Living Roots with Gail Fuller

Gail’s life journey has taken him on a path from a 3200 acre conventional farm that grew GMO corn and soy (extractive agriculture) to a 162 acre food farm that grows multiple species of livestock and literally dozens of different grains, fruit, nut and vegetable crops (regenerative). Along the way he has learned the value of healthy ecosystems to both his farming operation as well as his own health. Fuller puts emphasis on principles, not practices, and thinks farming should be about (re)growing communities. As his farm was transitioning, he was contemplating certifying his farm organic when he came across a startling revelation. Conventional/industrial ag and organic ag are both systems designed to kill. Fuller believes we need to be growing our food in systems designed to live. “Humans have this desire to conquer”, says Fuller. “More often than not, we need to get out of the way and let nature do her thing.”

Gail has spoken at conferences and workshops all over the country and in 2012, along with help from Jill Clapperton, started the Fuller Field School. It has quickly become recognized as one of the premier educational events in the US with speakers and attendees coming from all over the globe. Gail is planning on adding more educational events on his new farm, and is passionate about educating consumers as well. He believes the only way to change food production in the US is from the bottom up. We can’t sit around and wait for the government to fix our broken food system, to heal our broken farmers, or to guide consumers on proper diets. We have to do this ourselves, one consumer at a time and one farm at a time.