Farming the Future with Finn Harries
When Finn Harries isn’t working on the design of Juntos Farm, a regenerative agriculture project on the island of Ibiza, he’s raising awareness about climate change and biodiversity loss through his documentaries. Intrigued by Finn’s latest venture, ASKET eagerly responded when he reached out to collaborate on providing garments for his team. We seized the opportunity to sit down with Finn and discuss the power of storytelling and the journey that transformed him from a YouTube documentarian to the Chief Designer of Juntos Farm. Dive into our conversation below to explore Finn’s unique perspective and vision.
Finn, how did your journey start?
My background is firmly rooted in the creative fields. I grew up in a family of storytellers, my mum’s a film director and my dad a film producer, so I was immersed in the power of storytelling from a young age. After finishing school, my brother Jack and I started a YouTube channel documenting our travels around the world. After a couple of years it got larger than we’d ever imagined and we ended up building a production company in London.
Despite the early success I craved new challenges and made the tough decision to change things up. I realized design was something I wanted to pursue. And so I moved from London to New York really right at the peak of everything we were doing in filmmaking and started a degree in Architecture with a minor in Environmental Studies at Parsons School of Design.
At what point during your career did you decide to embark on issues around climate change?
Parsons School of Design really opened my mind in ways that I never imagined. My education there profoundly expanded my understanding, not just of sustainability as a concept, but also of its broader implications, opportunities, and limitations. I became deeply engrossed in the issues surrounding climate change, feeling a strong urge to take action but unsure where to start. This curiosity led me to explore online, where I discovered Al Gore's Climate Leadership Corps. I decided to attend a four-day training course they offered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
That was a big pivot moment for me; it gave me an introduction to a community dedicated to driving change and I left me feeling like I have the agency to work on this issue. I realized the immense power of storytelling in conveying critical messages and felt inspired to make the climate crisis more tangible through visual media. This inspiration took me to Greenland with WWF, where I collaborated with my brother to create a film about one of the world's fastest receding glaciers. The film resonated widely, garnering over a million views on YouTube. This success motivated us to establish Earthrise Studio, a media company focused on impactful stories aimed at transforming climate, culture, and consciousness.
Juntos Farm is a significant departure from production and documentary making. When and how did you decide to embark on this mission?
After four years of studying at Parsons, I graduated with a deep awareness of the systemic issues our planet faces and how design can both contribute to and alleviate these problems. I wanted to go deeper and so decided to pursue a two-year master’s degree in Architecture and Urban Design at Cambridge. It’s a unique program that allows students to pursue their chosen area of study for the full two years. My proposal was to look critically at the field of regenerative design and explore what it looked like in practice.
To bring my research to life, I needed a site for experimentation. I had always been fascinated by Ibiza, where I had spent many childhood summers. This small Mediterranean island, once self-sufficient, had seen its agricultural landscape disrupted by tourism. I was intrigued by the possibility of applying a regenerative model there.
I spent six months on the island meeting different people working in agriculture, from farmers to local municipalities, trying to understand the picture on the ground. During this time, I met Christian Jochnick, who had relocated from London to Ibiza to start his own farm. Christian was passionate about supporting a transition to local regenerative agriculture on the island. That’s when the vision for Juntos Farm began to take shape.
“A CRUCIAL STEP IN THIS DISRUPTION IS TRANSPARENCY. CONSUMERS —OR RATHER, INDIVIDUALS — DESERVE TO KNOW WHERE THEIR PRODUCTS COME FROM AND THE IMPACTS THEY HAVE THROUGHOUT THEIR SUPPLY CHAINS.”
What does the farm look like today?
The farm is located on an abandoned dairy farm near the charming northern village of Santa Gertrudis. Spanning 20 hectares in the heart of the island, the site boasts 12 agricultural sheds, is surrounded by a lush pine forest, and includes over 8 hectares of arable land. When I moved here full-time to join the team, we began brainstorming and developing plans to transform this space into a vibrant community food hub.
Right now, we cultivate seasonal vegetables, herbs, and flowers with a herd of more than 100 goats. Our goal is to continue to diversify, growing a wide range of crops. In regenerative farming, diversity is key to resilience. While industrial farms often focus on monocultures for efficiency, a healthy ecosystem thrives on diversity. We're in the process of introducing fruit trees, which takes time, but we envision a future with a rich bounty of fruits and nuts. Additionally, we're starting to grow heritage varieties of grains, such as xeixa wheat. Ultimately, our farm will offer a diverse array of produce, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, and grains.
How do you hope Juntos Farm can contribute positively to the discourse around regenerative farming?
I think there is a disconnect from the journey food takes to reach our plates. At Juntos Farm, we're addressing this by creating an immersive experience where you can see the entire value chain from farm to plate in one place. We're not just growing food; we're processing it on-site in our expanded transformation kitchen. Here, fresh produce is turned into conserves, jams, tomato sauces and in the future possibly natural oils and cosmetics.
Our approach is highly flexible and experimental. We constantly test and refine our processes based on what resonates with people. Our ultimate goal is to transform the farm into a living lab and lighthouse project, showcasing a community-wide shift towards local, regenerative agriculture.
This transformation involves incrementally converting our existing buildings and land, which requires a delicate balance of public demonstration, fundraising, and political support. By doing so, we hope to inspire and facilitate a broader transition to sustainable farming practices within our community.
Do you draw any parallels between agriculture and the apparel industry?
Absolutely. Both the agriculture and apparel industries are deeply connected to consumption patterns, and we've become increasingly disconnected from the origins of our food and clothing. These industries need systemic disruption because they are among the largest contributors to climate change and the biodiversity crisis we face today.
A crucial step in this disruption is transparency. Consumers—or rather, individuals—deserve to know where their products come from and the impacts they have throughout their supply chains. We should also focus on eliminating waste. In nature, there is no such thing as waste; everything serves as nutrition for another organism. Our challenge is to mimic this natural cycle by creating more transparent processes and closing the loop on the methods we use to extract resources from nature.
How are our garments working in the field?
Really well. Our team spends long days working in various outdoor conditions on the farm, and your garments have proven to be exactly what they need. The quality is exceptional, and they are incredibly comfortable, making our team feel proud to wear them every day. This sense of pride and consistency is crucial to us because we strive to uphold our values in everything we do. Just as we are dedicated to growing organic, regenerative food, we believe it is equally important to wear fibers that are sourced ethically and sustainably. We genuinely value your support in this mission.
To learn more about the project, visit Juntos Farm website here.
The photography crew includes :
Photographer : Amador Camargo and Creative Producer : Maya Humo from Medsea Studio.