Our mission statement is to “Produce nutritious food while improving the land, and create a welcoming environment for clients and the community to foster conversation about the way food is produced.” In October our focus was more on the latter part of our mission. We are grateful to be members of such a collaborative, and community focused industry. Here are a few things Kate and I have been up to.
First, something that will have a direct impact on our customers. We were awarded a grant from MAD! Agriculture to purchase 2 new retail freezers. Their mission: “We’re creating a regenerative revolution in agriculture”. Our local contact Peter Healy has been extremely supportive of our farm and the regenerative work we are doing. Most grants take hours to write and months to be approved. Peter and MAD! made it so easy due to the direct impact the investment is providing to get more regeneratively produced food to the community! We received a similar grant last year from Kentucky State University. Both grants have been game changers for us to have enough food in stock to provide meat to sell into the winter months when we can’t have animals on pasture.
New three door freezer. Don’t judge us for having not yet unboxed everything.
As the 2026 Kentucky Forage Spokesperson, I gave a presentation at the Kentucky Forage and Grassland Council’s annual grazing conference. The goal is to share the work I have done with our forages and animal management with other regional farmers and answer any questions they may have. While I am confident in our business and am proud of what we have built, it is always a bit intimidating talking to people who have farmed their entire lives on multigenerational farms. Many of the farmers that attend these conferences want to learn about new practices, rotational grazing plans, or multi-species integration. I try to keep the perspective that we are unique instead of feeling like an imposter, and I am open to answering any questions they may have.
Earlier in October we were invited to attend the Climate Underground Conference at Caney Fork Farms in Tennessee. This is an annual, invite only conference at Al Gore’s family farm hosted by him and Alice Waters that discusses regenerative agriculture, soil health, and food systems. The attendees are 350 people with backgrounds in soil science, health, politics, finance, farming, and others. Al Gore and his daughter Karenna hosted panels that discussed topics covering the fertilizer crisis, land transition, regenerative agriculture, federal farm policy, and food as medicine. They covered a lot of ground, and all the topics were very interesting.
I won’t try to give a synopsis of each discussion but just a brief takeaway from the conference. It is clear to most people involved, that we are faced with a myriad of problems across the world. The prevalence of cancer and other diseases among farm workers and those that live near agricultural land cannot be ignored. Look at a map of cancer rates in the United States and you can see the chemicals concentrate as they flow down the Mississippi River. This is not debatable anymore that these chemicals are not good.
There is good news, more and more research is emerging that food raised free from chemicals, in healthy soil (ideally purchased locally) is one of the best medicines for the prevention and treatment of diseases. We heard from doctors for diabetic and cardiovascular patients that reduced the rates of hospitalization and even reversed diabetes using food and educating people on how to prepare it. Doctors have begun writing prescriptions for food and insurance companies are on board. It was such a privilege to be invited to the conversation, and we feel more motivated than ever to keep pushing forward with our mission statement. Produce nutritious food while improving the land and create a welcoming environment for clients and the community to foster conversation about the way food is produced.
Kate, Will Harris, and Justin at the Climate Underground.