We have two special guests today: Strong Towns staff members Christa Theilen and Seairra Shepherd. Christa works as Strong Towns’ office assistant in our Brainerd, Minnesota, office and Seairra is a writer and multimedia creator based in central Illinois.
But besides serving at Strong Towns, they both also work part time at local small-scale farms. Christa’s is a vegetable farm and Seairra’s, an animal farm. We invited them on the show to talk about their experiences in this vital industry: growing the food we all eat and need to survive, and growing it close to home so it doesn’t require costly shipping or rely on global supply chains to get to our kitchens.
This life isn’t easy. Christa and Seairra both talk about the round-the-clock, 365-day nature of farm work, but also how much they love it and how rewarding it is to be outside, getting your hands dirty and literally seeing the fruits of your labor. They discuss the growing interest they’ve witnessed in local food in their regions and the ways their farms have gotten connected with people in the surrounding towns.
This isn’t the first conversation we’ve had with a local farmer on The Bottom-Up Revolution. But we think Christa and Seairra offer a unique perspective as workers on rural farms in the modern age.
Additional Show NotesBrambling Rows Farm (Brainerd, MN)
Trillium Dell Farm (Knoxville, IL)
Previous podcast episodes about local food: “Beth Hoffman: Getting Real About the Cost—and Value—of Farming,” “Alfred Melbourne: Growing Food, Growing Resilience,” and “Alex Hagler: An Entrepreneur Creating Opportunities for Other Entrepreneur.”
Read articles by Seairra Shepherd.
Send your story ideas to rachel@strongtowns.org.
Subscribe to The Bottom-Up Revolution on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Podbean, or via RSS.
Support this podcast by becoming a Strong Towns member today.
Creating People-Oriented Places
Using Tactical Urbanism to Create Safer Streets
Fostering Creative (and Financially Resilient) Communities
Serving on a Citizen Advisory Committee
Partnering with Local Government to Create and Foster Ideas
Using Nonprofits to Build Strong Neighborhoods
Building Neighborhood-Boosting Community Groups
Using Local Food to Build Community
Building Community Through Public Art
Investing in Your Neighborhood
Fostering Collaboration on a Local Level
Reviving Forgotten Alleyways
Taking the Strong Towns Movement to School
Creating Healthy Communities
Adding Elements of Play to Your Neighborhood
Depaving Your Neighborhood
Proposing No Parking Minimums to Council
Starting a Neighborhood Grocery Co-Op
Reinventing the Rural Economy
Fostering a Local Music Scene
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