Farm & Fermentation

About

Farm & Fermentation is a place to learn more about where food comes from through articles, field notes, producer stories, and ongoing projects.

Our Philosophy

  • Everyone deserves to know where their food comes from and how it gets from the farm to their table.
  • Farms need to be able to optimize yields (safely and naturally) while minimizing costs/expense
  • Everyone should be able to eat healthfully cost effectively
  • Everyone should have access to healthy meal options within their capabilities

Our Stance on (Generative) AI

These days, it's hard to escape using AI, even if you don't intentionally seek it out. Even a simple Google search results in an AI response. At Farm & Fermentation, we strive to use AI responsibly and sustainably. That means we don't just turn to AI as a first course of action. We use non-AI alternatives whenever possible. We strive to work with partners who substantially share our stance on AI. When AI is appropriate, we are mindful of the environmental and societal effects and ensure they are not in conflict with our mission.

We also believe in transparency about how and when we use AI. To that end, we have used (generative) AI for the following things:

  • Our logo (several variations) was created in response to a very specific prompt; what you see is exactly what we had in mind when describing it
  • The technical structure and behind-the-scenes software scripting for this web site
  • Research, to pull in many web resources quickly; we always verify with the original reference and conduct additional research through authoritative sources as well

We NEVER use (generative) AI for any of the following:

  • Any interactions with vistors/customers, whether it's by phone or email or in person.
  • Any of the content on this web site (it is all written by hand); any research we include that may have been suggested by AI is manually verified.
  • Any photos or images (other than our logo). These are all either stock imagery or photos we have taken ourselves (or otherwise own the rights to).

About Brian

Brian Parks has been a software engineer for over 20 years. He's seen several cycles of focus on the technology for its own sake and on technology for the betterment of society and the environment. He doesn't come from a farming background, but through living in Whatcom County, Washington he has immersed himself in the farming community, learning about both conventional and regenerative agriculture.

Farm & Fermentation is Brian's outlet for many of his non-technical (though sometimes still scientific) interests. The priority here is environmental and personal health, without requiring technology to play any part.

Brian is the founder and CEO of Synapse Software

, where he helps businesses of all sizes and industries archive historical data from systems of record to help them make better decisions and maintain audit and data retention compliance.