Hope LaBonty is the owner of Loving Earth Compost LLC, a community scale composting business on her solar powered 55-acre farm in Greenwich, NY. A certified Soil Food Web lab technician and self-proclaimed soil health nerd, Hope and her team produce premium compost that regenerates soil and supports local agriculture. With a passion for permaculture, she combines traditional ecological knowledge and innovative techniques to build resilient ecosystems.
Hope is dedicated to educating others about composting, soil health, and sustainable living, sharing her expertise through community projects and partnerships. She also proudly works with her Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe on initiatives that prioritize environmental justice and land rematriation.
Elizabeth Ryan comes from farming family, starting with her great-great grandfather in Iowa but credits her own interest in farming to a generation of distance: “I come from a long line of farmers that skipped a generation. Those of us that didn’t grow up on the farm perhaps had a more romantic view of it. So, for me, there was a certain amount of passion that tripled my interest in agriculture.” Today, equipped with a degree in pomology from Cornell University, Elizabeth owns and operates an expansive farm under the name Breezy Hill Orchard.
Breezy Hill Orchard has been growing highly flavored fruit in the heart of the Hudson Valley since 1949. Located in one of the most famous landscapes of America, Breezy Hill grows a range of believed heirloom fruit varieties as well as some of the most flavorful newer ones. With Elizabeth at the helm, the orchard maintains a long-standing commitment to sustainable agriculture and local green economies. The orchard is home to about 50 varieties of apples, about 8 varieties of pears, peaches, plums, nectarines. Breezy Hill also offers a full line of completely homemade fresh fruit pies, baked goods, salsas, chutneys, AND fresh apple, pears, and apple raspberry ciders, AND, some European style ciders.
Breezy Hill was a founding farm member of the Union Square Green Market, a farmers market that’s really considered a flagship in the United States. Elizabeth credits this market outlet with a lot of the businesses initial success: “One of the advantages that we get is that we get incredible instant feedback from our customers about anything we make. It is awfully good to do that kind of test marketing and figure out whether the public agrees with something that you think is a wonderful idea – that’s called market validation.” With this kind market savvy, not to mention seriously high quality fruit, customers can be assured that they will never go wrong with a tasty treat from Breezy Hill.
Raised in Hermann, Missouri, Nathaniel Rateliff began his music career playing drums in his family’s church band. In seventh grade his father was killed in a car crash, forcing him to drop out of school to provide for his family. At 19, Rateliff moved to Denver, working night shifts at a bottle factory and trucking while testing songs at open mics. In 2002, Rateliff formed Born In The Flood, who quickly garnered a local following—their debut LP If This Thing Should Spill landed in 2007. Rateliff then shifted his focus to a more stripped-down, intimate effort, releasing Desire and Dissolving Men under the moniker Nathaniel Rateliff & The Wheel on Public Service Records, Memory of Loss, another folky solo album on Rounder Records, followed by 2013’s Falling Faster Than You Can Run on modyvi records and the Closer EP. Rateliff then formed the rock outfit Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. Since their 2015 self-titled breakthrough album, the band has established themselves as generational talents through their dynamic live performances and growing catalog of essential studio recordings. The band has appeared on Saturday Night Live, released four LPs, two EPs, and a live album; In support of their highly acclaimed new LP South of Here, the band’s first arena tour will include performances at Chicago’s United Center and Madison Square Garden. As an activist, Rateliff established The Marigold Project in 2017, a foundation which supports community and nonprofit organizations working on economic, racial, and social justice issues.
Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats performs “Heartless” at Farm Aid 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York, at Broadview Stage at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, on September 21.
Against the Grain Episode 7: Live Farm Aid 2024 Live Panel
KURN: Hello and welcome to Against the Grain, the Farm Aid podcast. I’m Jessica Ilyse Kurn
FOLEY: And I’m Michael Stewart Foley.
KURN: This is a special episode that takes us back to Farm Aid 2024 in Saratoga Springs, New York. There we hosted a panel that we recorded live on the FarmYard stage.
FOLEY: Yeah, it was pretty exciting being in the middle of the HOMEGROWN Village, which if you haven’t been to Farm Aid in person, there’s like a mini state fair atmosphere on the festival grounds that we create each year. There are animals and demonstrations, exhibits from agricultural nonprofits, local artists and vendors and then the FarmYard Stage where throughout the day, conversations with farmers and artists take place.
KURN: We had a great crowd at our Against the Grain panel. We had rockstar farmers Hope Labonty of Loving Earth Compost and Elizabeth Ryan of Breezy Hill Orchards and a bona fide rock star and loyal Farm Aid artist Nathaniel Rateliff, who ended up playing later in the day with his band, The Nightsweats.
FOLEY: Let’s jump into it. Here we are on the FarmYard Stage in Saratoga Springs at Farm Aid 2024.
KURN: So Hope, let’s start with you. Can you talk about your company, composting, and how it relates to sustainability?
LABONTY: So, our company is called Loving Earth Compost. We’re based out of Saratoga Springs and we have a farm in Greenwich, New York. So we’re pretty local. We’ve been in business for about four years and this year we’re composting all of SPAC and in particular, we’re really excited to be working with Farm Aid this year to take all the food waste and compostable materials and turn them back into soil.
KURN: How much compost will that be?
LABONTY: I think for Farm Aid this year we’re gonna probably compost between five and 10,000 pounds.
FOLEY: And how many pounds do you do create over the course of the summer?
LABONTY: So far? About 100,000 pounds we’ve composted.
KURN: Can you briefly describe how composting works?
LABONTY: Yeah. So on a really basic level, we all know that what happens in nature is leaves drop, they go back to the ground, they get recycled, they turn back into soil in a manufactured composting setting on a farm. We’re doing it kind of with the aid of tractors and we’re kind of speeding up that process in a really quick way. So what we do is we take food scraps which are green material and nitrogen material and we mix them with carbon material, which are things like wood chips and leaves hay and then we add water to it and we mix it and we a it and we are really focused on trying to build that microbial diversity in the soil. So that’s really what we focus on is really mixing it at a certain rate and I could get into it, but it’s kind of boring. But I mean, I’m excited about it and in your backyard, you can compost, you can just mix your food scraps with your leaves and you can compost in your backyard
FOLEY: And Liz, talk to us about how this relates to the work that you maybe tell us about your farm first. But then we were talking earlier about soil and compost and how important that is for your operation.
RYAN: So Hope and I kind of do two sides of the same thing. You do it in a very focused nurturing way, and we do it in a very anarchic chaotic way in the orchard. Um But we kind of do the same thing. So I’ve been farming for almost 50 years. I’m from a long line of Iowa farmers who are still farming. Um My mother couldn’t wait to leave the farm. And when I went to Cornell and got a degree in pomology, my grandfather called me and said, “you can’t learn how to farm from a book girly.”
And uh he was right. And my mother told me I was wasting my Cornell education when I bought a farm. But that was 50 years ago. And so what we’re farming in the most regenerative way we can. And when I bought my first orchard, we decided right away we’re going cold turkey. And in that moment that was a radical crazy thing.
KURN: Nathaniel, you’ve been to many Farm Aids and I am curious if it has changed the way that you think about food and the way that you eat at all?
RATELIFF: I feel like Farm Aid is kind of always aligned with the way I eat and the way I think. Sometimes it’s hard to make the right decisions when you’re traveling as much as I do or you’re really limited. But I still come here every year to learn. And I think that’s the goal is for us all to leave here with more information than we came with in terms of farming and how that affects our daily life. And so even in composting, this is a long conversation with me and my partner. She’s always like, “I can’t believe we’re gonna throw this away.” But she also for years was in New York City, which had a composting program in Greenpoint in Brooklyn where she lived and then moved to kind of just outside Denver in a rural area of Colorado where I’m at now.
And I have an issue with composting because I have bears. Um, and I’ve even bought this ridiculous, like giant compost, bear proof thing that as soon as it showed up, I was like, this isn’t bear proof, you know, like I’ve seen bears like just, you know, cut open a metal dumpster lid like it was a tin can. So I was like, this isn’t gonna compete. And so we are still trying to figure out a good way to compost at my house without bringing, you know, all the critters in to say hello because we also have big cats and bobcats and coyotes and all the things. And so there was a while where next to my little garden, I had a um a little bin, I had made just out of old pallets. Um but that was also sort of like the neighborhood feeding trough for the bears and my neighbor was not very stoked that I was like throwing scraps out there because bears love to come and get easy food, you know.
So, but it is, it’s hard, especially living in the country when you’re throwing away food waste that, you know, could be going back into the soil. Uh And then on a larger scale, just continuing to contribute to the gasses that those things are going to emit in a landfill. Composting is not fun because it’s gross food waste. Um And I’ve been a little reluctant to be honest because I’m the one who ends up having to like scrape out a moldy container that my partner was like, “no, we’ve got a compost” and I was like, “well, take this out. Why do I have to?” I’ve been taking out the trash since I was a kid. My least favorite chore, you know, and I feel like composting is right there with it. But regardless if it’s a messy job, you know, kudos and thank you all for what you’re doing um to help contribute to regenerative soil and for cleaner air.
FOLEY: I mean, it raises a really important point, I think because uh often we talk about any of these issues regarding family farming and we talk about both like what can people do? What can all eaters do right to be able to contribute to the cause? And also how do you scale up? Like, how do we make this the dominant paradigm? So, I don’t know if you want to respond to Nathaniel, is there a cleaner way to do it so we don’t all get all nasty?
RATELIFF: And can we make it a two part question? Because I’m curious, like, how can I advocate to potentially change legislation to get a composting program in Denver, Colorado, because I feel like it’s something I would love to have if it was a possibility, but I don’t even know where to start.
LABONTY: Those are two excellent questions. And in terms of scaling up, I would say that there’s lots of different ways. A good way that if you don’t want to deal with your compost outside with the bears would be a worm bin inside your house. Apartment users and people that have don’t wanna go outside. You can get a worm bin. We have Red Wiggler worms at our table over there. If you want to check them out,
RATELIFF: Oh that sounds messy too.
LABONTY: It is messy, but also being one with the soil has so many health benefits and the microbes in the soil, those are the microbes that are going into your gut that’s going into the health of our bodies and the health of people. Healthy bodies will make healthy communities and a healthy America. So we really need to focus on the soil if you want to have a healthy America. What we can do is to vote and ask our legislation to support composting, to support family farmers, to support actions that will increase our soil health and our family farms.
RYAN: It’s about advocacy and I’m embarrassed to report that recently in New York City, Grow NYC. How many farmers markets? We have 55 or 70. We had one of the strongest uh farmers market based composting programs in the country and the city decided to do away with it. It was very shocking. We fought for it.
Thousands of people signed petitions because people could come to the farmer’s market with their food waste. I mean, it’s so important and it was defunded. I think something like 80 people lost their jobs. So we have to fight, we can’t rest on our laurels. We need to reform the USDA. We need to crack open these public monies and we have to educate them constantly. I mean we were so blindsided by the fact that after all our years of work in New York City, they still didn’t get it.Some people still didn’t get it. So it’s a long journey, but uh we’re gonna save the planet. So we have to do it.
KURN: Liz, you were telling me yesterday that your farm has had some impacts from climate change, especially as a stone fruit grower or as an apple grower. Can you talk about your experience?
RYAN: I mean, the hots are hotter, the colds are colder, the wets are wetter, the dries are drier and uh it was said very eloquently on the stage at the press conference: it’s a wild ride if you are a fruit grower. Last year there was 28 degrees one night in May from Canada down to Georgia and Georgia has no peaches. They lost 90% of their crop. I lost 90% of my crop. Vermont lost 90% of their crop and this is becoming normative. So um we have to have good sites.
We have to have good technology. We have to be thoughtful. A lot of people are growing fruit in greenhouses, believe it or not and that horrifies me. But on so many levels, we need crops that are resilient. I have five farms in five locations and our farm that’s close to the river had a full crop because it’s a relatively frost free environment, but that’s a very expensive, that kind of diversification is very, very challenging. So, you know, a lot of people are working on new crops.
We’re both, we were talking about chestnuts and agriforestry and microrhiza in the soil and the biome and all of that and it’s all connected
FOLEY: Nathaniel just hearing this. I mean, I guess this is why you come here. This is why this is why you follow the Willie Nelson model of showing up for farmers. Could you maybe talk a little bit about that about the role that you think artists have in amplifying these kinds of messages?
RATELIFF: Yeah. Well, you know, we’re fortunate enough to have a platform. And you know, nowadays, I feel like my actions usually reflect what my views are, but we’ve also come to a point in our culture and in our nation that feels so divisive. My role as an artist, I feel sometimes my core values and what I would want to speak to people will cause more division. and what I’m really trying to do is bring people together and to really celebrate our differences, which I think we need to learn to do as a culture more in the U.S. Because I think it is what makes us so unique is cultures from everywhere around the world has enriched us.
Um Whether that’s from my German relatives to the farmers in Arkansas, generations of my family, from their area of Missouri. The instruments they brought with us, the songs we brought with us. We’re, we’re a nation of immigrants and, um that all said, you know, I just feel like mostly it’s about information, uh getting information out to people. I’d love to approach that in a neutral way so that it’s not off putting to some people who have different views than I do. But like I said, I think I’m trying to come at it from a place of love and understanding and curiosity and not so much about like what views that we have politically or socially or even, or even our religious values. I think all of those are important things and we should cherish our differences.
But how do we come together? And I feel like it’s hard to talk about climate change if, you know, a huge portion of the information we’re getting, whether that be from the news or however we get our information, says that doesn’t exist. So we have people that are denying a change, you know, they’re like, “well, it’s not, there’s no global warming, it’s cold this year.” Well, that is a direct effect, the fact of that and I feel like I’m probably preaching to the choir here because farmers are, are seeing the effect of it, you know, like 90% of your crop being lost. Like that’s a loss you accrue, I assume like how do you make up, what do you do the next year? Like, you know what I mean?
RYAN: We sell a lot of cider doughnuts! So eat your cider donuts. But I think farmers, if I can jump in on that don’t really have a safety net. Um, a lot of parts of the world. If you go to Europe there, there’s a lot of different kinds of support. Um And we’re still experiencing a lot of farm loss in the Hudson Valley. I mean, we lost a million bucks last year and we’re a small farm. How do you make that up? This year we’re having an amazing year of abundance, by the way, the biggest crop of my life and incredible fruit.
So we are pretty sure that next year might not be as good as this year. But you know, you diversify. Um, and there’s a lot of technology coming down the pike that helps and we’re learning a lot about re remediation. Um uh but uh a lot of us can’t afford that technology. It’s like really expensive. So you know, again, it comes back to policy, cracking open federal money, local money and there’s a lot of farmer-to-farmer help.
It’s amazing in our ag community, no matter who we vote for, we help each other. And we help each other when there’s crop loss or abundance, we share equipment and, and that’s a very lovely thing to be part of.
RATELIFF: But are there generally less federal programs advocating for farmers?
RYAN: Well, we’re making headway right now, because for the first time, we have a very sympathetic administration in the USDA and at the state level. I heard the governor is on the ground somewhere. She’s very pro-farming. And so we’re gaining on it, but we, it can go back the other way and, you know, we need people to pick our crops. We need to restructure the way our farms operate. I don’t wanna open that whole can of worms, but uh there are a lot of people who come here to work on our farms who weren’t born here, who are fantastic and committed and all in and we need to support them in any way we can and when you support them, you’re supporting the farmers too and you’re supporting actually ourselves.
FOLEY: I appreciate that so much. I mean, we’re kind of nearing the end of our time, but it’s like we’re on an upswing towards hope and now your name is actually Hope so. It’s perfect the way it is working out. Where do you see hope for the future in your corner of this area or this work?
LABONTY: I see hope in the Children. I used to teach at different schools. I was an environmental educator and the amount of children that knew what composting was and knew about environmentalism, about climate change, about the issues that we need to take action on. Almost every single fifth grader that by fifth grade they knew what needed to happen. And I have so much hope for future generations. We’re just one step path paving away for the future and I hope to teach and continue teaching others because I’m not gonna be here forever.
KURN: Can I throw that question to you as well? What do you see in terms of hope? Do you have hope for the future in terms of agriculture and farming?
RATELIFF: I was like, I don’t know, sometimes it looks pretty bleak, but you know, I always try to step forward in hope. And, um, and, and I feel the same way, I feel like there’s a younger generation of people, and I was just talking about that, and we need to get those younger generation of people here. So they have information. So they have the tools to also advocate for change and for legislation to change and get those young kids voting and you know, also get them farming. I know there’s a lot of of people in rural and urban communities that are young that want and are getting involved in farming practices. And so I think part of our part of our duty is to reach out to them and let them know that there is space for them in this community and their voice is important and we want to hear it.
MUSIC
FOLEY: That was fun.
KURN: Sure was! A huge thank you to farmers Hope Labonty and Elizabeth Ryan for enlightening us and giving us real world examples of how each of us can do our part to support our communities, farmers and even the planet.
FOLEY: And a huge thank you to Nathaniel Rateliff for hanging out with us. His newest album “South of Here” is a must listen. And his foundation, the Marigold project is doing great work. Catch Nathaniel on tour starting this January. Information for everything we talked about in this episode is waiting for you on our website that’s
www.farmaid.org/podcast.
KURN: Also, we’re kind of curious, what did you think of this panel? Should we do more live events? Let us know by emailing us at
podcast@farmaid.org. Or you can also give us a shout out on Farm Aid social media, which is @FarmAid on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Threads. Don’t forget to check out YouTube because there is almost 40 years of performances and other content waiting for you.
FOLEY: And as always, it means a lot to the podcast if you can share it with your friends and subscribe on your podcast app of choice. Oh, give us a rating too. Against the Grain was written and produced by us with sound editing by EndhouseMedia and direction from Dawn Sorokin. Thank you as always to Micah Nelson for composing and performing our wonderful theme music.
KURN: And thank you to all the farmers out there. We’ll chat with you next time.
