24 – Building Sustainable Systems | Chris Blanchard – The Farmer To Farmer Podcast

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Our guest today has been in Organic agriculture for over 25 years, wearing many hats during that time. For years he was the owner operator of Rock Springs farm, near Deborah IA, more recently he’s been a consultant, and host of the Farmer To Farmer Podcast, it’s Mr. Chris Blanchard. Today we’ll be talking about what started the Farmer To Farmer Podcast, what brought him to agriculture, keeping poop off the food and much more.

Listen To The Episode


Show Notes

  • Chris started farming at Deep Springs College
  • Basic food safety is based on 3. Principles: 1. Keep poop off the food, 2. Assume there’s poop on the food, 3. Keep the poop from spreading
  • Chris started Rock Springs Farm in 1999 and farmed for 15 years
  • In his consulting work, Chris worked on implementing systems: food safety, business, and production
  • Started the Podcast to give back to the Organic community and giving farmers a voice
  •  The Curse of Knowledge is when experts assume everyone has a understands the building blocks of what they are saying
  • Being aware of the curse of knowledge allows you to focus on the principles behind the knowledge by explaining it clearly.
  • Recurring theme in the Farmer To Farmer Podcast is placing restrictions on when you will and will not work to spend time with family
  • Work can become an easy refuge if relationships become tough
  • Using Allan Savory’s Holistic Management Principles for defining Sustainability: 1. Quality of Life, 2. Means of Production, 3. Resource Base for Future Production
  • Retaining a future resource base doesn’t just include your soil, livestock and buildings, but also your customers and employees

Chris’ Links

http://www.farmertofarmerpodcast.com/

https://www.instagram.com/purplepitchfork/?hl=en

https://www.facebook.com/purplepitchfork/

References

The Unsettling Of America by Wendell Berry

Made To Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath

004 – John Peterson Talks Farming Time and Controlling Weeds

026: Dan Kaplan on Shared Risk and Shared Loss at Brookfield Farm

040 Jess Brian Powers on Creating a Farmer-Centric CSA, Plus A Love Story

123: Jess and Brian Powers of Working Hands Farm on the Tools and Processes the Have Supported Phenomenal Growth 

Photo credit to Angie Sullivan

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