Rebuilding Local Food Systems Together
Fearless Farmers is a place-based community connection and action program that brings people together to strengthen local food systems by reconnecting food, land, health, and one another.
Community-Led Action
Systems Transformation
Place-Based Expert
Facilitation
Why this program exists
Most communities are not facing a food shortage — they are facing a connection shortage.
Food often travels long distances.
Farmers struggle to stay profitable.
Families are unsure how to access or prepare nourishing food.
Children are disconnected from nature and food systems.
These challenges are deeply connected — and they cannot be addressed by any one person, organization, or sector alone.
Fearless Farmers exists to help communities see the whole system, recognize their shared responsibility within it, and work together to build healthier, more resilient local food economies.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The program unfolds in three connected phases. Each phase is designed to strengthen relationships, build alignment, and move communities from awareness to coordinated action.
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This phase focuses on building shared context and common language. Participants will gather virtually for a program overview and to meet each other. The aim is that everyone arrives at the Intensive learning experience grounded, oriented, and ready to engage with each other. Time commitment is approximately 2 hours.
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This unique, 4-day experiential learning opportunity fosters connection and collaboration while re-orienting participants to new perspectives on their food system and their relationships. The Intensive is hosted at a regenerative farm or other land that is relevant to the community. Participants engage around shared themes such as:
Soil health and living systems
Regenerative food production
Nutrition and human health
The relationships required to move food from farm to table
They are introduced to skills in holistic decision-making and systems thinking.
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Sustainable food systems are built over time through practice, reflection, and collaboration.
Following the Intensive, participants enter a 12-month community program focused on integration and action within their local context.
This phase includes:
Ongoing opportunities for connection and reflection
Support for applying ideas within participants’ own communities
Peer collaboration and shared problem-solving
Space to adapt approaches to local realities
Rather than prescribing solutions, Fearless Farmers supports communities in identifying what makes sense where they live — and coordinating action across roles and sectors.
PROGRAM AUDIENCEFearless Farmers is for people who care about the health of their community and are ready to engage collaboratively.
Participants often include:
Farmers and food producers
Educators and informal learning leaders
Community organizers and advocates
Parents, caregivers, and engaged citizens
Organizational and institutional partners connected to food systems
You do not need to have all the answers.
You do need to be willing to listen, contribute, and collaborate.
What participants and communities gain
Through the Fearless Farmers program, participants gain:
A clearer understanding of how their local food system functions
Greater confidence in their role within that system
Stronger relationships across roles and sectors
Practical pathways for coordinated community action
Communities gain:
Increased alignment and shared purpose
Stronger support for local farmers
Greater food literacy and nutrition awareness
Momentum toward resilient, locally rooted food economies
Why this program is different
We believe thriving food systems emerge when communities are connected, aligned, and supported in working together.
Our approach is:
Place-based — grounded in local land, people, and context
Community-centered — recognizing that relationships are the system
Holistic — integrating environmental, social, and economic realities
Action-oriented — focused on coordination, collaboration, and follow-through