In this episode, we welcome Chris Smaje—farmer, social scientist, and author of the provocative book Saying No to a Farm-Free Future. At a time when Silicon Valley dreams of lab-grown meat and vertical farms, Chris makes the case for something radically grounded: real farming, real soil, and real relationships with the land.

In “Farming vs. Fiction,” we unpack why the push to eliminate farming in favor of tech-driven food systems is not only ecologically naive but socially dangerous. Chris argues that dismantling farming severs us from nature, community, and democratic control over food.

With a background in sociology, decades of hands-on farming experience, and a fierce critique of techno-utopianism, Chris Smaje delivers a timely reminder: the future of food must be rooted, not fabricated.