The Future of Food: Can Regenerative Farming Save Our Soil? (Andy Cato)
5/21/202658 min
This week, guest host Oli Dugmore, speaks to Andy Cato, one half of electronic music duo Groove Armada and a leading advocate for regenerative farming.
Andy argues that modern agriculture is reaching a breaking point. He says that a reliance on chemical farming has degraded our ecosystems, taken agency away from farmers, and made us over reliant on fragile international trade systems. Through regenerative farming, he believes it’s possible to restore ecosystems, rebuild soil health and create a more resilient food system for the 21st century.
They discuss Andy’s unlikely journey from global touring musician to farmer, including selling his music catalogue to buy land, and the founding of Wildfarmed, a business aiming to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture while remaining profitable. Andy also explains why he believes traditional farming is no longer sustainable, how a different model could be financed, and what the benefits could be for farmers, consumers and the environment alike.
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Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Rufus Gray with Bella Saltiel and Anna Budd. Digital production was by Jem Westgate. Technical production was by Jack Graysmark. The Senior News Editor is Sam Bonham.
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First 90 secondsOllie Dugmore· Host0:00
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Speaker 20:03
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Ollie Dugmore· Host0:35
[upbeat music] Hello, it's Ollie Dugmore here. Welcome to "Radical," the podcast where we have conversations about the global trends changing our world and radical ideas for the future. In my day job, I'm the executive digital editor of the "New Statesman," but this week I'll be standing in for Amol while he's up in Scotland filming something called "The Traitors." Today, I'm joined by Andy Cato, farmer, innovator, and one half of Groove Armada, for a conversation about rebuilding our food systems quite literally from the ground up. There's a radical change happening in the world of farming, and Andy is on the front line. He's also had a bit of a radical change in his own life as well. Andy walked away from the music industry and sold the rights to his back catalog to take on one of the toughest challenges of our time, to try and change the way we grow things and champion