Mind, Body, and Soil

Will Harris of White Oak Pastures is a 5th generation rancher in Bluffton, Georgia. Will switched from a conventional model of farming to a holistic model in the 90’s and has been building not just soil organic matter, but also community, in his small rural town - once named one of the poorest in America. Now raising 10 different species, with integrated processing facilities, and a team of over 170 people, has given Will Harris a lot of ups and downs to consider what the business and mission of resiliency is all about. We talk about his recent viral moment discussing Bill Gates becoming the largest farmland owner in the U.S. We dive deep into resiliency - not just as it applies to land, but also as it applies to communities and businesses. Our discussion around finances runs deep and Will is transparent about how money flows in and out of White Oak Pastures and why traditional financial institutions won’t touch farming - but there are other options. Will highlights how market access and getting your product to consumers is one of the biggest hurdles in the business and how ‘greenwashing’ in the market has made it harder for small businesses to bust into the space occupied by multinational corporations. At the heart of the conversation, is an idea of coming home and digging in to build up rural America, just like Will has done with Bluffton

We also talk about:

• The importance of slaughter and processing in the farm to table process
• How fundamental cycles - water cycles, microbial cycles, nutrient cycles are to farming
• Carbon tunnel vision
• & so much more
• 
  

Find Will Harris and White Oak Pastures:

Instagram: @whiteoakpastures

Website: White Oak Pastures

Center for Agricultural Resilience

Quantis Life Cycle Analysis for White Oak Pastures

White Oak Water Cycles YouTube Video

Further Reading:

Dirt to Soil by Gabe Brown

The Case Against Sugar by Gary Taubes 

Resources Mentioned:

Replant Capital

Related Ground Work Episodes:

How to Find Ecological Literacy with Bobby Gill (for more on Savory Holistic Management)

Tides of Time and Oysters with Lissa Monberg (for more on multi-generational farming)

Other Podcasts featuring Will Harris:

Will Harris on Herd Quitter

Will Harris on Sustainable Dish

Episode Website

In this episode, Irene Lyon breaks down not just the fundamentals of the nervous system but just how fundamental healing your nervous system is. It’s where we deepen our connection to ourselves and our environment. You’ll learn about how the nervous system is set in early childhood and how that forms the foundation for how we interact with the world. We dive into how we can harness neuroplasticity and the same regeneration and resiliency we see in nature to begin to shift the way our nervous system is regulated. As chronic health conditions and depression are on the rise, Irene looks at something that may be at the root of the matter - the state of our nervous systems. It may not be a quick fix, and we cover all the myths around the hacks and quick fixes that dominate the wellness sphere these days, and the truth that healing the nervous system is about building devotion to your body for the long haul. Irene shares her own story of how injuries and childhood experiences shaped her journey and how weaving together her work in the personal training and fitness world, somatic experiencing, and nervous system training with some of the world’s foremost practitioners - Peter Levine and Kathy Kain - led her to create a whole library of education and courses for healing your nervous system. We also explore how healing the nervous system isn’t just about the individual, but also about the next generation.

We also talk about:

• Is the vagus nerve overhyped?
• Why meditation may not be working for you
• Why a preconception nervous system reset may be in order
• What nature teaches us about the nervous system
• 
  

Find Irene

Instagram: @irenelyon

YouTube

Website

21 Day Nervous System Tune Up - I loved it so much, I became an affiliate! If you use these links, I receive a commission.

SmartBody SmartMind Course

Further Reading:

Scared Sick by Robin Karr-Morse

When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté

Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine

African Babies Don’t Cry (an essay) by Claire Niala

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Episode Website

In this episode, we dive into the nervous system’s connection to chronic illness. Over 50% of Americans have at least 1 chronic illness and 46% of American children also suffer from a chronic illness. Diet, toxin exposure, circadian biology all play a role in chronic illness but what about the nervous system? In part 2 of our journey into the nervous system with Irene Lyon, we explore the nervous system’s role in chronic illness - and the research behind it might just surprise you. We talk about the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) study and what it exposed about the nervous system’s role in chronic illness. She also explains the mechanism where fight, flight, and freeze create a situation that can cause illness. Irene also discusses finding a healthy balance with technology and the way we share our personal lives and how our relationship with our phones is changing our nervous systems. In an important note, we talk about finding safety within ourselves and not outsourcing our power of healing to gurus, doctors, or anyone else. This interview is packed full of information, but it’s also a study in becoming our own healers.

We also talk about:

• Victim consciousness
• Intergenerational Trauma
• Fawn Response
• & so much more
• 
  

Related Episodes:

Part 1 with Irene

Find Irene

Instagram: @irenelyon

YouTube

Website

21 Day Nervous System Tune Up - I loved it so much, I became an affiliate! If you use these links, I receive a commission.

SmartBody SmartMind Course

Further Reading:

Scared Sick by Robin Karr-Morse

When the Body Says No by Gabor Maté

Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine

African Babies Don’t Cry (an essay) by Claire Niala

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Episode Website

Your mineral status is reflected in the mineral status of the soils, of your mother, and of your grandmother. Hammid Jabbar is exploring the way the mineral matrix affects our energy and the way minerals connect us back to our universal nature. In this episode, we look at the mineral depletion in soils and what that might mean about our own mineral status. Hamid first got interested in minerals through the lens of ancestral diets and then, later, plant medicines. After finding Morley Robbins’ work and the Root Cause Protocol, Hamid began to see first hand how changing his mineral status was improving his health. We first explore the role of mitochondria and how our maternal matrix informs our biology and just how much our mineral status in preconception, pregnancy, and beyond influences both our health and the health of our children. Much of this discussion looks through the lens of copper, as we get curious about her role in the regulation of iron, of our energy creation, and health. We discuss thirst as a product of mineral depletion and how mental health is also reflective of mineral status. Hamid offers a beautiful perspective on why we should do away with the idea of the mind/body connection and come home to our wholeness and how sound can heal.

We also talk about:

• Time
• Integrating knowledge and finding a season for rest
• How EMFs are impacting us and how we can become less sensitive
• All about retinol
• 
  

Find Hamid

Instagram: @mineralshaman, @hamid.jabbar

Website: hammidjabbar.com 

Hamid’s Sound Healing Courses

Hamid’s Mineral Coaching 

Hamid’s Sonoran Sound Singing Bowls vol. 1

Further Reading:

Cure Your Fatigue by Morley Robbins

What Your Food Ate by David Montgomery and Anne Bikle 

Dr. Martin Pall’s work on EMFs 

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Episode Website

Episode YouTube Page

Dr. Stephan van Vliet is at the forefront of researching what he calls the ‘dark matter’ of nutrition. Beyond the nutrition facts panel, beyond just protein, fat, and carboyhydrates and beyond the vitamins and minerals we are familiar with lies a world called metabolomics where thousands and tens of thousands of compounds and phytochemicals exist. Dr. van Vliet is looking at these compounds and in how food is grown - whether it’s conventional, regenerative (which Dr. van Vliet refers to as agroecological) and whether it’s plant-based or animal-based agriculture. In this episode, we explore the nutrient cycle from soil to plant to animal to human and back to soil in depth. We look at biodiversity from the level of metabolomics, whether it’s diverse forage for cattle to graze, or a diverse array of species to nourish the soil, or diversity in the human diet. We discuss everything from older animals, water in the West, what flavor may indicate, seasonality and how it influences the compounds in meat, and so much more.

We also talk about:

• Are older animals more rich in phytonutrients?
• How seasonality influences phytonutrient content
• Can humans have the innate wisdom in their food choices we see in animals?
• Do we have tunnel vision when it comes to greenhouse gases?
• Farmer Pprotests in the Netherlands (Dr. van Vliet is from the Netherlands)
• 
  

Find Dr. van Vliet

Twitter: @vanvlietphd 

Google Scholar Profile

Be a part of Dr. Vanvliet’s Research on Beef: Bionutrient Institute 

Further Reading:

Nourishment by Fred Provenza

Life in the Rocky Mountains by Warren Angus Ferris

Related Ground Work Episodes:

Chewing the Fat with Brad Marshall

Other Podcasts featuring Dr. van Vliet:

On Fundamental Health

On Peak Human

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Ashleigh VanHouten is at the center of exploring muscles - both building them in the gym and cooking them in the kitchen. Author of cookbooks Carnivore-ish and It Takes Guts and pioneer of women’s strength training programs her work makes cooking and exercise feel easy and accessible. During this conversation, Ashleigh and Kate explore the world of incorporating organ meats into your diet from a place of no shame - whether you’re highlighting them or hiding them, these nutrient dense superfoods deserve a place on your plate. Ashleigh talks about being a woman in male-dominated industries and how marketing has shaped the way women eat and train over the years, for better and worse. She talks about how we can celebrate the differences in women’s physiological and hormonal outlays to train better, prioritize recovery, and get the protein women need in their diets. In that same vein, Ashleigh discusses her carnivore-ish pregnancy and what it has been like to begin to introduce the next generation to nutrient dense foods like organ meats in her baby’s diet. This conversation is wide-ranging and incredibly empowering.

We also talk about:

• Healthspan and considering muscle mass as we age
• Taking a critical look at our end goals by asking “to what end?”
• Prioritizing feeling good and how the byproduct might be looking good
• 
  

Find Ashleigh

Instagram: @themusclemaven

Website: ashleighvanhouten.com

Podcast: Muscle Science for Women

Training Programs:

• Pull-Up Program
• 
  

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Podcast disclaimer can be found by visiting: groundworkcollective.com/disclaimer

Episode Webpage

Episode YouTube Page

Brandi Stanley, who is an incredible interviewer and explorer of paradox, was generous enough to share this interview of Kate from her podcast, This Plus That. In this interview, Kate explores the paradox of life and death, the desire for things to taste better and what that means ecologically. She expounds on the difference between conventional and ‘regenerative’ agriculture and the history of reciprocity between animals and plants. She also talks about how life thrives at edge zones, the place where forest meets field and stream meets field and how much richness and biodiversity we can find there. No podcast with Kate would be complete without a dive into Ancel Keys and how we replaced fat with sugar much to our detriment. Additionally, Brandi and Kate explore their shared love of complexity, nuance, and long form.

If you loved Brandi, and we know you will, you can find her podcast here. You can also look forward to an interview with her on this podcast soon!

Find Brandi and This Plus That:

This Plus That Instagram

This Plus That Website

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Podcast disclaimer can be found by visiting: groundworkcollective.com/disclaimer

Episode Webpage

Episode YouTube Page

Will Reusch has 16 years of experience as a high school teacher first in a public school in East LA and now in Private School -  a teacher of history, civics, geography, government, and more - his main mission is to teach kids not what to think, but HOW to think. We explore the pitfalls of the current education system, everything from the unnatural environment of fluorescent lights to how curiosity, in the current paradigm, is viewed as disruptive and compliance is what makes a better student. Will aims to turn that on its head, exploring how we can connect kids to the material they’re learning, help them seek out the why, and develop an open and curious mind. We also dive into how to have conversations as adults in an increasingly polarized political environment, asking how we can build bridges instead of deeper divides. Will’s work on instagram has been to create a space where conversation is welcome and a diversity of ideas and viewpoints are encouraged when looking at some hard-hitting topics. We touch on the place of religion and get curious about how a declining belief system has potentially led to a sort of unmooring and seeking framework for beliefs in political structures instead. We dive into the role grief might play in culture and how our turning away from death and our “disgust” response leads us to shield ourselves. Throughout the conversation, the idea of the importance of struggle is present, and how, even if it’s manufactured, struggle is important for creating a sense of purpose.

We also talk about:

• How just looking at things through the lens of “good” and “bad” leaves no room for nuance and complexity
• How we can scale good education in a K-12 model
• Seeking out disconfirmation and its importance in critical thinking
• How meat got vilified and how that conversation is going
• 
  

Where to Find Will:

Youtube

Instagram 

Website

Notable Works:

Why K-12 Need Viewpoint Diversity

How to Scale Good Education with Will Reusch and Hollis Robbins

Further Reading:

Ryan Holiday’s Book

How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide by Peter Bhogossian and James Lindsay 

John McWhorter’s Work

Resources Mentioned:

Louis CK ‘Kids Asking Why’

Will Reusch on Factory Farming and Slavery

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Podcast disclaimer can be found by visiting: groundworkcollective.com/disclaimer

Episode Webpage http://groundworkcollective.com/2022/07/26/episode20-will-reusch/

Episode YouTube Page

Lacey Jean is. Lacey Jean is many things, a polymath at heart, at once butcher, mobile processor, hide tanner, shearer, and shepherdess but none of the many hats she wears defines Lacey Jean. This is one of those incredibly juicy conversations where you walk away feeling more alive for it, dripping with honesty and earnestness, triumph and failure, and the meandering path we are all taking as we try to find home within ourselves. As Lacey embarks on building her own Geodome home by hand in the Pacific Northwest, she muses about what it’s taken to build a home in herself. Already, as she has started to move in, she has noticed how living in the round is changing her mindset and we explore the round robustness of cycles - from life to death and back into life again. Along the way, we talk about all the skills she has built to get here and what it means to be capable. Lacey talks about holding death as a butcher and mobile processor but also what it means to let parts of your self and your dreams go so others can take root. Lacey's story is incredibly inspiring and everyone will find wisdom in this conversation!

We also talk about:

• Using social media as inspiration, not comparison
• Raising sovereign children
• 
  

Find Lacey

Instagram: @fireheart_shepherdess

Website: fireheartshepherdess.co

Online Hide Tanning Course

Further Reading:

Radical Homemaker by Shannon Hayes

Resources Mentioned: 

Lines written in the days of growing darkness by Mary Oliver

Related Ground Work Episodes:

Erin Pata

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Podcast disclaimer can be found by visiting: groundworkcollective.com/disclaimer

Episode Webpage

Episode YouTube Page

Sarah Kleiner has been on a health journey and each leap she has made has been because of her children. In this episode, we talk about finding fertility and upending the traditional paradigm of fertility treatments and preconception diet. Sarah’s journey truly begins when her daughter was diagnosed with autism 13 years ago, leading Sarah to explore the world of diets from vegetarian to carnivore. More recently, after failed attempts to conceive and hold a pregnancy, Sarah looked to circadian biology, red light therapy, and cold exposure to help her become pregnant. Sarah walks us through that journey, what she’s craving during this pregnancy, all while unlocking vital information about our exposure to the sun, how we can think about hydration, EMFs, and so much more.

We also talk about:

• What the rise of sunscreen use and the decline in health might have in common
• How we can get healthy sun exposure
• Parenting fearlessly
• & so much more
• 
  

Find Sarah:

Instagram: @carnivore.yogi

YouTube: Carnivore Yogi

Website: Courses + Webinars

Further Reading:

Red Light + Fertility Study (and further reading HERE)

Dr. Masaru Emoto’s Water Crystal Work

Nourishment by Fred Provenza 

Resources Mentioned:

Sarah’s Interview with Corey Ghazvini

Sarah’s Interview with Ian Mitchell

BJ’s Raw Pet Food

Iris Blue Light Blocking Computer Software (a personal favorite)

Quinton Minerals (another personal favorite)

Related Ground Work Episodes:

Carrie Bennett 

Current Discounts for GW listeners:

• 15% off farm true ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 
  

Join the Ground Work Collective

Instagram: @groundworkcollective

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

More: groundworkcollective.com

Podcast disclaimer can be found at groundworkcollective.com/disclaimer

Episode Webpage

Episode YouTube Page