63. From Ownership to Stewardship w/ The Farmers Land Trust & Earthen Heart Farmland Commons

In this episode of Hands in the Soil, we’re joined by four guests - Ian and Kristina, co-founders and co-executive directors of The Farmers Land Trust, and Julian and Alita, the visionaries behind the Earthen Heart Farmland Commons in Bangor, Michigan - to talk about a hopeful and replicable model in food systems work happening right now.

The conversation that unfolds in this episode is a story about what becomes possible when land is decommodified, when ownership is reimagined as stewardship, and when the right people find each other at the right moment. Julian donated his 19.9-acre Bangor farm, built over 14 years of food forests, medicinal plants, and regenerative land practices, into the Farmers Land Trust, where it became the founding property of the Earthen Heart Farmland Commons. Alita Kelly, founder of Jade Rabbit and steward of community food work across West Michigan, received a 99-year lease on that land and a seat in the ownership structure. This conversation is part origin story, part how-it-works, and part invitation to anyone sitting on land, working with land, or dreaming of a different relationship to it.

Tune in to learn more about:

• What The Farmers Land Trust does and how the farmland commons model works, including the 501c25 legal structure that makes it possible

• How farmers who lease land through this model also get a seat in the ownership structure, and why that changes everything
• Julian's 14-year journey as steward of the Earthen Heart property, what he learned, and what guided him toward donating rather than selling
• What it felt like to ask the land for permission, and to receive an answer

• Why healing on this land is inseparable from healing the relationship that communities of color have had with land in America
• The vision for Earthen Heart as a site of communal farming, collective living, a freedom school, and transformation through the seasons
• The honest challenges: finding pro bono legal support, aligning values among farm partners, navigating shared leadership, and building something with no map
• Why land is donated all the time (to universities, municipalities, and conservation trusts) and what it would mean to shift that culture toward working farmland and food sovereignty
• The history of the word "homesteading" and why Julian chooses to use it anyway, and the distinction between farming for sale and farming for use
• Liberty Hyde Bailey, Teddy Roosevelt, the Commission on Rural Life, and the moment over a century ago that set us on the path we're still trying to heal from

Resources Mentioned

• Episode 13: Bringing Hope to the Future of Farmland with Ian McSweeney
• Episode 34: Creating a Farmland Commons with Ian McSweeney
• Episode 48: Solidarity and Community Sufficiency: Land Justice, Food Justice and True Community Empowerment with Kristina Villa et al

• Liberty Hyde Bailey
• The Homestead Act of 1862

Connect + Learn More

• The Farmers Land Trust Website: thefarmerslandtrust.org 
• Earthen Heart Farmland Commons Website: thefarmerslandtrust.org/commons/earthen-heart 
• Earthen Heart Website: earthenheart.com
• Jade Rabbit: jade-rabbit.org

• West Michigan Young Farmers Coalition: youngfarmers.org
• Connect with Hannah on Instagram: @hannahkeitel