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.
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Adopting Strong Towns Principles for Your Neighborhood Planning Firm
Fostering Entrepreneurship in Your Community
Finding Your Community's True Essence
Making Your Local Business a Third Place
Connecting with Your Community on Foot
Breaking Down Silos in Rural Communities
Using (and Understanding) Open Data
Investing in the Youth
Deciding What to Do First
Starting a Successful Pop-up Shop
Spreading the Strong Towns Message Locally
Getting Ideas for Making Your Neighborhood Stronger
Building an Accessory Dwelling Unit
Boosting Historic Business Districts with Gamification
Starting a Bike Advocacy Group
Providing Healthy Food in Our Urban Neighborhoods
Crowdfunding Your Ideas
Documenting Your City
Innovating in Local Government
Starting a Neighborhood Association
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