Down to Earth
Down to Earth is a podcast about regenerative agriculture. It’s about the place where food production and conservation come together, where the food we eat actually improves the health of land, water, people—and climate.
Above all, it’s a podcast about hope. We focus not on doom but instead on people who are developing practical, innovative solutions. We invite you to meet farmers, ranchers, scientists, land managers, writers, and many others on a mission to create a world in which the food we eat is healthy—for us, for wildlife, for the lives and livelihoods of the producers, and for the planet.
Recent Programs
Planting the seeds of local agriculture
Bill McDorman has been saving seeds for over three decades. He explains the dangers of the massive biodiversity loss that’s happened in the last fifty years, and how seed saving can move us toward a well-adapted local agriculture.
Cattle grazing, community building, and ecosystem restoration
If you think that healthy grasslands are incompatible with livestock, listen to these two ecologically minded young ranchers, who are using domesticated animals to improve grasslands, conserve species, and create a vibrant rural culture.
Eating wild foods in the industrial age
What’s the difference between one head of lettuce and another? A lot, journalist Jo Robinson tells us. The foods we eat that are freshest and closest to their wild ancestors are healthier and can prevent many of the chronic illnesses that are part of modern life.
Saving the Gunnison Sage Grouse: Community Conservation in Action
Conservationists and cattlemen come together to restore land, with multiple benefits, including improved wildlife habitat and increased cattle forage.
Fowl play: our insane poultry system and how to fix it
Why is it that poultry breeds in the US grow so fast and large that they cannot stand or walk properly, that they have poor immune systems, and they don’t provide good nutrition or even flavor? Andrew deCoriolis explains how we got here, and how we can find a better way forward.
Science, spirituality, and agriculture: the Faithlands initiative
Religious leaders as farmers, regenerative agriculture as a spiritual practice: Faithlands is all about community-building, food security, environmental restoration, and an interfaith, interdisciplinary approach to building a healthier and more just food system.
Our Roots
Down to Earth is produced by Mary-Charlotte Domandi, long-time public radio and podcast producer/host, in collaboration with the Quivira Coalition, a non-profit organization that promotes healthy agricultural lands and food systems across the West—and across the world.
We’re dedicated to the idea of the Radical Center, in which people from divergent political, cultural, and professional worlds leave their differences aside and come together to work on the things they believe in—healthy soil, landscapes, and food…clean water and air…wise use of science and technology…and flourishing rural communities.
