June 08, 2026

Jill Demers

238. Food As Our Deepest Connection to Nature with Jill Demers of ReWild Ranch

Jill Demers is the founder of ReWild Ranch in Montana, a one-of-a-kind regenerative farm, wellness destination, and educational space, rooted in the one question she's been asking for over two decades: Why are Americans so disconnected from their food — and at what cost? As a regenerative farmer and certified nutrition therapy practitioner, Jill has built ReWild as an answer to that question — a place where the farm is the center point, and guests leave changed in ways that they will never forget.

This conversation is rich, wide-ranging, and deeply resonant with everything Lady Farmer stands for. It's also the kind of talk that makes you want to go outside and put your hands in the dirt.

 


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In this episode, you'll hear about:

  • Mary's return to growing her own vegetables — tomatoes, seeds, and all — as she and Emma transition away from their longtime CSA
  • Emma's reflections on joining a new CSA and what food rhythms look like in a young family
  • Jill's origin story: childhood memories of fresh-shucked corn, a lifelong obsession with food and ecology, and graduate school research on the Dust Bowl
  • What ReWild Ranch is — a regenerative farm, glamping destination, and women's retreat space in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana
  • The three ways guests can experience ReWild, from passive glamping to immersive hands-on workshops and women's retreats
  • How Jill's son Alder's autism diagnosis became the catalyst for her deep dive into nutrition therapy — and how dietary and lifestyle changes led to the eventual loss of his clinical diagnosis
  • The Dust Bowl: what caused it, what it revealed about soil health and industrial agriculture, and why Jill argues we may be living through something even more catastrophic today
  • Glyphosate, the gut microbiome, and the parallel between soil health and human health
  • The "60 harvests" statistic — where it comes from and what it means for the future of food
  • Why Jill believes feeding the world is not America's job — and what a "checkerboard" model of small-scale agriculture could look like instead
  • The concept of "accidental education" and why ReWild is designed to connect people to food, nature, and each other in ways they can't unlearn
  • Wendell Berry, John Steinbeck, and the long literary tradition of writing about humanity's relationship with the land
  • The genuine constraints of local, seasonal eating vs the cultural reality of a food system that allows almost limitless food choices — and how to navigate that without guilt or rigidity

Resources & Links Mentioned:

  • ReWild Ranch — Jill's regenerative farm, glamping, and retreat space in Montana
  • Kiss the Ground — documentary film on regenerative agriculture and soil health
  • The Nature-Embedded Mind by Julia Plevin — mentioned by Mary; a psychotherapist's exploration of humanity's innate connection to nature
  • Zach Bush, MD — physician and researcher who speaks extensively on the shikimate pathway and glyphosate's effects on the microbiome
  • Wendell Berry — essayist and farmer whose writing on agriculture and community Mary has been revisiting
  • The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck — Jill's graduate thesis subject; discussed as an early work of ecological criticism
  • My Story as Told by Water by David James Duncan — mentioned by Jill as a formative read

Stay in touch & keep the conversation going:

Have thoughts on this episode? A question for Mary and Emma? We'd love to hear from you — send us a message at thegooddirtpodcast@gmail.com or leave us a voicemail at 443-459-1950. Tell us what the good dirt means to you.

And stay tuned — Jill and Mary and Emma have so much more to explore together. Part Two is coming.

🌻 About Lady Farmer:

Original music by John Kingsley. Editing and podcast production by Lady Farmer. The Good Dirt podcast is proudly part of the Connectd Podcasts network.

🌿 The Good Dirt Producers:

  • Wendy Gray