The RegenNarration

Kirsten Larsen is co-founder with partner Serenity Hill of the Open Food Network. It’s a not-for-profit, global collaboration building food distribution systems that are fair, local and transparent. The Network’s flagship open source platform had been successfully enabling ethical food distribution in multiple countries. Now, in the wake of COVID-19, it has gone to a whole new level, as producers look for alternative ways to sell quality produce, and eaters look for alternative ways to access it.

The Network reports a tenfold increase in people signing up to the platform, and a tenfold increase in turnover. This grass roots initiative now spans 13 countries, and continues to grow. As the greeting on the Open Food Network website puts it: Food Unincorporated - sometimes the best way to fix the system is to start a new one.

Kirsten is a farmer herself, and an Honorary Fellow at the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, at the University of Melbourne. She sees her work as focused on the complex challenges of sustainability and resilient food systems, and on the design and implementation of responses that also support healthy communities and regional economic development.

Kirsten was kind enough to join me online from her home in Violet Town, Victoria, Australia.

Title slide: from the Shepparton News (pic: Megan Fisher).

Recorded on Friday 12 June 2020.

Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.

Find more:
Open Food Network.

Moving Feast.

The international award the Network won.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

The only thing limiting the future is the past.” – Zach Bush MD

This is a second extract from the end of my conversation with globally renowned physician, Zach Bush MD, picking up from where the previous extract on glyphosate left off.

Zach has been startled by our regenerative capacity, since his film Farmer’s Footprint became a global phenomenon. Now the broader project is about to launch - Project Biome. Its mission? No less than the universal adoption of regenerative agricultural, medical and related systems around the world.

The first half of this extract explores how it’s to be done, and the second half features some of Zach’s personal reflections on how he keeps at it, and how we can all be a part of it. 

Title slide photo: Leia Vita, supplied.

Music:
Jeremiah Johnson.

Find more:
You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode 62, Launching Project Biome: A changing paradigm of human and planetary health, with Zach Bush MD.

Non-toxic Neighborhoods.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

“Glyphosate acts as a gateway chemical to all the rest.” – Zach Bush MD

This is an extract from my conversation with globally renowned physician, Zach Bush MD, on the notorious and ubiquitous chemical, glyphosate (found in the common herbicide RoundUp).

When I first heard Dr Zach Bush talk about the extent of the damage that the chemical glyphosate is doing to the biological underpinnings of life on Earth, it sank in me like a stone. Zach charts a bit of the chemical’s history here, we share a very personal conversation on its neurological impacts, and examine the patterns those impacts share with other chronic diseases. Then, of course, we explore the way out of this catastrophe – nature’s invitation to co-create the return of human and planetary health.

More on this topic, from the show notes of the main episode 62: Dr Zach Bush’s work charts the intimate, absolute connection between humans and humous – the earth and its soil. The soil and our gut are sisters, you could say, and carbon is our best mate. And while we flirt with superbugs and the ‘end of antibiotics’, we are courting what may even be greater disaster with the chemical glyphosate. Glyphosate’s touted strength of being water soluble appears to be proving the undoing of no less than the integrity of our physiological being – implicated in our epidemics of cancer, auto-immune issues and neurological conditions.

Title slide photo: by Leia Vita, supplied.

Find more:
You can hear the rest of our conversation in episode 62, Launching Project Biome: A changing paradigm of human and planetary health, with Zach Bush MD. 

You can also hear what regenerative farmer and best-selling author Charles Massy AO had to say about glyphosate, in the extra to our conversation for episode 32, Cultivating Regeneration from Industrial Wastelands. 

It also comes up in my conversation with SBS TV’s Gourmet Farmer, Matthew Evans, for episode 60, when talking about fake meat. 

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

Here’s another little extra to my conversation with globally renowned physician, Zach Bush MD.  We chatted a while longer, after our ‘formal’ podcast conversation had ended, about our respective paths in life.  These few minutes inform so much about who Zach is today, so I ended up asking if he’d mind me sharing them here.  With his kind permission, then, here’s a snapshot of Zach’s meandering path to medicine, through magical realism, traumatic awakenings, and deep grace.

If you’ve come to this extra first, head over to the main episode 62 to hear the rest of my conversation with Zach Bush MD (link below).

Title slide photo: supplied.

Music:
Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp

Find more:
Listen to the main episode 62, Launching Project Biome: A changing paradigm of human and planetary health, with Zach Bush MD. 

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

In this special extra to episode 62 with globally renowned physician, Zach Bush MD, we continue to delve into the coronavirus pandemic, through the lens of the microbiome.  Zach has found that when you map soil degradation, air pollution and other toxicity over viral outbreaks, the coronavirus starts to look more like a poisoning than an infection.

If you’ve come to this special extra first, head over to the main episode 62 to hear the rest of my conversation with Zach Bush MD (link below).

Find more:
Listen to the main episode 62, Launching Project Biome: A changing paradigm of human and planetary health, with Zach Bush MD.

Music:
By Jeremiah Johnson. 

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

Zach Bush MD is a renowned, triple board certified physician, and internationally recognized educator on the microbiome, as it relates to human health, soil health, food systems, and a regenerative future. Dr Zach became highly decorated in the medical field, with multiple awards.  Then a growing set of insights built towards a moment of transformation.  His touchstone insight was that we don’t need to solve each of the many increasingly prevalent diseases – we need to regenerate the source of our health and vitality. 

This led to ground breaking research on how our microbiome (a community of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and viruses) works - or more to the point, how communication happens between the microbiome and our human cells. Zach has said the microbiome is more responsible for our health than our genes, and is actually the great coordinating force of biology on earth.  And that we’re destroying it, with our dominant agricultural and medical systems.

Zach’s work charts the intimate, absolute connection between humans and humous – the earth and its soil.  The soil and our gut are sisters, you could say, and carbon is our best mate.   And while we flirt with superbugs and the ‘end of antibiotics’, we are courting what may even be greater disaster with the chemical glyphosate.

Glyphosate’s touted strength of being water soluble appears to be proving the undoing of no less than the integrity of our physiological being – implicated in our epidemics of cancer, auto-immune issues and neurological conditions.

In response to all this, Zach has also been startled by our regenerative capacity and what he calls the intelligence of nature, since embarking on a film project called Farmer’s Footprint.  This has become a global phenomenon, prompting the creation of a broader project called Project Biome.  This is due to launch in a couple of months.  Its mission?  No less than the universal adoption of regenerative agricultural, medical and related systems around the world.

To talk about all this, Zach was kind enough to join me online from his home in Hawai’i.

Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.

Interlude and concluding music by Jeremiah Johnson.

Find more:
Listen to the special extra to this episode, More Poisoning than Infection: A further look at COVID-19 with Zach Bush MD.

The website of Zach Bush MD.

Farmer’s Footprint film and project.

Convergence: Agriculture, Human and Planetary Health, the international conference featuring Zach Bush MD as keynote, and yours truly as MC.

RCS Australia’s online Global Learning Hub, launched last month (May 2020).

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

I feel compelled to post one last extract from the very end of my conversation with the legendary Hunter Lovins - for those who might prefer to listen in ‘chapters’, for those who might not have made it all the way through on first listening, and for those who might be particularly interested in the themes covered here.  And because I’m still deeply moved by how our conversation culminated.

This extract segues directly from extract 2, where Hunter left off talking about trying to figure out how the rest of the world recovers from COVID-19.  We explore her brilliant stories and current views of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, Wellbeing Governments Coalition, Regenerative Communities Network, the Club of Rome, Doughnut Economics Action Lab, and how Dana Meadows’ famous piece ‘Places to Intervene in a System’ was born.

Title slide: Hunter Lovins, sourced here.

Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.

Find more:
Listen to our conversation in full (and access links in the show notes) wherever you get your podcasts, or on our website.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

This is a second brief extract from towards the end of my conversation with the legendary Hunter Lovins.  It opens by looking at the tectonic shift that is apparently underway in the capital flows that will back in regenerative economies.  Where banks are already looking at the stranded fossil fuel assets they’re reclaiming and wondering what to do with them.  And where the opportunities on the other side of the ledger grow.

I heard Hunter say not long ago that the regenerative economy was already bigger than the extractive one in her home state of Colorado.  But that nobody knows.  So we talk about how they found out, how they engaged with 90% of the economy on it, and where else this might be true.  Along with what to look out for.

So much has changed in just the last couple of months, in the world at large and in Hunter’s thinking. “Things are shifting,” she says. And “you can see the shape of the future.”

Title slide: Hunter Lovins, sourced here.

Find more:
Listen to our conversation in full (and access links in the show notes) wherever you get your podcasts, or on our website. 

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

"We can roll back climate change." - L. Hunter Lovins

This is a brief extract from episode 61 with the legendary Hunter Lovins, on the importance of the bio-regional scale – place and community - in creating regenerative economies.  Especially now. There are a couple of great stories in this short clip, including more of her own - starting here with how she recently took out the Humungous Fungus Award.

Title slide: Hunter Lovins, by West Coast Green sourced here.

Find more:
Listen to our conversation in full (and access links in the show notes) wherever you get your podcasts, or on our website. 

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!

Hunter Lovins has been a highly influential figure for many decades in the regenerative economies movement.  She’s a best-selling author, including of the seminal Natural Capitalism, with Paul Hawken and Amory Lovins. She’s also founder and President of Natural Capitalism Solutions, founding Professor of Sustainable Management at the Bard MBA, a pioneering rancher, and Chief of Impact at Change Finance.

Hunter consults for companies and countries around the world, has been named Millennium TIME Magazine Hero of the Planet, and was awarded the 2008 Sustainability Pioneer Prize by the European financial community for her decades of pioneering work.  I could go on.  Oh, she also recently took out the Humungous Fungus Award – and we will talk about that!

I heard Hunter say not long ago, before the pandemic, that her research suggests the regenerative economy is already bigger than the extractive one in her home state of Colorado.  But that nobody knows.  So I asked Hunter if she’d join me to talk about it, along with how things are changing right now, and of course some of her brilliant life story.

Like my other extensive conversations with legendary figures in this space, like Hazel Henderson and Paul Hawken, this one drifted into ever more meaningful and heart felt exchanges as we went. 

Our conversation includes why she ditched being a lawyer and accidentally became a regenerative rancher, her retrospective view on change and approaches to it over the decades (spoiler alert – where were the stories?), and the growing number of calls she’s receiving asking how to build a regenerative economy out of the COVID collapse. And on that, so much of her thinking, she says, has changed in just the last couple of months.

We’re up against it, but we can still make something good of this situation, Hunter believes.  Tectonic shifts are upon us.  So where and how do we go from here?

This episode was recorded online on 7 May 2020.

Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.

Find more:
Hunter’s organisation, Natural Capitalism Solutions.

Her most recent book ‘A Finer Future: Creating an economy in service to life’.

John Fullerton’s 8 principles (or qualities, as he’s currently speaking of them) of a regenerative economy.

Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll).

Regenerative Communities Network.

Send us a voicemail

Support the show

Please share this episode or the trailer with a friend, follow the podcast, and subscribe if you can.

The RegenNarration is independent and ad-free, with hundreds of episodes freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. If you're enjoying the podcast, I hope you'll consider becoming a paid subscriber, from as little as around $1 a week, to gain access to a great community, subscriber events and giveaways, and to help keep the show going, on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find some writing, photography and tunes too).

You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal.

I hope to see you at an event soon, even the shop. Thanks so much for your support!