing its farmers, and what we can do to change that.

Sharon has a deep knowledge of the monster farmers are up against when it comes to legislation, farm bills, and the oligopoly of big ag phasing out small family farms. She brings the conversation back to the American government and law makers to enforce checks and balances so the farmers get the respect they deserve, with the health of the consumers in mind.

This is an important conversation with tons of information about the way the government and laws are structured that will put the farming industry and the direction it is going into perspective. Something we all need to pay attention to, because after all, we all need to eat!

This episode will surely empower you to stand up for your rights as a consumer and for the rights of farmers. Every time you make a purchase, you are voting with your dollar, and if keeping small family farms in business is a cause you believe in, make that dollar count!

Make sure you tune in to this crucial discussion!

Sal Gilbertie has had some luck -- good luck and bad luck -- that catapulted him into a career in growing organic herbs. Sal’s love for healthy soil and organic farming shines through in this episode, where he details his experience of deciding to grow organically when it wasn’t as common or popular as it is now. Sal has a deep knowledge of what it takes to be 100% organic, in a world where pesticides are still very much being used as the easier, cheaper option, yet making people very sick.

This is a story of persistence and passion you don’t want to miss! Tune in to hear how Sal took the twists and turns of each decade’s challenges and pivoted his business to be able to serve his customers better and create a successful organic business because of it. This year, Gilbertie Organics is celebrating its 100th year in business! This is a story of persistence and passion you don’t want to miss!

Topics discussed in this episode:

How Sal took over the family flower business
The serendipitous meeting with an herbal pioneer
How the ecology boom created a market for herbs
Why Sal decided to grow organically
Sal’s passion for soil and why Sal believes hydroponics should be avoided
How a disaster in 1969 turned into a marketing opportunity
Why buying organic could save your life
Some sage advice from a seasoned grower

When you think of farming, Alaska isn’t the first place that comes to mind. However, our guest on today’s episode is an Alaskan dairy farmer on Kodiak Island, who is an advocate for small farms staying small, especially in Alaska where most of the food that is consumed is grown elsewhere and shipped in.

Kelli Foreman grew up on a small farm in Nebraska, so she has always been familiar with the benefits of small family farms, but it wasn’t until she started a small farm herself, on a remote island in Alaska, where she realized the immediate importance of small farms feeding the local community. Kelli also emphasizes the lost art of character building when children are involved in family farming through the daily grunt work, as well as helping to make tough decisions about life or death of an animal.

In this episode, you will hear why small family farms are the backbone of a thriving society, how small farming is the answer to a lot of the world's questions like that of climate change, how Kelli ended up in Alaska as a micro dairy farmer, how her children are involved in the farming process, and how she serves her community through farming.

This episode is eye-opening and inspirational as it sheds light on the fragility of our food supply system and how we can overcome that on a micro, local level.

Make sure to tune in!