Episode 24 | Jonnah Perkins – A Mother, Runner, Farmer, Food Activist, and Writer
by Nikki Parnell — September 11, 2020
This week we have the privilege of talking with Jonnah Perkins – an ultra runner for La Sportiva, a farmer, food activist, writer and mother. She is doing all the things! She’s one of those people who makes you immediately feel her passion for the different pieces of her life and you can’t help but be impressed by how she has intertwined them into a meaningful existence. She’s an advocate for the local food movement and shares with us how she got into farming, what it’s like living closely in-tune with the seasons and how she has intentionally shaped her life to hold all her roles, pursuits and values. Jonnah resides in the Driftless region of Wisconsin that provides her trails for running and a fertile valley for her family’s organic seed producing farm.
Her trail running journey began after her son was born. Compared to the intensity of farming, childbirth, and those fragile, often harsh, first days of motherhood with a newborn, running felt easy. It was her natural escape, her necessary alone time and what energized and inspired her. She won her first 50 mile race and felt on top of the world – attributing that feeling to nursing and the extra oxytocin it produces, which helps with recovery. Nowadays, she is in close communication with her coach, David Roche, and has found a rhythm with recovery, nutrition, hormone balance and prioritizing sleep while training amidst a busy farming lifestyle. She has the USATF Trail National Championship Half Marathon coming up this fall but also acknowledges how 2020 has been a lesson in emotional flexibility and not holding too tightly to things like races and travel because the future is still so unknown. Her perspective of living within her training regardless of what races come to fruition is a great reminder.
We dive into conversations about the current food system of the U.S. and the injustices that are so prevalent against small farmers, rural communities, animals, our health and our planet. It can feel overwhelming and like “how can little ole me do anything about this spiraling cycle?” But Jonnah puts the power back in our hands by reminding us that we have multiple choices we can make each day about what we’re eating, what we’re wearing, and how we’re traveling through this world. Our money talks, our votes talk, and realizing that everything you buy has a meaning and cost for the people and the land behind it. She has an empathetic understanding though, that it’s a lot to ask people to care and put energy into their food when the world is heavy (hello, 2020).
Jonnah offers some ideas for how people on a budget can make more conscientious food choices, like starting your own garden, offering to work on a local farm in exchange for fresh produce, buying a half animal from a local farmer for your meat if you have freezer space, and prioritizing buying organic animal products over organic produce or other items if you have to choose because of financial constraints.
We get to talking about the overarching idea of being close — physically and emotionally — to our food and how that bolsters us to be attentive to the process that brought our food to us (and the hands that passed it down the line). Especially in regards to animal consumption. Jonnah approaches the inevitable death of animals experienced on a farm in a respectful and reverent way, saying it’s always been heavy for her, but it should be that way. The scary part is when we’re so removed from the weight of our food choices that we lose touch with caring about where our food comes from.
We talk about food as fuel too! Want to know what fuels Jonnah for her training and racing? Mashed potatoes with butter and chicken stock slurped out of a bag and Spring Energy gels. That is an amazing combo – both are in the creamy, comfort food category in my book! In everyday life Jonnah has little or no processed foods but the rules get relaxed when it’s race day and the Mountain Dew and potato chips are calling. She did really inspire me with how she spoke of how lucky we are as athletes to have energy to run long distances and how we should be as thoughtful as we can about what foods we’re using to fuel our bodies. Runners can forget how to eat food especially when we’re inundated with the sports industry telling us the latest manufactured such and such we need to enhance our performance. How about we trust our intuition on what our body needs and focus more on good, nutritious FOOD?!
We hear about what it’s like for the kids to be raised on a farm, how they get to see their mom, “throwing down in a sport” and some upcoming writing and film producing projects she has in the works. Stef and I are SO excited to follow along with her new adventure travel film series, “Eat Local Run Wild” that highlights stories of adventure athletes and food gathered from their local region. This will be released TBD through REI and we will keep our listeners posted when we know more!
It’s apparent that Jonnah is someone who beautifully crafts an idea, has the desire to do it and then follows through with it while displaying great amounts of grit and determination. We loved hearing her story and were inspired by all she’s doing in the local food movement and our women’s endurance community. Give this episode a listen by clicking the link below or you can search “Run Hard Mom Hard” on all podcast platforms! Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, review, and share this one with your people! Thank you!
Show Notes
We have our first podcast sponsorship!! Go to xoskin.us and check out their running apparel! We love their 4.0 Mid Compression Mid Rise shorts and toe socks! Use code “treeline” at checkout for 20% off!
- Find Jonnah on Instagram.
- Highly encourage you to look at Jonnah’s website to read the incredible articles she’s written.
- Jonnah is sponsored by La Sportiva.
- Jonnah’s coach is David Roche.
Jonnah’s Favorite Race: Sean O-Brien 50 mile. - Jonnah’s Favorite Meal: A delicious sounding blended potato soup she created and wrote the recipe for on La Sportiva’s website
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