#24: Urban farmer & horticulturist Amber Tamm on the importance of ethical farming & what to ask at your local farmer's market

Amber Tamm is a farmer and horticulturist based in New York. She’s worked as a migrant farmer, the better part of her work experience has been agriculture but in the last 4 years she has come to gain experience and knowledge in cannabis, farm education, permaculture, tropical agriculture, agroforestry, urban farming, floral arrangements and the healing powers of the Earth.

Some of my favorite quotes from our conversation:

On how mainstream American culture largely does not respect farming: “Only in America will people tell you to stop farming.”

On top soil: “I’m not saying anything different than what anyone else is saying. I’m not going to put it in scientific terms or fancy it up: top soil has been here and it was here. It was 12 feet under us, and it is now maybe 2 inches. It’s what holds the roots together and what holds the water, it’s everything that you need to have good produce.”

The complexity of agriculture and farmer's economic reality in the U.S.: “Farmers are being told to grow surpluses intentionally to be sent to third world countries which destroys their agriculture economy itself, because they’ll get it cheaper from America. It’s more expensive for them to grow their own grain or their own vegetables bc they get it cheaper from america. Meanwhile the person who’s selling the produce from America is not being paid very well, and is actually being underpaid.”

On mentally processing climate change: “I’ve been prepped for this because I already lost my mom. I went through my levels of hopelessness in my farming across the US.”

Amber's recos to explore:

GrowNYC: https://www.grownyc.org/

Brooklyn Grange Farm: https://www.brooklyngrangefarm.com/

Project Eats: http://projecteats.org/

Harlem Grown: http://www.harlemgrown.org/

Content recos:

Jeff Bridges "A Place at the Table" https://amzn.to/31t2QkI

The True Cost: https://amzn.to/2Mrdd4t

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https://www.instagram.com/ambertamm/

https://twitter.com/ambertamm/

http://ambertamm.com/

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