In the News: Our Director Featured in “Growing Good” Podcast

In the latest episode of the podcast “Growing Good” from the Hobby Farms Magazine,  the Cornell Small Farms Program’s director, Anu Rangarajan, discussed the importance of supporting farmers on and off the farm to build and sustain farming communities.

This episode centered around social sustainability as a complement to the economic and environmental aspects of a successful farming operation, as well as Rangarajan’s own background as a student, researcher, and strawberry farmer.

Building community has been key to success in the decades of the Small Farms Program’s work. On the podcast, Rangarajan reflected on the program’s strides to directly embrace social sustainability in agriculture using our social and resource network.

“I feel like we really are trying to build [a] giant collective hug … a way that our spirits are nurtured and nourished in this work,” Rangarajan said.

Reminiscing on her experiences as a woman of color in agriculture, Rangarajan emphasized the importance of community support in her innovations and successes. Looking forward, she shared the program’s goal of cultivating diversity as we invest in social sustainability and agricultural education.

“There’s many different communities of farmers where they don’t necessarily have the supportive spaces needed … as a program, we’re super committed to building trusting relationships with different communities to do this work, and to actually show up.”

Listen to the “Growing Good” episode, including show notes and various listening options, at Hobby Farms Magazine.