Episode 6: Mental and Spiritual Well-Being in Agricultural Spaces

Journalist and former vegetable farmer Debbie Weingarten talks with Sarah Smarsh about the dark side of rural existence for people watching their family’s way of life be turned upside down—and how a society that relies on their labor can begin to value farmers. Weingarten is a writer and fellow with Community Change. A former vegetable farmer, she now works with the Female Farmer Project to document the rise of women in agriculture. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Guernica, The Guardian, Economic Hardship Reporting Project, Longreads, and Vela, among many other outlets, including the Best of Food Writing 2016 and 2017 anthologies. She was a 2019 James Beard Award nominee for her story exposing discrimination against Louisiana’s Black sugar cane farmers. Learn more at TheHomecomers.org and follow the show on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.