In this relaxed chat, we learn more of the history of Seed the Commons, establishing veganism as a normative ethic, the mission of the People's Harvest Forum, the importance of consumer action but  moving beyond that for a truly essential paradigm shift & systems change, reclaiming food systems from corporate control, building visibility for veganic farming & more.

"True hospitality comes from your heart and from your sincere desire to serve people." -Divya Alter

In this episode we talk with NYC based cookbook author, educator and nutritional consultant Divya Alter. Divya is the author of What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen (Rizzoli, 2017), which is now in its 7th print with a German edition underway. She and her husband Prentiss launched North America’s first Ayurvedic chef certification program and Divya’s Kitchen, an Ayurvedic restaurant in Manhattan.

We talk about her background and the basics of Ayurvedic cooking, the history of Divya's Kitchen which was established in October 2016 and for 2 years in a  row has been named one of the 50 best vegetarian restaurants in the USA, about seasonal eating as an intrinsic part of holistic practice and about her recently published cookbook: What to Eat for How You Feel: The New Ayurvedic Kitchen.

http://divyaalter.com/

View more at Pacific Roots Magazine: 

http://pacificrootsmagazine.com/podcast-divya-alter/

In this episode we talk with Tony Martin, editor of Growing Green International- the magazine of UK based Vegan Organic Network. We chat about the current pandemic's influence on interest in the orgnazation, about Tony's editorial role and process about the mission of VON and more.

"Veganic growing is but one aspect of a dynamic culture. Our commitment is to peace and justice for people, animals and the environment in a sustainable balance. To achieve this we must change our lifestyles and introduce a philosophy which will continue to maintain our unique planet. We are motivated by our awareness of the great unease in society that we are moving towards a world that can no longer sustain life in the natural way it has always evolved." -Tony Martin, Editor of 'Growing Green International', Vegan Organic Network

The Vegan Organic Network Aims:

In this episode we talk with Jessica Hylton-Leckie, Attorney-at-Law and Food Photographer, Videographer and Recipe Developer of the popular site Jessica in the Kitchen! We love Jessica's recipes and it was a true pleasure to talk with her about the history of her blog, recipe creations and food media as well as her favorite ingredients and the food scene in Jamaica!

Visit Jessica online at: https://jessicainthekitchen.com/

Visit Pacific Roots Magazine online at: http://pacificrootsmagazine.com/

In this episode we talk with Peter Albrecht of Villands Vånga Veganträdgård.  Peter shares about the history & mission of Villands Vånga Veganträdgård, reflections on pursuing vegan agriculture in Sweden and meat norms in some organic agricultural communities. He also reflects on his podcast experience with Odlarna Podcast & the great response they got with an interest to feature more vegan farmers, sharing the knowledge of vegan gardening & farming with the local community, the potential & interest to start a network for Nordic vegan agriculture & more.

Visit Villands Vågan Veganträdård at https://www.facebook.com/Vegantradgard

In this episode we talk with David Clough, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chester and cofounder of CreatureKind and DefaultVeg. In this episode we discuss the relationship between theology and animal ethics, insight on how the current pandemic can further inform our understanding of our treatment of animals, coalition building in the broader animal advocacy movement, an overview of the mission and history of establishment of both CreatureKind and DefaultVeg and more.

In this episode we talk with Etelle Higonnet, Senior Campaign Director at Mighty Earth. Mighty Earth is an environmental organization that focuses mainly on breaking the link between deforestation and industrial agriculture primarily through the following industries:

-palm oil

"Planetary havoc is more expensive than working on a pandemic proof society. Let's not keep rolling the dice." -Etelle Higonnet

In this episode we talk with Allie Feldman Taylor, President and Founder of Voters for Animal Rights. 

Founded in 2017, VFAR is an all volunteer, grassroots organization that focuses exclusively on political advocacy for animals in New York. VFAR helps to "..elect candidates who support animal protection, lobby for strong laws to stop animal cruelty, and hold elected officials accountable to humane voters.

On NYC & advocacy work:

"One thing I would point out with New York City is that because there are so many eyes on the city- it's the center of the fashion world, huge hub for food, it's a place people look to as a hub of progressivism - we have to make sure that we are setting an example in the kinds of laws and policies that we are setting here in New York. That way, I think it gives activists in other parts of the globe an example to point to. If New York City can ban foie gras, everyone else in the country and the world should be able to ban foie gras. This is a huge foodie city, some of the most famous restaurants in the world are in New York. If restaurants here are able to take foie gras off the menu and still survive and still have all other kinds of wonderful fare to serve to their customers, then certainly any restaurant anywhere can take foie gras off their menu.

Another thing that I want to point out about New York is that there's a misconception because we are seen as a very progressive and liberal city, it's assumed that we must have all of these animal rights laws here. No sir! If that were the case, we would have banned horse drawn carriages ten years ago. I point that out because I think there's an assumption that if a city is progressive or liberal and that if most of the politicians are progressive and liberal that they are naturally going to be passing all kinds of animal rights laws and sympathetic to the issues and we have found that that is not automatically the case. You still need to put the time into educating all of your local elected officials no matter what their party affiliation is, whether they are extremely conservative or progressive." -Allie Feldman Taylor,

On the Mayoral Office of Animal Welfare:

"When Mayor de Blasio took office he appointed somebody to serve as a liaison on animal rights.  That position had never existed in New York City government before. And there was nothing to guarantee that after his term was up in 2021, that we would have somebody in office who would serve as that liaison.  So by codifying this into law it ensures that no matter who is the Mayor of New York City, there will always be an Office of Animal Welfare. We found that that has been incredibly helpful to us in navigating the government and advocating for our position whenever there is some sort of change at a city agency or a city department that affects animals. I would certainly encourage advocates all over the globe to work with their city governments to ensure that you do have an advocate for you that's actually within your local city legislature." -Allie Feldman Taylor

https://vfar.org/

View post here: http://pacificrootsmagazine.com/podcast-allie-feldman-taylor-voters-for-animal-rights/

In this episode we talk with Elise Buckle,  President & Director of Climate & Sustainability and facilitator for the Planetary Emergency Partnership Group.

"It's a time when there are a lot of anxieties and negative messages in the media.  This is the space of hope where we can discuss solutions.  We feel this is the moment to think about the society we want, the future we want to choose and to be innovative in terms of how we can rebuild the economy." -Elise Buckle

"This is a time for unity and solidarity. We wanted to build bridges between the humanitarian community, the climate community and the nature community because we feel we are in a planetary emergency right now. It's actually one planetary emergency and this crisis is a symptom of something deeper and bigger.

For many years as human beings we have been destroying biodiversity, there's been a lot of deforestation, wildlife trafficking, the way we produce and eat meat is also not sustainable- this all has been increasing the risk of pandemics. Scientists have been predicting pandemics for years. About 70-75% of the viruses come from animals and the risk is increasing because the relationship between people and nature is broken.

So it's also an existential crisis because we need to rethink the way we live, the way we work, the way we eat etc. This is actually a good time to rebuild this partnership between people and nature and think about how we will rebuild the economy and have a more harmonious relationship between people and nature." -Elise Buckle

Video Version of Podcast dialogue here

Visit Pacific Roots Magazine online at http://pacificrootsmagazine.com/podcast-elise-buckle-planetary-emergency-group/

"That's a bit of the idea- to get back to basics, get back to knowing where your products come from and how they are made and that they are made by humans on a small scale and to really have a product that is fresh with nutrients, this is all really important. " - Geraldine Starke, Refarm'd

In this episode, we talk with Geraldine Starke, CEO of Refarm'd, a new initiative and plant-based milk  subscription service that helps farms convert to producers of plant-based milk as well as transition to animal sanctuaries.  We discuss:

Visit Refarm'd online at https://en.refarmd.com/