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Olivia Fuller, a fourth-generation farmer at Fuller Acres in upstate New York, spent her childhood with dairy cows. As an only child, the farm shaped her sense of identity and community.

“The cows and the farm were my world,” says Fuller. “I had an unofficial litmus test for new friends. If they couldn’t handle being in the milking parlor or around the cows, we likely weren’t going to work out.”

Despite that deep connection, Fuller did not envision farming as her future career. She saw the way of farming she knew best—small-scale dairy farming—as exhausting and financially unstable for her parents. 

“Growing up, I only ever saw one way of farming, dairy farming,” she says. “And it was farming that took every ounce of physical energy, grit, and money that one could muster.”

Like many farm kids, Fuller imagined leaving and returning to the farm later in life. She thought she might become a writer or magazine editor, eventually coming back to the farm for a quieter, more recreational connection to the land. But that vision began to change as she and her partner, Tom, spent time away from the farm and learned more about the broader agricultural landscape in America.

Fuller began working at the nonprofit American Farmland Trust, and she saw how difficult it was for young farmers to access land. 

“I was amazed to discover that there were so many young people interested in farming,” says Fuller. “There were hundreds, if not thousands, of hardworking young people who desperately wanted what we were fortunate to have, access to land to farm on.”

She realized that her relationship to the family farm was something to be protected, not taken for granted. She and her father applied for New York State’s farmland protection program through a local land trust. This would establish a conservation easement on the farm, permanently protecting the land for agricultural use.

“We were all on board with that idea,” says Fuller. “It was the first big decision we made together on the farm, and it felt like a huge win to be chosen.” The easement closed on Fuller’s 25th birthday in 2017.

But Fuller’s fight to preserve the family farm was far from over. Three years later, Fuller’s mother died of pancreatic cancer. And amid the family’s profound loss, Fuller knew she needed to face a pressing challenge: continuing dairy farming at their scale was no longer economically viable. 

“We moved into my grandparents’ old farmhouse and planted our roots even deeper. Saving the farm became my primary mission,” says Fuller. “We had already lost so much, and I couldn’t stand to see Dad lose the farm…But if we stayed the course with dairy, that was a growing possibility.”

The Fullers were losing thousands of dollars milking cows at their scale: “Our equity was crumbling beneath us,” says Fuller. While the conservation easement funds had bought them some time, they needed to make the farm more financially sustainable for the long term.

Fuller stepped into a leadership role, focusing on business planning, marketing, and diversification. She convinced her father to begin breeding some of the dairy herd to beef, slowly building a new business model centered on direct sales. As revenue stabilized, her father’s trust followed. 

“I could place cash in my dad’s hands,” she says. “He slowly started to trust me that this could work.”

Eventually, her father made the difficult decision to let go of the family’s milking herd. Fuller Acres transitioned fully to raising beef cattle, pigs, and sheep using rotational grazing, allowing animals to fertilize the land naturally. That winter, the family remodeled the former milking parlor into a self-serve farm store.

“It may not be a dairy barn, but it will never be an empty barn,” Fuller’s father told her.

Today, customers stop by the farm to buy meat and linger to chat, bringing new energy and purpose to the land. But for Fuller, the most meaningful change is seeing her father experience a different relationship to farming. 

“He finally doesn’t have to work that hard just to survive,” says Fuller. “He gets to do work he loves. But he also gets to decide when to call it quits and go fishing…And sometimes when I’m really lucky, I get to pick up a fishing pole and join him.”

This article is part of Food Tank’s ongoing Farmer Friday series, produced in partnership with Niman Ranch, a champion for independent U.S. family farmers. The series highlights the stories of farmers working toward a more sustainable, equitable food system. Niman Ranch partners with over 500 small-scale U.S. family farmers and is committed to preserving rural agricultural communities and their way of life. Food Tank was proud to collaborate with Niman Ranch in lifting up family farmer stories, including Fuller’s, at Climate Week NYC: A Night of Storytelling Honoring Our Farmers. Watch her story and others on Food Tank’s YouTube channel.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Olivia Fuller.

The post A Fourth-Generation Family Farm Adapts for the Future appeared first on Food Tank.

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Next week, I’ll be writing to you from Australia.

Australia—like everywhere on this planet—is beautiful and complicated. It’s one of the most biodiversity-rich countries in the world, from the arid Outback to tropical urban coastlines to temperate rainforests in Tasmania. At the same time, also like many other nearby South Pacific island nations, Australia is experiencing the effects of the climate crisis particularly acutely.

Nine out of the country’s 10 warmest years on record have taken place within the past two decades. As sea levels rise, more than 1.5 million Australians are at risk. And severe weather events are becoming much more devastating: The summer bushfire season, which peaked last month, was the worst in more than five years and burned around 1 million acres (400,000 hectares).

It’s also a place where people struggle to afford food. The country’s official Bureau of Statistics reports that 1 out of every 8 Australian households is food-insecure, but organizations like OzHarvest say it’s actually closer to a staggering 1 in 3 households.

But here’s what gives me hope: In the face of these cascading crises of food insecurity, climate change, and land degradation, Australia is showing how farmers and ag system leaders can be key players in building more resilient food and climate systems!

This year, Australia is stepping up in a big way on the global stage as the country prepares to lead negotiations at COP 31, the United Nations climate change conference in Turkey, this fall. And on the ground, sustainability work has long been deeply engrained: The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), for example, has worked since 1965 to push governments and businesses to not only protect but also regenerate the country’s wildlife and natural resources—and to support farmers doing the right thing.

“Australian farmers care for over half the country’s land, nurturing some of the richest ecosystems on this incredibly biodiverse continent,” Nathaniel Pelle, the Business and Nature Lead at ACF, told Food Tank. “It makes sense for a conservation organisation like ACF to work with farmers who are producing food in harmony with nature—we know we can’t fix our climate nature crisis without farmers.”

And because some 22 percent of food waste in Australia originates on farms, we need farmers on the front lines of building food security, too. Every week, the organization OzHarvest saves over 250 tonnes of good food from over 2,600 food donors and delivers it directly to more than 1,500 charities. Agriculture, the organization has said, is “largely untapped for food rescue.”

“We have forgotten how to value our farmers and the effort it takes to grow food,” Ronni Kahn, the Founder and Visionary in Residence of OzHarvest, told me on the Food Talk podcast.

Uplifting the voices of farmers—giving farmers the microphone to tell their own authentic stories—is itself a food system intervention! As Pelle put it: “With smart, sustainable practices, and the community’s support, farmers can heal damaged land, restore soil health, lock away carbon, and help create a food system that works for people and nature.”

Next week, on the opening night of Adelaide Fringe, Food Tank is presenting “Voices of Australian Farmers: A Love Story,” with our partners OzHarvest, Woolworths, Aquna Murray Cod, and the Australian Conservation Foundation. We’re so excited to celebrate Australian farmers as the kickoff to the world’s second-largest annual theater festival—and we’re thrilled to announce that the evening’s special celebrity guest host is none other than the renowned actress, director, and regenerative farmer Rachel Ward.

For the evening, we’re handing the stage over to mushroom farmer Georgia Beattie; cod aquaculturist Mat Ryan; poultry and beef farmer Hannah Greenshields; Ngarrindjeri Elder and pipi harvester Derek Walker; grain farmer Matthew Haggerty. We believe deeply in the power of bringing artists and farmers together for deeper collaborations like this, so we’re grateful for an amazing creative team including director Shannon Rush, the Artistic Associate at State Theatre Company South Australia; producer Isabella Strada; and musician Jamie Hornsby.

If you’re in the Adelaide area and want to join us, be sure to grab a ticket before they sell out! Public tickets are HERE, but as a Food Tanker, you can CLICK HERE to reserve a free spot as our special guest.

Otherwise, I look forward to seeing you at another “Voices of Farmers” event! Within just the next few months, we’re visiting Dublin, Ireland; Austin, Texas, during SXSW (find info and access free tickets HERE); Boston, Massachusetts; and more.

In Australia just as in each of your home communities, it’s the wisdom of farmers that can help solve our most pressing challenges!

Hearing farmers’ stories firsthand—listening as they describe the love they have for the land, for their animals, for the food they produce—is incredibly powerful. I’m moved to tears and filled with hope by these folks who literally embody resilience in the face of the climate crisis.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Muir, Unsplash

The post In Australia, Farmers Lead the Way to a More Resilient Food System appeared first on Food Tank.

Instacart, the D.C. Department of Health (DC Health), and Martha’s Table recently launched the DC Grocery Access Pilot program to expand access to fresh, healthy foods for D.C. residents.

The program provides free Instacart+ memberships and monthly stipends to help cover grocery delivery and service fees to up to 1,000 D.C. residents eligible for SNAP. Participants can shop from any store available on the Instacart platform, which includes over 80 retailers in the city, reaching 100 percent of SNAP households, DC Health tells Food Tank.

“Access to healthy food is critical to reduce the risk of many chronic diseases and improve health outcomes across the life span,” DC Health tells Food Tank. In 2023, nearly 9 percent of households in D.C. struggled to afford enough food, according to D.C. Hunger Solutions. The organization’s Grocery Store Report states that a severe lack of full-service grocery stores is one of the contributing factors for food insecurity in Wards 7 and 8, two of the city’s low-income areas. These Wards contain only seven of the city’s 80 full-service grocery stores, according to a 2025 report from D.C. Hunger Solutions.

In addition to improving food access, the program promotes healthy dietary behaviors by embedding health and wellness education into its eligibility criteria. To participate in the GAP program, residents must enroll in a health education class through Martha’s Table or another DC Health partner, which help build social support networks, teach parenting skills, and promote wellness practices for participants.

At these classes, educators offer an overview of the GAP program and identify those interested in participating. Residents then receive Instacart codes, which they can begin using right away.

This pilot builds upon the success of a similar program Instacart launched in 2023 in partnership with the City of Columbia, South Carolina, and its Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. The program provided Instacart+ memberships and monthly Instacart Health Fresh Funds stipends to residents living in Columbia’s food deserts. Results from the first year found that an overwhelming majority of participants were very satisfied with Instacart and were very likely to continue participating in the program, according to Instacart. Following this positive feedback, the city of Columbia announced a one-year extension of the pilot program.

“That pilot showed us what’s possible when you combine thoughtful public policy with technology that can meet people where they are,” Casey Aden-Wansbury, Instacart’s Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy, tells Food Tank.

She explains that after hearing about the success of the program in Columbia, DC Councilmember Christina Henderson introduced legislation to bring the GAP model to Washington, D.C. “Her leadership on this critical issue was instrumental in making this partnership with DC Health possible,” Aden-Wansbury says.

“Public–private partnerships have a powerful role to play in expanding food access because they bring together the strengths of each sector in a way that no one organization can achieve alone,” Aden-Wansbury tells Food Tank.

Governments understand the needs of their communities and policy levers available, while community organizations bring trusted relationships and on-the-ground insight, Aden-Wansbury says. Companies like Instacart can then provide the technology and infrastructure needed to implement programs at scale. “Collaborations like these allow us to move faster, tailor support to local needs, and ultimately help more people access the nutritious foods that help them thrive.”

DC Health is now leading an evaluation of the pilot to inform its longer-term strategies. “We know that bringing a full-service grocery store to a neighborhood requires long-term planning across agencies,” the agency says.

Looking ahead, Instacart plans to scale similar programs in other communities. Aden-Wansbury explains that the company is working with the Mayors Alliance to End Childhood Hunger to offer the Grocery Access Template Program, an opportunity for smaller cities and towns to partner with Instacart and offer access to online grocery and delivery for residents in underserved areas. “The success of our existing programs gives us a clear path to scale this work, and we’re excited to keep partnering with communities that are looking to expand food access,” she tells Food Tank

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Mintolab, Unsplash

The post New Pilot Uses Instacart Platform to Improve Grocery Access appeared first on Food Tank.

In Central Texas, the Refugee Collective is working to demonstrate that farming can serve as both a livelihood and a lifeline. By supporting refugees through farming initiatives, the nonprofit creates pathways to earn fair wages, grow culturally meaningful food, and implement regenerative agriculture practices.

On the Collective’s 20-acre farm in Elgin, Texas, refugees have the chance to bring traditional farming techniques from their cultures as they learn new regenerative practices. The produce harvested at this year-round, Certified Organic farm goes to local restaurants, wholesale buyers, and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

The program has “enabled newly arrived refugees to gain access to commercial plots at our farm to grow more traditionally desired produce, along with training and the ability to sell the organic produce,” Christina Jones, Community Engagement Manager at the Refugee Collective, tells Food Tank.

The Collective also offers smaller plots of land and seeds to newly arrived refugees. Refugee farmers can then sell their produce back to the Collective at market prices and distribute it among their local communities. This program has yielded culturally significant crops, including regional seasoning blends, that are not commonly available in grocery stores in the area.

The Collective’s farms aim to serve as a model for climate-resilient agriculture. In partnership with conservation groups, the Refugee Collective developed Texas’s first Resilient Farm Plan, which will help the Collective sequester 345 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year once fully implemented. The plan integrates no-till practices, cover cropping, crop rotation, windbreaks, and rotational grazing with laying hens.

But the Trump-Vance Administration’s attacks on refugee and immigrant communities and food security programs are creating new challenges for the organization.

“I think that you cannot avoid the sense of danger with the current administration’s assault on basic human rights,” Jones tells Food Tank. “Even though the refugees that we employ are here legally, we cannot ignore the hostility toward their communities. Our feeling is that we want to help refugees through more food access since federal funding like SNAP benefits are being withheld.”

Recent cuts to SNAP benefits and grant funding also leave the Collective worried that it will become more difficult to fund the growing and sale of their harvests.

But Jones and the Collective are trying to focus on maintaining and scaling their efforts. “I look forward to making a greater impact on even more refugees in our community through more food access, pathways for more women to earn supplemental income and for more people in Austin to become connected to our mission through donations and subscribing to our CSA,” says Jones.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of the Refugee Collective

The post Refugee Collective Farming Builds Resilient Food Systems in Texas appeared first on Food Tank.

The Revive Gaza’s Farmland Project launched by the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN), is a coalition of farmers working to restore and cultivate farmland across Gaza. They hope to bolster food security and food sovereignty for Palestinian people.

Less than five percent of the Gaza Strip’s total land remains available for cultivation, after cropland areas have been damaged or made inaccessible to farmers, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). But rather than focus on the destruction, Razan Zuayter, Founder and Chairperson of the APN, tells Food Tank that the Project aims to “highlight what endures.”

Since March 2024, the Project has supported the cultivation of 1,341 dunums (~331 acres) of land, producing over 7 million kilograms of vegetables including eggplants, zucchini, cucumber, tomato, melon, and molokhia. The grassroots connection between farmers and families allows vegetables to directly reach over 12,000 people under siege, the Project reports.

This comes at a time when the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations report that Gaza has faced systematic starvation. According to the latest U.N. analysis, the recent ceasefire helped to offset famine conditions, but food security in Gaza is still under threat. More than three-quarters of the population face acute hunger and malnutrition.

“Gaza’s children are no longer facing deadly famine, but they remain in grave danger,” says Lucia Elmi, UNICEF Director of Emergency Operations.

Zuayter says the Revive Gaza’s Farmland Project is working to address the dire situation. But under the Defense Export Control Law, Israel regulates the entrance of all goods into the Gaza Strip and restricts items it dubs as having potential for both civilian and military use. Since 2023, these restrictions prohibit the entry of food sources like tomato seeds, date pits, or coriander seeds.

“By reviving Gaza’s agricultural capacities through internal procurement and local production, we strengthen a food system resistant to blockade and man-made famine,” Zuayter tells Food Tank. “We are breaking the siege from within.”

The Project has distributed over 2.29 million seedlings and approximately 2,939 kg of seeds, in addition to produce baskets, fishing nets, and poultry units. Zuayter adds that they are also working to cultivate an additional 90 dunnums (~22 acres) of land with potatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, and other crops, as well as 30,000 fruit-bearing trees. They are also in the process of restoring three water wells, 17 greenhouses, and 52 beehives.

Cultivating a diversity of crops is essential to upkeeping the legacy of Palestine’s diverse agricultural ecosystem, which Zuayter explains has been targeted by a “colonial ecocide.” Key historic resources like olive groves and below-ground water sources have been destroyed or occupied, and Palestinians have been legally prohibited from harvesting certain traditional plants and crops called “state property” by the Israeli Government. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture reports that more than 2.5 million trees have been uprooted by Israeli forces since 1967. This includes 1 million olive trees, which the U.N. notes are a primary source of food and income for many Palestinians.

The restrictions on procuring and harvesting traditional crops “deliberately casts Palestinian traditions of knowledge and stewardship of the land as ecologically harmful,” Zuayter tells Food Tank. The U.N. Trade and Development Conference reports that domestic producers are undermined by Israeli and Western imports that flood Palestinian markets, eliminating the diversity of Palestine’s agricultural system. “Crop diversity is foundational to Palestine’s agricultural and political sovereignty,” Zuayter says.

Zuayter sees agriculture as an act not of resilience, but resistance. “We reject a colonial ‘resilience’ that is framed in terms of passive shock absorption,” she tells Food Tank. Instead, they channel sumud muqawama, a term that refers to “a steadfast resistance that acts to dismantle the structures that produce vulnerability.” She explains this ideology through the motto of the APN’s Million Tree Campaign, which aims to replant olive trees and other fruit-bearing trees on Palestinian land: “They uproot one…we plant ten.”

To date, the APN has planted over 3 million trees and restored critical infrastructure to help farmers to remain rooted on their land.

Based on the FAO’s identification of remaining land available for cultivation and the Project’s yield so far, the APN estimates that they can produce over 12 million kilograms of food grown “for and by the Palestinians of Gaza.” It is, she says, a “a living testament of Palestinian rootedness and agricultural wisdom that long predates empire.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Arab Group for the Protection of Nature

The post Reviving Gaza’s Farmland to Reclaim Food Sovereignty appeared first on Food Tank.

Each week, Food Tank is rounding up a few news stories that inspire excitement, infuriation, or curiosity.

Agricultural Leaders Warn of Collapse Without Congressional Action

A bipartisan coalition of former U.S. Department of Agriculture officials and agricultural leaders is warning of a potential “widespread collapse of American agriculture,” citing policy failures and economic stressors, the New York Times reports. In a letter sent to Congressional agriculture committee leaders, the authors point to mounting farm bankruptcies, rising production costs, labor shortages, and declining profits.

The letter argues that the current administration’s actions and Congressional inaction have “increased costs for farm inputs, disrupted overseas and domestic markets, denied agriculture its reliable labor pool, and defunded critical ag research and staffing.”

It urges lawmakers to pass a new Farm Bill, expand international market access, restore research funding, and relax trade tariffs.

Jon Doggett, former CEO of the National Corn Growers Association, says that farmers are deeply concerned but that “we’re not having this discussion in an open and meaningful way.”

Mozambique Expands Farmer-Led Seed Systems with ICRISAT, FAO Support

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) are expanding support for farmer-led pigeonpea seed enterprises in Mozambique. The effort aims to strengthen food security, boost rural incomes, and improve soil fertility through the distribution of improved pigeonpea and groundnut varieties via local cooperatives.

“Farmers are becoming seed entrepreneurs and reliable suppliers within their own communities,” says James Mwololo, ICRISAT legume breeder. Though 70 percent of Mozambicans rely on agriculture, only 10 percent of arable land is cultivated, presenting an opportunity for farmers to expand production.

The initiative comes as Mozambique experiences historic flooding. More than 60,000 hectares of farmland and over 58,000 livestock have been lost, according to Mozambique’s disaster agency, highlighting the urgency of resilient seed systems and sustainable production models.

Farmers in Karnataka Pivot to Pulses Amid Climate Shifts

Farmers in Karnataka, India, are shifting away from traditional cereal and commercial crops due to climate variability and labor shortages, turning instead to pulses and horticulture.

Between 2020 and 2025, crop area for cereals like rice and maize declined by 4 percent, while the area under pulses rose 10 percent, the Times of India reports. Farmers also doubled their cultivation of minor millets and increased spice production by 19 percent.

Erratic rainfall patterns have led to crop losses for approximately 1.5 million farmers annually, with Rs₹4,401 crore (US$48.58 million) in insurance claims between 2023 and 2025. Dr. M.N. Thimmegowda of the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bengaluru explains that “increased pre-monsoon showers in April-May allow short-duration crops like pulses” to thrive.

Officials including C.B. Balareddy, Director of the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare say the shift toward horticulture, particularly arecanut and spices, reflects an effort to adapt to changing climate conditions and labor dynamics.

Study Flags Methane Blind Spot Among Global Investors

A new report by the Changing Markets Foundation and Planet Tracker finds that most of the world’s largest asset managers are failing to address methane emissions from agriculture in their climate strategies. The analysis reviewed 25 major investors, including Vanguard, BlackRock, and Fidelity, and found that only four explicitly recognized methane’s climate impact or mitigation potential.

Methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period and is responsible for roughly 0.5°C of global warming, yet most investors treat it as a secondary concern with no standalone targets or agriculture-specific policies, according to the report.

Only Norges Bank Investment Management includes agriculture-related methane in its climate strategy and references the Global Methane Pledge. Others, like J.P. Morgan and State Street, focus solely on oil and gas.

Without immediate action, the report warns, investors face mounting risks, including falling productivity and disrupted supply chains. It calls on investors to “act decisively” to address this blind spot, offering recommendations that include adopting methane policies and frameworks, and redirecting capital toward sustainable proteins and resilient food systems.

Deadly Nipah Virus Detected in India, But Risk of Spread Remains Low

Two cases of the Nipah virus have been confirmed in Barasat, West Bengal, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Both cases were identified in healthcare workers from the same hospital.

Nipah is a zoonotic virus with a fatality rate between 40 and 75 percent. Humans can contract it through direct contact with infected animals, such as fruit bats, pigs, or horses, or by consuming contaminated fruit products. While human-to-human transmission is possible, it is uncommon, according to the WHO.

The WHO emphasized that there is no evidence of increased transmissibility and assessed the risk of spread beyond India as low. Nevertheless, airports across Asia, including those in Thailand, Nepal, and Vietnam, have heightened screenings.

India’s health ministry reported that the cases were contained quickly. The source of the current outbreak is still under investigation.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Yogesh Pedamkar, Unsplash

The post Food Tank’s Weekly News Roundup: Farm Leaders Warn of Collapse, Investors Ignore Methane, and Nipah Virus Alerts appeared first on Food Tank.