WorldWild Podcast
Episode 52 26th January 2022
Wilding the Wheat Fields with John Letts
The wild and the wheat fields. Foraging and farming. Two ends of the spectrum? Not so, says John Letts, who has been working with ancient crops and co-designing farming systems as they used to be. As he puts it: 'the wild and the cultivated need to become one again... we have to find a way'. We talk bread, ancient thatch, mono-cultures, and climate-resilient crops...
‘Genetic diversity is the key to all resilience in nature’
About John Letts
John Letts is a scientist, organic farmer, archaeobotanist, and heritage crop breeder. He is passionate about taking lessons from the past and using them to build a better, more ecological, less intensive, farming system based on 'evolutionary plant breeding'. This leads to more genetically diverse, climate-resilient crops. He has been working with heritage grains for over 25 years, and set up Heritage Harvest Ltd - the first company to sell heritage-grain flours (these are ones made from pre-1900 varieties) in the UK. Look it up: 'Lammas Fayre Flours'. He is one of the directors of the Heritage Grain Trust, a non-profit aimed at encouraging the production and use of heritage grains.
Further reading
> See more from John at the Heritage Grain Trust...
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> Article on John and ancient grain farming in The Ecologist...
About the show
We offer a series of conversations to tap into the wildness within ourselves and to uncover what is possible when we do. It is our hope that through the WorldWild Podcast we can contribute to the revitalisation of wild food culture and conversation around the world.
Through people who know their landscapes intimately, we gather the threads to weave a rich tapestry. Piece by piece the vision of a wilder world comes into view. The wild embrace of nature welcomes us back and offers us a seat at the table. A feast, no less!