- [Narrator] Three miles west of Hillsborough in Efland lives a small-time farmer with a big-time mission.

[gentle music] Around 20 hours a week, you can see a light blue baseball cap peeking over rows of lettuce, peppers, or chard.

- I'm Jim Sander.

I'm the owner and operator of Wildflower Lane Farm and we're a small organic farm in Western Orange County, North Carolina.

- [Narrator] 35 years ago, Sander bought 12 acres of land enveloped with wildflowers.

In 2010, he turned 60 and started a part-time farming operation, selling organic produce to Whole Foods, Weaver Street Market, and restaurants in Orange County.

After seven years, he stopped farming for profit.

- Prices were not going up, although my expenses were going up, and I kind of just got tired of the business end.

So I started wondering after the seventh year if there was a different way of doing this.

- [Narrator] Five years ago, Sander found his answer the same way he found his land, by accident.

- One day I was walking around Carrboro and I saw this sign, it said, "Table," and below it, "Feeding local hungry kids."

So I just walked in and pitched them an idea.

- [Narrator] The idea that if the volunteer organization, Table, supplied Sander with seed money, he would donate nearly all his produce to feed hungry kids in Orange County.

- Jim Sander walked into Table one day [laughs] with an idea [laughs] is how I met Jim Sander.

My name is Ashton Tippins and I'm the executive director at Table in Carrboro.

- [Narrator] In 2023, about 150 Table volunteers provided 850 children with 10 meals per week.

That included farm-fresh local produce, much of which comes from the rich soil At Jim Sander's farm - It's a huge support to be able to receive the bulk of that food donated.

I mean, it's organic, locally grown food.

It's the best quality food that can can be found.

And so to be able to give that to our kids is so meaningful to me personally and to Table.

- [Narrator] In the last growing season, Table gave Sander $22,000 for materials and help.

His crop yield is now worth five times that.

But how did Sanders's small farm grow so much food?

- Because he cares about his soil.

It's about the soil.

- [Narrator] Crop science Professor Bob Patterson from North Carolina State University says Sander's secret is enriching his soil with compost and not disturbing worms and microbes underneath.

Rather than plowing the land between harvests, Sander gently turns it [tiller whirring] before smoothing surface with a battery operated tiller.

No heavy machinery touches the ground, saving earthworms in the process.

- When I see these earthworms, this tells me that you're doing a lot right, and the only reason this soil is as healthy as it is, is because you started emphasizing regenerative soil management and crop production from day one.

- [Narrator] Sander's soil is organic certified.

Over time, he's increased the organic content of his soil from about 2% to 8%.

- The regenerative approach is an effort to preserve and protect as fully as possible, all the soil, physical, biological, and other properties that are necessary in order for the crop to be able to function the way it was genetically predisposed to function.

- [Narrator] That means building up the organic content of soil by limiting tilling, using cover crops, and reducing or eliminating use of fertilizers and chemical pesticides.

Sander says growing vegetables locally reduces what he calls food miles.

That means you don't waste gas trucking produce from California to North Carolina.

- In our case, we're picking from 8:00 to 11:00 in the morning.

It's on the road to Table and arrives by 12:00 and people start getting it about 1:00 or 2:00.

So most of our produce is delivered within four or five hours, and that's a big difference versus four or five days.

- [Narrator] Sander says farming sustainably has deepened his connection with his land and with other farmers.

- It's one of the few professions where people share their secrets, you know, with great glee.

[laughs] There's plenty of information to figure out how to do it better each year, - [Narrator] Four miles down the road, another small-scale farm with an organic mission sprouted two years ago.

It's called WildSide.

The land used to be a dairy farm and may one day turn into 70 acres of fruits and vegetables.

- My name is Walt Tysinger.

I'm 58 years old and I am a farmer.

- [Narrator] Tysinger and his wife Debbie started by planting a muscadine grape vineyard, thornless blackberry patch, and a market garden with annual vegetables.

The Tysingers share Sander's passion for supporting the environment and soil health.

- When you disturb the soil through tillage, you are also disrupting the soil ecologies.

- [Narrator] Like Sander, Tysinger tries to protect the environment.

- Regenerative farming has the potential to help with that, to lessen the impact of what's coming down the road with climate change, because it has the ability to actually draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it in a very stable form in the soil, - [Narrator] You can farm sustainably on any scale.

Tysinger's goal is to cultivate local food on a large commercial farm.

For Jim Sander, it's about growing a lot of food for hungry kids on a little farm.

- This is the most fun I've had farming.

I'm much happier doing it this way.

I have no worries, no deadlines, no pressure, and I feel like I'm actually contributing something.

[gentle music]