Agriculture & Environment - Good Ancestor Foundation

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Agriculture & Environment

Resilient food systems, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable finance. Our Vermont Research Farm tests regenerative techniques, and our Eco-Endowment pioneers triple-bottom-line investing in natural assets.

Bioneers @ 36 years - a retrospective on the environmental movement

Paid-members only

Agriculture & Environment

Bioneers @ 36 years - a retrospective on the environmental movement

Vermont Research Farm

Agriculture & Environment

Vermont Research Farm

This page describes our open source regenerative agriculture project design to test climate-resilient farming techniques that restore ecosystems while producing food sustainably. In 2015 the first Good Ancestor Organic Farm was a research project sponsored at UNL’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources via a hoop house grant

Agriculture in the AI Era

Agriculture & Environment

Agriculture in the AI Era

As climate change, soil degradation, and fertilizer inputs challenge global food systems, the future of agriculture depends on scalable, efficient, and sustainable solutions. At the same time during periods of change and conflict, we need food systems are resilient, local, and robust for humans to stay free, autonomous and independent.

All-Fed - Alliance to feed people in global disasters

Agriculture & Environment

All-Fed - Alliance to feed people in global disasters

Good Ancestor joined the advisory board of All-Fed recently and they were generous enough to donate volunteer and staff time to the some of our projects. We returned the favor with a small grant. See: Emergency Communication Satellite Launches in June 2025 and Geothermal Green House Prototype All-Fed worries about

Where is our solar punk future?

Agriculture & Environment

Open Source Ecology and Open Building Institute - Open Solar

Many countries are in a housing costs crisis, which is rightly viewed as a building and permitting crisis. In regions like Tokyo, housing costs have fallen to match building costs. Open Source Ecology and the Open Building Institute have designed modular eco-compatible housing tools, including software, cad libraries, and designs

Ecosystems and Agriculture Programs

Agriculture & Environment

Ecosystems and Agriculture Programs

Good Ancestor is exploring new methods to make food production more sustainable, resilient, and decentralized in order to increase local autonomy and security. See also Agriculture in the AI Era This includes sustainable farming techniques, ecosystem restoration technologies, and financial innovations. Our goal is to prototype experimental techniques that increase

Environmental and Ecosystem Grants

Agriculture & Environment

Environmental and Ecosystem Grants

Tools and Technology Projects As part of our Ecosystems and Agriculture Programs Good Ancestor maintains a Vermont Research Farm where we - Do prototyping for our Eco-Endowment - Perform basic research on polyculture and regenerative agriculture - Have made an experimental food forest - Have created a novel geothermal greenhouse

Geothermal Green House Prototype

Agriculture & Environment Featured

Geothermal Green House Prototype

The geothermal greenhouse prototype stage 1 is completed at our Vermont Research Farm! Key Features Innovative Design: Renewably-powered in-earth 4-season greenhouse combined with a root cellar. Geothermal Integration: Vented, heated, and cooled using geothermal air pipes and water-to-air ground source heat pumps. Durable & Low-Maintenance: Emphasis on long-term resilience and

Why an “Eco-Endowment”

Agriculture & Environment

Why an “Eco-Endowment”

The Eco-endowment seeks to perform valuable agricultural research and environmental regeneration while at the same time earning competitive returns which are uncorrelated with other financial assets as part of an overall endowment strategy. In the early 2000’s David Sweson, Yale’s endowment manager, radically increased funding in the VC