Gina Hildebrand is a second-generation biodynamic farmer and winemaker. She owns and runs her winery, Lady of the Sunshine, which doubles as an education platform for regenerative farming practices and natural wines, located on the Central Coast of California.

Q: What do you see as the most pressing issue(s) in reshaping the global food system?

The transition from conventional, chemical farming, to regenerative farming and land management at a scalable level. I believe education and implementation will be crucial parts of this process.

Q: What would you like to achieve by being a member of the Food Planet Prize Jury?

Help drive the much-needed shift to a healthy global food ecosystem where regenerative agriculture and land use can bridge the gap between educators, consumers, and policymakers. I want to lift up solutions focusing on restoring and stabilizing our climate.

Q: What unique experiences or knowledge do you bring to the jury?

I am a young, female farmer applying regenerative farming techniques in California – a region severely affected by climate change – and believe my insights on sustainable farming practices will be an asset when evaluating agricultural nominees.

More on Lady of the Sunshine winery

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A leader in the sustainable farming movement, Clara is a second-generation organic farmer, founder of Real Farmer Care, podcast host, farm consultant, writer, TEDx and keynote speaker on four season farming practices, and for the last seven years she led and operated the farm business at her family’s farm Four Season Farm in Maine.

Q: What do you see as the most pressing issue(s) in reshaping the global food system?

First, we need solutions that don’t gloss over the legacy of land theft, colonialism, and slavery that shape our current global food and farming systems, but rather address what’s wrong with the way we grow and share food.

Second, since food and farming are where environmental degradation and social injustice are most intertwined, produce prices should allow for fair wages for farmers and other agricultural workers without excluding low-income households. To produce the so-called “affordable” food, the current system abuses land, climate, and people who grow it but ultimately also those who eat it and are made sick by it.

Q: What would you like to achieve by being a member of the Food Planet Prize Jury?

I am a farmer. I grow and sell excellent food while taking care of the land. And I see how agricultural, humanitarian and environmental disasters occur when solutions are not grounded in practical experiences. I’d like to help ensure that the Food Planet Prize rewards initiatives that take a holistic approach to solving the food system’s problems.

Q: What unique experiences or knowledge do you bring to the jury?

I know the challenges human scale farmers and land stewards face to grow good food, secure their farms’ financial viability, and find a healthy work-life balance season after season. As the Founder of Real Farmer Care, I’ve seen first-hand how important and difficult it is for farmers to take care of themselves. The work is hard on our bodies, our minds, our relationships, and our families, and self-care and community care are critical. This is particularly true for BIPOC farmers who have the odds further stacked against them. I will vote for solutions that take us all into account.

The Four Season Farm