Agrarian Futures - Farming Kelp to Preserve Coastal Communities with Briana Warner

Farming Kelp to Preserve Coastal Communities with Briana Warner

07/26/24 • 46 min

This week we were delighted to be joined by Briana Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms, a regenerative seaweed farming company based in Biddeford, Maine.

Briana walks us through the wondrous potential of kelp to help secure the economic future of fishermen along the coast of Maine, protect our oceans, decarbonize our supply chains, and introduce a nutritious and affordable food source into the broader American diet.

Her work explores many of our favorite themes on this show - climate change adaptability, rural revitalization, the brass tacks of launching a business in the regenerative food space, nutrition, and long term economic security for the people that grow and harvest our food.

In this episode, we cover:

How her experience with “preventative economic development led her to kelp farming on the coast of Maine.

The rise of the conservation minded lobster industry and how that lays the groundwork for a US grown kelp industry to diversify economic opportunity for fishermen.

The environmental volatility that threatens the long term future of the lobster industry and how our predictive capabilities fail in the face of climate change.

The massive potential industry for a US grown seaweed market.

The challenges of being a first mover in the food industry and how they’re overcoming it.

Why they chose a for-profit model over non-profit

The challenges of finding the right kinds of funders, the lack of funding for female entrepreneurs, and holding firm in the face of outside pressures

And much more...

Learn more about Atlantic Sea Farms.

Follow them on LinkedIn and Instagram.

More about Briana:

Briana Warner is the President and CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms (ASF), the leading commercial kelp aquaculture company in the United States. Following a career working overseas as a diplomat for the U.S. Department of State, she saw an opportunity to help create a more resilient and thriving coast by partnering with fishermen seeking to diversify their income in the face of climate change by growing kelp and building an entirely new market for domestic kelp. The ASF team and partner farmers now account for the majority of the farmed kelp grown in the US and are proving that by putting farmers, planet, and people first, a company can drive a market and can do well while doing good.

Agrarian Futures is produced by Alexandre Miller, who also wrote our theme song.

This week we were delighted to be joined by Briana Warner, CEO of Atlantic Sea Farms, a regenerative seaweed farming company based in Biddeford, Maine.

In this episode, we cover:

How her experience with “preventative economic development led her to kelp farming on the coast of Maine.

The rise of the conservation minded lobster industry and how that lays the groundwork for a US grown kelp industry to diversify economic opportunity for fishermen.

The environmental volatility that threatens the long term future of the lobster industry and how our predictive capabilities fail in the face of climate change.

The massive potential industry for a US grown seaweed market.

The challenges of being a first mover in the food industry and how they’re overcoming it.

Why they chose a for-profit model over non-profit

The challenges of finding the right kinds of funders, the lack of funding for female entrepreneurs, and holding firm in the face of outside pressures

And much more...

Learn more about Atlantic Sea Farms.

Follow them on LinkedIn and Instagram.

More about Briana:

Agrarian Futures is produced by Alexandre Miller, who also wrote our theme song.

Previous Episode

Regenerating Rural Economies with Jenni Harris of White Oak Pastures

For those who have followed regenerative agriculture anytime over the last three decades, this week’s guest needs no introduction. Jenni Harris is the Director of Marketing at White Oak Pastures, a six-generation farm in Bluffton, Georgia that transitioned from conventional to regenerative agriculture in 1995 (long before it was cool) and have laid the path for scores of farms to follow suit.

They have even gone so far as to found the Center for Agricultural Resilience, which educates, empowers and equips individuals & organizations on the benefits of resilient agriculture.

It’s a remarkable story and one - as Jenni explains - that other agrarian locales around the country can emulate, while accounting for the unique factors that make up each local environment.

In this episode, we cover:

How Jenni’s search for community led her back to Bluffton and her family farm

The history of Bluffton, and the work they’ve done to restore and revitalize the town

The origin story of White Oak Pastures and how her dad, Will, saw the need to transition to regenerative practices that improved animal welfare, restored local ecosystems, and created a new stream of income for the farm

The difficult financial realities of farming today, and how they’re working to make White Oak Pastures financially sustainable into the future.

The threat to US regenerative farmers posed by “greenwashing” multinational corporations and lax policies for labeling imported foods

What they’re doing to support more US farmers in transitioning to regenerative practices that are tailored to specific localities.

What’s at stake for the world if we don’t transform our food system

And much more...

Learn more about White Oak Pastures here.

Follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

More about Jenni:

Jenni Harris, Will's middle daughter, is a member of the fifth generation of the Harris family to tend cattle at White Oak Pastures. After living on the farm her entire life, Jenni went to Valdosta State University and earned a degree in Business Marketing, graduating in 2009. She remained intimately involved in the family business throughout her studies.
After graduating, Jenni set out to learn the industry. She moved to Atlanta where she interned at Buckhead Beef, a SYSCO company. She put in time in every department, from shipping and receiving to the cut shop, and was later hired to work as a sales associate.
In June of 2010, Jenni returned home to Early County to work for White Oak Pastures full time. As the Director of Marketing, Jenni spends her time focusing on the balance of ecommerce growth and wholesale relationships. Jenni is the proud mother of Jack and Lottie Harris and wife of Director of Specialty Products, Amber Harris.

Agrarian Futures is produced by Alexandre Miller, who also wrote our theme song.

Next Episode

Lessons from Building a 600 Acre Chestnut Business with Russell Wallack

Russell Wallack and team at Breadtree Farms are some of our favorite kind of people - the kind who not only imagine a different future for our communities and our planet, but put in the work to turn that vision into reality.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Russell walks us through the history of the chestnut tree in North America, which once made up over a quarter of all trees in the eastern US, and how they are harnessing its potential as a keystone crop for regenerative farmers once more.

In this episode, we cover:

The story of Breadtree Farms and its unique position in US agriculture

The story of the chestnut fungal blight and why chestnut trees basically disappeared in the eastern US

Re-building the organic chestnut market and the potential for domestic hickory oil

What goes into transitioning conventional annual crops to chestnut and hickory trees

Russell’s advice of getting into farming and agroforestry

The future of funding agroforestry projects in the US

Why you should reach out to your regenerative heroes

And much more...

Learn more about Breadtree Farms.

Follow them on Instagram.

More about Russell:

Russell is Breadtree’s founding farmer, but he is just one of 6 full time members of the Breadtree team, and of over 200 people who have helped this young business to plant over 15,000 chestnut and hickory trees across over 220+ acres in New York. After working in utility-scale energy efficiency, Russell made the jump to food systems work and agroforestry in 2014. He believes chestnut trees — an ancient staple food across the temperate world — play an integral role in recreating an agriculture of place; he has dedicated the past 8 years to creating a viable business centered on the growth of a regional industry for this tree crop. He has consulted internationally with multi-billion dollar food supply systems, advised the European Commission on regenerative agriculture policy, and worked with leading regenerative agriculture organizations to impact thousands of acres.

Agrarian Futures is produced by Alexandre Miller, who also wrote our theme song.