Grant Collier & Brianna McCarthy, Richmond, Email: wildearthfermentation@gmail.com
Wild Earth was the outcome of a dropping out and bike-touring to farms around the country. Partners Brianna McCarthy & Grant Collier spent 2015 volunteering on farms and conceptualizing their own farm business. They had quit their jobs in Washington DC to seek a healthier lifestyle that gave them the opportunity to do physical and rewarding work. Through their travels they saw food waste even on the most well-run farms. If they grew their own food, or sourced these “left-overs” from farmers, they could help the local agricultural community by preserving this bounty through the old-world practice of fermentation. Further, this kind of food is revolutionary to the American diet that has too often lost touch with this method of preservation; there are far-reaching health benefits through the promotion of diversity and balance of good bacteria in our digestive systems, impacting many aspects of our overall health.
They now ferment vegetables from local farms and strive to produce as much as possible while things are in-season to extend the harvest through the whole year. Starting off making Sauerkraut with things like Garlic, Rosemary, and Lemons, they now have a handful of savory options and also very spicy Kimchis & fermented Hot Sauces. Further they have experimented with things like Eggplant that makes a wonderful Italianesque spread, somewhat of a Virginia-grown Tapenade.
Grant grew up in Virginia, not far from Williamsburg, and is excited to bring his fermented goods towards the Peninsula.
