In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Todd Ulizio, a farmer who co-owns both Two Bear Farm and The Farmers’ Stand in Whitefish, Montana. Todd grew up on a small vegetable farm in Connecticut and, since a young age, loved to be outdoors in nature. After feeling pressured to get a business degree and working for two years as an accountant, he found the courage to follow his own path and moved to Montana, where he went back to school to study Wildlife Biology at University of Montana. Todd worked for 10 years as a wildlife biologist, studying forest carnivores, before meeting his wife, Rebecca, and starting an organic vegetable farm called Two Bear Farm. 

With 17 years of farming experience, Todd strives to promote the importance of local economies, community food systems, and nutritious food. In 2020 he and Rebecca partnered with Wicked Good Produce to open a local food market in Whitefish called The Farmers' Stand.

Todd Shares

• His introduction to farming as a child and his grandfather’s legacy
• His father’s dual life as a farmer and banker
• The evolution of organic farming and how it used to be the way everyone farmed
• How Aldo Leopold’s Teachings influenced him
• The book he read in college that helped him realize he did not want to walk the mainstream path he was on, Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken
• His breaking point working as an accountant that prompted him to changed his career trajectory to wildlife biology.
• The observation that how humans live on the landscape affects the ability of certain wildlife species to thrive
• Learning the nuances of farming in Montana and starting his first farm with his wife, Rebecca in Eureka, MT
• The benefits of having a business background as a farmer
• The truth behind conventional farming’s story of “feeding the world”
• How human disconnection from Nature is at the core of the environmental and agricultural issues we face today
• The difference between organic and regenerative farming 
• How corporate influence affects our agricultural system
• How our values and priorities can play a role in restoring our systems to support both human and planetary health
• The fallacy of choice when it comes to the food available for purchase at the grocery store
• The need for more people to return to the land and farm for their local communities 
• Insight into The Farmers’ Stand’s origins and operation
• How we can make choices that align with the kind of future we want for ourselves and our children

You can connect with Todd through Two Bear Farm:

website: www.twobearfarm.com

instagram: @twobearfarm

instagram @farmersstand

Intro/Outro Music by Ken Belcher