In the 1990s, the success of the US organic movement seemed undeniable. Demand for healthy, chemical-free produce skyrocketed amidst public health concerns and a growing environmental consciousness. As a consequence, many small organic farmers could make a real living selling healthy produce and restoring farmland in the process. In the decades since, however, the story has gotten much more complicated.

Carlyle Stewart is a living embodiment of many of the core ideas behind Agrarian Futures. Like many of us, he grew up without a close connection to farming or our agricultural landscapes, but that didn’t stop him from taking a massive leap to move across the country and establish himself as a skilled cattle rancher in Montana. He fuses these skills with wise-beyond-his-years thoughtfulness about what it means to steward the land, lift up rural communities, and confront the complicated -and often violent - history of westward expansion and ranching.

This conversation is bursting with insights from his time spent on the land as well as his background in divinity school and as a community organizer. We know you’ll enjoy this one.

Russell Wallack and team at Breadtree Farms are some of our favorite kind of people - the kind who not only imagine a different future for our communities and our planet, but put in the work to turn that vision into reality.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Russell walks us through the history of the chestnut tree in North America, which once made up over a quarter of all trees in the eastern US, and how they are harnessing its potential as a keystone crop for regenerative farmers once more.

Atlantic Sea Farms is working at the center of many of our favorite themes on this show - climate change adaptability, rural revitalization, the brass tacks of launching a business in the regenerative food space, and long term economic security for the people that grow and harvest our food.