Food Tank

For 50 years, Phillip Calmer has farmed the same northwest Iowa land his family has tended for generations.

Today, Phillip and his wife, Jody, raise pigs outdoors, grow corn and soybeans, and work alongside their sons preserving a family-scale model that has become increasingly rare amid consolidation in Iowa agriculture.

Through Niman Ranch, the Calmers have found the financial stability and community support needed to continue farming with care for their animals, land, and rural community.

“Niman Ranch has given us the opportunity to succeed at what we love to do.”

Read more about the Calmer family’s legacy:
https://foodtank.com/news/2026/07/continuing-a-family-legacy-with-pig-farming/

“Differently abled. Fully capable.”

In Kisumu West County, Kenya, farmer Mary Atemo has spent 16 years using push-pull farming to protect her maize from Striga w**d and stem borers, enrich her soil, and reduce reliance on agrichemicals.

But Mary is more than an adopter of agricultural innovation. She is an expert, an ambassador, and a reminder that farmers with disabilities are too often overlooked—even as they grow food, support families, and strengthen their communities.

Her success comes from years of observation, experimentation, curiosity, and a willingness to try something new.

In the latest “On the Ground with Dani Nierenberg,” Danielle reflects on why building a more resilient food system means investing in all farmers—and recognizing some of agriculture’s greatest innovators.

Read more: https://foodtank.com/news/2026/07/on-the-ground-with-dani-nierenberg-differently-abled-fully-capable/

“Every farmer is a scientist.”

In Andhra Pradesh, India, a farmer-led natural farming movement has grown from 40,000 smallholders to 1.8 million producers in just a decade—with women making up more than 60 percent of its master farmers.

Now, Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming has received the 2026 Food Planet Prize, supporting its goal to reach all 6 million farmers in the state and expand these practices around the world.

The approach is simple but profound: Farmers use local biological resources, diversify crops, restore soil health, strengthen resilience to extreme weather, and teach their neighbors what works.

Read more and watch Food Tank’s full conversation with Vijay Kumar Thallam: https://foodtank.com/news/2026/07/simple-but-profound-natural-farming-is-changing-the-lives-of-millions-in-india/

“Food occupies a unique position among climate solutions because it influences both human health and environmental sustainability simultaneously.”

Climate change and chronic disease are often treated as separate crises - but both are increasingly shaped by the food system.

In a new Food Tank op-ed, Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, MBA, explores how dietary patterns linked to lower greenhouse-gas emissions can also reduce the risks of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality.

Food cannot solve the climate crisis alone. But solutions that improve human and planetary health at the same time are too powerful to overlook.

Read more:
https://foodtank.com/news/2026/07/op-ed-the-food-system-is-driving-two-crises-at-once-and-could-help-solve-both/