Regenerative agriculture is a movement gaining momentum worldwide, attracting scores of passionate, dedicated, and creative practitioners, as well as aspiring teachers.
Learning to be Fearless Farmers
“Imagine an abundant world where we honor the diversity in our communities above and below the ground.” — Amy Milliron
11/24/2023
By: Kathy Webster
Regenerative agriculture is a movement gaining momentum worldwide, attracting scores of passionate, dedicated, and creative practitioners, as well as aspiring teachers. In 2020, my friend Abbey Kingdon Smith of UVE introduced me to one such person, Amy Milliron. Amy, drawing on her background as a regenerative farm consultant and her experience as a teacher with a Master’s in curriculum and instruction, envisioned adaptable education modules for farmers, ranchers, and educators and is now co-founder of an innovative educational program called Fearless Farmers.
The Fearless Farmers training and curriculum is adaptable based on the circumstances, needs, and goals of the audience and operation, empowering producers, educators, organizations, and individuals to educate, host farm tours, and spread the vision of a regenerative world through place-based learning.
In 2020, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amy and co-creator Sarah Noonan hosted a few TomKat Ranch staff members for a two-day virtual training session based on an ‘adult-adapted’ version of their K-12 curriculum. After two full training days, we were inspired to apply what we learned by integrating exercises involving all of our senses into our Gatherings curriculum, among other things.
Fearless Farmers recently hosted its first quarterly video session with course alumni who have incorporated the curriculum into their operations. I had the opportunity to attend one of these video sessions and connected with a teacher from Mount Madonna School who specializes in culinary and garden science education and plans to extend education to parents. We are currently exploring ways to collaborate, demonstrating the power of learning communities.
Fearless Farmers’ vision is to build 1000 thriving communities by creating ecosystems that connect educators, farmers, and youth through regenerative agriculture. To learn more about Fearless Farmers programs, or explore some of their curriculum ideas, visit their website and dip your toe into their amazing community.
