Release Date: May 15, 2022
In this first episode,
we will meet our host, Ayla Fenton and our three co-hosts: Stuart Oke, Aliyah Fraser, and Madeline Marmor. Together, they will introduce the podcast and set the scene: who they are; why they wanted to create a podcast from the perspective of young farmers; and, what they hope to achieve/gain/offer from the process. Join our hosts as they lay the groundwork for the episodes to come and explore the forces that shape our food production system.
Show notes/links
- National Farmers Foundation
- National Farmers Union @NFUCanada
- La Via Campesina
- Rooted Oak Farm @rootedoakfarm
- Lucky Bug Farm @luckybugfarm
Cast
Ayla Fenton — Host
Ayla is a first-generation farmer and community organizer. She graduated from Queen's University in 2011 with a B. Sc (Honours) in Biology, and since 2013 has been working on local organic farms, learning regenerative production methods for vegetables, livestock, cereal grains and dairy. Since. Ayla has been a board member of the National Farmers Union, and is a former Youth President. She has been involved with organizing young farmers and farmworkers nationally and internationally, advocating for the transition to agroecology, food sovereignty and climate justice. Ayla also represents the NFU in the global peasant movement La Via Campesina.
Aliyah Fraser — Co-Host
Aliyah is a Kitchener-based farmer who owns and operates a quarter acre market garden called Lucky Bug Farm. The farm is located within the Haldimand Tract and is on the traditional territory of the Mississauga, Anishnabeg, Attiwonderonk (neutral) and Haudenoshaunee peoples. She imagines a food system where more people have access to ecologically grown food, where there is less waste and where there's a better understanding of the labour it takes to get food from the farm to the table. Aliyah also has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies in Urban planning from the University of Waterloo. She believes that food and housing are human rights. She lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her partner Thomas and cat Frankie.
luckybugfarm.com @luckybugfarm
Madeline Marmor — Co-Host
Maddie is a landless farmer born in downtown Toronto. She has been farming for the past 7 years on farms throughout Ontario and has grown food on the current and traditional lands of the Houdensaunee, Anishinabewaki, Attiwonderonk, Mississauga, Odawa, Wendake-Nionwentsïo, Petun, Saugeene - Ojibiway nations.Over the years she has come to recognize the privilege and political significance of farming on stolen land, knowledge which has informed her dedication to food sovereignty and agroecology. She is a member of the National Farmers Union and sits on the Climate Justice collective for the international social movement La Via Campesina.
Stuart Oke — Co-Host
Stuart is a young farmer from Eastern Ontario who, alongside his partner Nikki, owns and operates Rooted Oak Farm, a 12 acre organic vegetable and cut flower farm. After years of renting land Rooted Oak has recently relocated to Eastern Ontario, and the traditional territory of the Anishinabek, Huron-Wendat, Haudensaunee and Oneida Peoples. In addition to loving food and taking pride in growing food that sustains people, the farm was founded on the idea that farming is a political act, one capable of creating great change. Stuart is the former Youth President for the National Farmers Union and current Vice President for Canadian Organic Growers. He also serves on the Policy and Government Relations Working Group for the National Farmer Coalition Farmers for Climate Solutions.
www.rootedoak.ca @rootedoakfarm