Michael Judd is a really cool guy. He lives, and has lived, a very inspiring life.

Today his focus is on, as he calls it, “designing for neglect.” That is, creating living food systems that function like natural ecosystems, providing long-term food security with very little input. Many of the species he works with are cultivars of plants we mostly think of as wild species, like America’s iconic and only tropical fruit, the Paw Paw. While governments are busy trying to regulate cow farts and developing carbon credits, Michael has been building systems that truly integrate people and the landscape in ways that solve real and pressing problems — combining the indigenous knowledge he gained while living in Latin America with the permaculture design he learned here in the States.

From birth to death — we mean that literally, since Michael and Daniel get into natural burial later in this episode — he’s developed and implemented systems that dramatically increase his and his family's own sustainability in very real, relatable, and surprisingly simple ways.

While we don’t believe a utopia has or ever will exist, it’s certainly entertaining to imagine what would happen if more people started to implement similar systems in their own lives.

We'll be headed south to work with Michael in an upcoming episode of the third season of the WildFed TV show, so stay tuned for that, and in the meantime, prepare to be inspired. Michael is showing, by example, what we can do to increase the amount of nature, food, and personal sovereignty we can have when we start building self-managing, living systems. It can be done, and you can tell from listening to Michael, it can be fun and very fulfilling too.

View full show notes, including links to resources from this episode here: https://www.wild-fed.com/podcast/136