Episode 53: The Toothpick Project

Montana State University (MSU) professor Dr. David Sands was no novice to the challenges of plant pathology even before he began an education that would define him as a leader in the field. A Silent Generation farm kid, he spent his childhood rooted in the land. Now, in a roundabout manner with detours through the arts, education, and conservation, Sands’ daughter Claire has found herself equally ensconced in a green vision defined as much by growth and life, as death. Their mutual enemy? An innocuous-looking little weed called Striga, which devastates crops and food security on 40 million farms throughout Africa. Six years ago, Dave and Claire began the Toothpick Project, an inter-cultural and -generational endeavor to fight fire with fire and help smallholder African farmers take their farms back from striga’s stranglehold with an equally innocuous-looking little fungus.

In this podcast, Interchange Founder Tate Chamberlin, Professor David Sands, and his daughter Claire Sands Baker discuss plant pathology, The Toothpick Project, and a brave new world of agricultural biodiversity.

Photos by Ben Johnson