JARED MENANE: Ok, how did you guys come up with the name, Sky High Farm?
DAPHNE SEYBOLD: The name actually preceded my association with the farm. It was something that Dan, the founder, came up with when he moved to the Hudson Valley around 2011. The name 'Sky High' is symbolic – it conveys a sense of limitless potential and optimism, among other ideas. I love how it encapsulates this idea of constantly reaching for something; that’s a sentiment that’s really rooted in everything we do.

JM: What are you guys' backgrounds like? What are yours and Dan's backgrounds, and how did you guys end up meeting?
DS: Dan is a Gagosian artist; he began as a painter, but his work spans many differentmediums, and he's been featured in museums, galleries, and private collections around the world. As for me, I spent most of my career in fashion, working closely with influential figures like Adrian Joffe and Rei Kawakubo at Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market. I was fortunate enough to start as an intern and eventually became the Global Head of Marketing and Communications. That experience was formative and provided me with a foundation for cultivating community and brand engagement – essential skills and relationships that I now apply to Sky High Farm.

JM: Can you give me some background on the original idea in the early stages of Sky High?
DS: Absolutely. When Dan moved upstate, he felt the desire to cultivate the land around him. The property wasn’t originally intended to become a farm. In its early days it was run almost as an extension of his art practice. Eventually, he began growing produce, and right from the start, 100% of what was grown was donated to local communities lacking fresh, nutritious food. He was addressing food insecurity at a grassroots level. Over time, people really started responding to this mission, and it became clear that the farm needed to be something bigger than one individual. That’s when it was formalized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with strictgovernance to maintain focus on its mission. I’m a founding board member.

JM: What does the work of the farm look like in practice?
DS: Our mission has expanded to focus on food sovereignty. This includes urgent food access, which we address through partners that distribute our produce directly to the communities we’re serving. We've developed a grant program that provides $350K annually to support farmers who practice ecologically responsible farming methods, offering support similar to what larger agricultural operations receive from the government. Additionally, we run a nine-month fellowship where individuals live on the farm and receive hands-on training throughout the growing season, gaining the skills and practical training they need to seek out jobs in the food system. They live on the farm, are paid a competitive wage, and get a full experience of what it takes to work in agriculture. We also conduct educational programming that prioritizes experiential and creative ways of interacting with nature, land, regenerative farming, and our food system. Our free public programs center on urban youth facing racial and economic barriers, who lack access to nature-based learning. Through these programs, we strive to match our audiences' lived experiences with our vision of human and ecology-centered food systems. We often use art-informed material transformations as a tool of connecting daily life, family traditions, and cultural histories. We help empower young people and deepen their relationships with nature, land, and the food system; by investing in the next generation of earth tenders and land stewards, we invest in a future of food sovereignty.

JM: How does Sky High address issues of food sovereignty?
DS: We focus on making high-quality food accessible to everyone, not what’s convenient or cheap. It’s about bringing truly nourishing and fresh food to the communities we serve. We focus on making high-quality food accessible to everyone, not what’s convenient or cheap. It’s about bringing truly nourishing and fresh food to the communities we serve. Sky High’s food sovereignty mission is to build an inclusive operational and educational farm, food hub, and residential community dedicated to ecologically centered agricultural education and farm business incubation in the heart of the Hudson Valley. The project simultaneously addresses responsible land use through regenerative agriculture as well as the fragility of our local food system and nutrition insecurity by growing food exclusively for donation. Sky High Farm also tackles opportunities for the next generation of young farmers to find their place in agriculture through formal education, deployment of food justice, and arts-based education to narrow the gap between food production and food knowledge as a source of community empowerment.

JM: Could you give some details about the grant program?
DS: Certainly. This program is designed to support farmers who use ecologically responsible methods, providing them with funds that are accessible without the usual bureaucratic barriers. Many of these farmers work independently from the industrial agriculture system, which means they often lack government support or subsidies. Our grant program ($350K annually) redistributes wealth directly to these farmers, empowering them to continue their work and serve their local communities sustainably.