Season 2, Episode 4: Bren Smith

Aug. 18, 2021

When Hurricanes Irene and Sandy wiped out Bren Smith’s traditional oyster farm in the Long Island Sound two years in a row, he knew it was a wake-up call on the climate crisis. Starting yet again from scratch in a life of restarts, Bren began experimenting with ocean farming. Fast forward ten years: Bren is now recognized as the founder, leader and trailblazer of the regenerative ocean farming movement - a proven way of growing food that helps solve the climate crisis by sequestering carbon.

Bren knows it works because he does it himself: he grows abundant quantities of shellfish and edible ocean plants at his Thimble Island Ocean Farm along the Connecticut coastline. Unlike land-based agriculture, Bren’s ocean farming system requires no inputs of food, freshwater or fertilizer. And rather than contributing to the fertilizer pollution problem that causes ocean dead zones, regenerative ocean farming actually removes fertilizer pollutants that are running off of land-based farms into the ocean. Fish also thrive near the healthy ecosystem created by his ocean farm. Bren is passionate about growing food in a way that heals the planet but maybe even more passionate about creating good-paying jobs that give workers ownership and independence. So he founded and leads GreenWave, a non-profit that helps people launch and operate regenerative ocean farms all over the country. And he has become a leading spokesperson for the Blue New Deal -- a set of policies to put people to work in good jobs growing food in the ocean in ways that enhance ocean health and mitigate the climate crisis.

In our conversation with Bren, he explains how regenerative ocean farming works, how it can feed the planet, create jobs, and help us heal a wounded planet. He discusses his must-read book, Eat Like a Fish: My Adventures Farming the Ocean to Fight Climate Change. And he shares his incredible life journey from Newfoundland fishing community to being jobless in the U.S. to ocean farming visionary. Join us to learn more about this critical movement that just might save the planet.

““You need a solution. You need humans breathing life and collaborating with nature to rewild, to put their energies and their work into rebuilding ecosystems.””

— Bren Smith