Green Willow Homestead
  • Home
  • Blog
  • SHOP
    • EVENTS >
      • Bouquet Bar at Perlick Distillery
      • Family U-Pick Event
    • Farmers Markets
    • Florals
    • Build Plans >
      • Goat Tractor Build Plans
      • A-Frame Chicken Tractor Build Plans
      • Brooder Box Build Plans
      • Modern Rustic Bed Frame Build Plans
    • The Farm Store >
      • Bouquet of the Month Club
      • Mushroom Infused Salt
      • Cocktail Infusion Kits
      • Cocktail Bitters >
        • Smoked Cardamom Orange Molasses Bitters
        • Vanilla Sugar Plum Bitters
        • Spiced Orange + Plum Bitters
        • Pine + Spruce Bitters
    • Tractor Kits >
      • Tow Bar Kit for Chicken or Goat Tractor
      • Chicken Tractor Wheel Mounting Kit
      • Goat Tractor Wheel Mounting Kit
      • Milk Stanchion Mounting Kit
    • My Amazon Storefront
  • Podcast
  • FREEBIES
    • The Conscious Consumer Method
    • The Green Gifting Guide
    • The Green Wedding Guide
  • About
    • Interviews and Features
  • Home
  • Blog
  • SHOP
    • EVENTS >
      • Bouquet Bar at Perlick Distillery
      • Family U-Pick Event
    • Farmers Markets
    • Florals
    • Build Plans >
      • Goat Tractor Build Plans
      • A-Frame Chicken Tractor Build Plans
      • Brooder Box Build Plans
      • Modern Rustic Bed Frame Build Plans
    • The Farm Store >
      • Bouquet of the Month Club
      • Mushroom Infused Salt
      • Cocktail Infusion Kits
      • Cocktail Bitters >
        • Smoked Cardamom Orange Molasses Bitters
        • Vanilla Sugar Plum Bitters
        • Spiced Orange + Plum Bitters
        • Pine + Spruce Bitters
    • Tractor Kits >
      • Tow Bar Kit for Chicken or Goat Tractor
      • Chicken Tractor Wheel Mounting Kit
      • Goat Tractor Wheel Mounting Kit
      • Milk Stanchion Mounting Kit
    • My Amazon Storefront
  • Podcast
  • FREEBIES
    • The Conscious Consumer Method
    • The Green Gifting Guide
    • The Green Wedding Guide
  • About
    • Interviews and Features

Episode 32 - Where regenerative agriculture gets it wrong and what we can do about it with Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms

6/8/2020

13 Comments

 
Where regenerative agriculture gets it wrong and what we can do about it with Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms
We’re having an important conversation today about the intersection of race and agriculture, the glaring issues within the clean food movement, and how regenerative agriculture keeps getting it wrong with Chris Newman. Chris is the co-founder of Sylvanaqua Farms, which is based in the D.C. region. They raise forest-raised pork, grass-fed beef, and pastured chicken and eggs.

A member of the Choptico Band of Piscataway Indians, Chris places a heavy emphasis on the indigenous ethics, values, and knowledge serving as the (often unacknowledged) foundation of the modern permaculture movement, and the decolonized worldview necessary to ensure the sustainable stewardship of natural resources. An engineer and technologist by trade, he also accepts and explores the potential of modern scientific innovation to address the gaps left by ecosystem farming in solving a sustainability problem wherein timeliness is a factor.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms Interview 2020
Chris Newman, is an ehakihet (farmer/land protector) and an outspoken evangelist of ecological, economic, and social sustainability in food. He's garnered both criticism and praise for:
  1. Advocating a moderate, pragmatic approach to sustainable food systems that recognizes the complementary roles of both ecological farming and technological innovation
  2. Frank discussions of the intersection of race and agriculture
  3. Blunt, unsparing criticism of the "clean food" movement's often-elitist values and aversion to self-reflection.
Picture

Show Notes:

  • Chris’ farming journey and how Sylvanaqua Farms came to be
  • Common issues with small farming practices for farmers, consumers, ecosystems, and the food system in general
  • What “democratizing agriculture” means and how it’s different than the model most small farms are using today
  • The issue with the notion that all beef should be grass-fed and grass-finished or that all livestock must be farmed regeneratively for its entire life
  • The presence of environmental racism, inequality, and what it means to be “Thunberged”
  • Books and resources to learn more about environmental racism
  • Why conscious consumers can’t just “zero waste” their way into a climate-change-free future
  • What we can do to be an active part of an environmentally-sound future
  • Chris’ vision for the future of Sylvanaqua Farms
Sylvanaqua Farms interview with Chris Newman

Resources Mentioned:

  • Preorder The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee
  • Chris’ “Grass-Fed Cows Won't Die for Our Sins” essay
  • Chris' "Small Family Farms Aren't the Answer" essay
  • Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Chris Newman interview Sylvanaqua Farms 2020

Support, Shop, and Follow:

  • Follow Chris @sylvanaquafarms on Instagram
  • D.C. area residents order home delivery from their website www.sylvanaqua.com
  • Become an investor for Sylvanaqua Farms
  • Send money to @sylvanaquafarms on Venmo

Where regenerative agriculture gets it wrong and what we can do about it with Chris Newman of Sylvanaqua Farms
13 Comments
Katherine
6/9/2020 01:00:54 pm

Hello! Thank you for having this very important conversation. If we continue to create spaces to have these conversations about race and inequities- they will become more normalized. And change of minds, hearts and hopefully policies and society will also follow suit. Keep posting!

Reply
Laura
6/22/2020 02:16:37 pm

Yes, thank you so much for the conversation! Great insight and loved the discussion on thinking of yourself as an investor instead of a consumer. We need more options and act together!

Reply
HCG complex link
7/4/2020 03:44:08 am

Thanks for your insight for your fantastic posting. I’m glad I have taken the time to see this

Reply
PhenQ link
7/4/2020 03:45:47 am

This is actually the kind of information I have been trying to find. Thank you for writing this information.

Reply
Karim
8/11/2020 04:58:27 am

Very eyeopening conversation. This is exactly what has been going in my head since i am getting in to ecosystem restoration, permaculture and regenerative agriculture. I am based in Morocco and i discovered that most knowledge is with the indigenous people. There are systems in place today that are set up by people 500 years ago and still producing food. I have visusted several food forrests that could function as educational centers and the indigenous people could benefit directly from this. Also large scare and bioregional restoration is key. Thank you for sharing this and please invite Chris again maybe together with his wife :). Greetings from Morocco

Reply
Jane Bayley link
8/16/2020 07:19:39 am

Hi Karim
Delighted to see your post because originally came to Morocco in the early 1990s & soon after that I invited a permaculture expert to visiot & he said exactly what you say about local people's food forests. I am working on permaculture principles at our new ecolodge now & I have been involved in helping local people for many years and - I helped create a permaculture-based "bee" orchard a few years ago. It would be great to get in touch. You see our web site at www.cecu.co.uk

Reply
Gary Anderson
8/13/2020 05:15:13 pm

Huge gaps of ngnorance in remarks about permaculture and historian Howard Zinn. Mollison was loved by many Idigenouse people especially India and Africa.The last chapter in his book is the answer to the problem small farmers have, wich he does not seem familiar with. Permaculturists quickly/intuitivly realize that when money becomes a vital factor sustainable design is forgotten.

Reply
Kelsey
8/14/2020 07:40:08 am

Gary, I am unsure where the huge gaps of ignorance are here. Permaculture is, at it's core, indigenous derived knowledge that white males co-opted, turned around and taught, charged massive amounts of money in doing so, and did little to spread the wealth back to the very people it was taken from. Also, I would appreciate it if you would turn on your spellcheck.

Reply
Elise Zoli
10/9/2020 04:29:57 am

Thank you for this discussion. I'm focused on advancing a form of biodynamic farming that is inclusive and advances both humane treatment of animals and biodiversity, so that farmer equity is realized. That means championing the women and people of color growing differently. There are extraordinary pioneering individuals here, and I'd like to make sure their voices and ideas are heard. So, thank you.

Reply
Navaratnam partheeban
12/21/2020 12:25:23 pm

Really great resources and articles. Learnt a lot and am sharing some of what I have learnt over here in the U.K. focussing on promoting and supporting BIPOC people in Agriculture and farming

Reply
Michael link
10/8/2021 06:44:08 am

Great Article! Thank you for sharing this very informative post, and looking forward to the latest one.

Reply
authority backlinks link
2/11/2023 12:32:44 pm

I got what you mean , thanks for posting .Woh I am happy to find this website through google.

Reply
홈타이 link
3/11/2024 09:15:08 pm

나는 당신의 블로그를 정말 좋아합니다. 훌륭한 기사. 가장 분명한 것은 사람들이 할 수 있기 전에 배워야합니다.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Meet Kelsey,

    Thanks for stopping by Green Willow Homestead! From chicken rearing to composting, we've got our hands full and we love sharing what we've learned along the way. Follow along as we turn the 80 acres we call home into a farm that serves its community and a homestead that nourishes us throughout the seasons.


    Picture

    Grab the Ebook

    LEARN MORE

    Picture

    Listen in!

    SUBSCRIBE

    The Conscious Consumer Method Free Download

    FREE Guide!

    DOWNLOAD NOW

    Tune into our Green Willow Homestead YouTube Channel

    Tune in to our YouTube Channel

    SUBSCRIBE

    Inspirations

    1. Rachel Carson
    2. Robin Wall Kimmerer
    3. Temple Grandin
    4. Bea Johnson
    ​6. Harvey Ussery

    Categories

    All
    Broody Hen Care
    Farmer Resources
    Holistic Healing
    Homesteading Plans
    Organic Gardening
    #PackagingForThePlanet
    Raising Dairy Goats
    Raising Pastured Chickens
    Recipes
    Sustainable Living
    The Farm Stand
    The Food Forest
    The Positively Green Podcast
    Weekly Homestead Update


    Favorite Books of 2024

    1. Erosion
    2. Braiding Sweetgrass
    ​3. As Long As Grass Grows
    ​4. The Small Scale Poultry Flock
    5. The Zero Waste Solution


    Archives

    May 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    November 2024
    February 2024
    November 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    November 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

FOLLOW KELSEY ON INSTAGRAM!

View this profile on Instagram

Kelsey Jorissen (@kelseyjorissen) • Instagram photos and videos


Picture

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

About Kelsey
Interviews + Features
​
Kelsey's Favorite Amazon Items
On The Blog
The Holistic Home Ebook
The A-Frame Mobile Chicken Tractor

Privacy Policy
CONTACT KELSEY

© Green Willow Homestead, LLC. 2025