Discussing food insecurity in urban communities and how to improve resilience against hunger.

Jayson is currently the Director of Ending Hunger for the Valley of the Sun United Way and has been with the organization since September 2014. Before joining the United Way, Jayson served as Executive Assistant to former Tempe Mayor Neil Guiliano, as the Assistant Director and Chief Program Officer of Tempe Community Council, and as the Chief Development Officer for United Food Bank.

Jayson earned a Bachelors of Arts in English Literature and Political Science from the University of Arizona in 1999 and a Masters in Public Administration from Arizona State University in 2003.  He is also a graduate of Tempe Leadership, a trained facilitator specializing in nonprofit board development and community development, and recently became a Certified Poverty Coach.

He is a fierce advocate for human services and public service and demonstrates this through his volunteer work on various municipal boards, commissions, and nonprofit boards in Phoenix and Tempe.  In his free time, he enjoys going on adventures with his dear wife and partner Emma and their adorable dog, Daisy.

IN THIS PODCAST: The complex and oft misunderstood situation of food insecurity and hunger are the discussion focus in Greg’s interview with Jayson Matthews. Jayson’s personal history growing up as the son of a young single mother gave him the empathy he needed to fill his role at the United Way. Jayson helps to explain many of the distinctions of hunger as well as how prevalent the reality is in the urban communities in America.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2017/01/03/jayson-matthews/ for show notes and links.

Making long lasting changes a little at a time and using a plant-based diet to avoid toxins.

Drew has traveled the world as a professional athlete coming from Canada, working through the US, and overseas into Australia and Germany following his dreams and passion of baseball.  He quickly became the ‘go to’ guy regarding fitness and nutrition as he continually experimented on his own body to find out what foods would help him recover quicker or build muscle more efficiently, and how to exercise to help him jump higher, run faster, and help him stand out on the field.

He soon found out stress played a vital role in what he was putting both in and on his body. He learned that by reducing stress through a plant based diet and avoiding toxins both on and off the field, he could improve as an athlete and stand out from the competition.

Using what he learned, Drew wrote the best-selling book Detoxify Yourself, which is a 30-day plant-based meal plan teaching readers how to avoid toxins, chose foods to help heal and recover, and how to prepare the meals with recipes and grocery lists.  Concerned about the toxins on the market in conventional protein supplements, he designed his own plant based protein powder made with quinoa and hemp hearts. Drew has also been on air for 5 years as a radio host (96.5 ckfm) where he interviews world renowned experts in health, fitness, nutrition, lifestyle and more.

In this podcast: Greg interviews health and fitness advocate and radio show host Drew Taddia, and they talk about the importance of reducing stress and making sustainable lifestyle changes that work. Drew teaches about using a different mindset when making lifestyle changes, and how that can be the difference in succeeding or failing. He tackles health and fitness in three areas of nutrition, exercise and environment and explains how to keep it from becoming overwhelming.  “If you never start, you're never going to get anywhere”

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/31/drew-taddia/ for show notes and links.

Growing a tropical fruit forest paradise in spite of a harsh climate.

Cory lives in Chandler, Arizona and owns a video production company called Studio 9 Production. Prior to that, he spent 5 years in radio in Flagstaff, AZ, and 12 years on TV in Phoenix, as a Sports Anchor / Reporter for the local news channels. Cory got into farming and gardening after a trip to Napa Valley in Sonoma, California, about 15 years ago, at which time he was inspired to start growing his own grapes. Following that trip, every time he moved he planted more and more grapevines at each house.  Until 4 years ago, when he and his wife purchased a home on an acre and a half.  

As soon as they moved in, they started planting. He began by just focusing on gardening and some vines, and then over the last couple years, he’s jumped head-first into full-fledged tree farming. He now has over 150 trees, vines and fruiting plants, and he is proud to claim that he planted every one himself and maintains them all. Cory is happily married and they have four kids ages 6, 4, 2, and just welcomed a brand-new baby to their family.

IN THIS PODCAST:  Greg meets Cory Williams, a man who could not take ‘You can’t do that’ for an answer. Cory has transformed his home just outside of Phoenix to his own tropical fruit forest paradise using microclimates, observation, experimentation, and frankly ignoring naysayers.  His interest started with a few wine grapes and he got bit by the growing bug as he now has over 150 trees on his urban property and is not done trying new things.  His can-do attitude is infectious and you might have new goals after listening to this podcast.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/29/cory-williams/ for show notes and links.

Discovering organic gardening alongside a determined learner.

In the fall of 2011, Kaye converted the front yard and parkway of her home in Pacific Palisades, CA, into an edible garden. She removed all non-edible grass, small trees and bushes that occupied approximately 300 square feet of valuable sunny area, and planted citrus trees and herbs. In April 2012, Kaye began her urban garden blog, “Late Bloomer Show”, sharing her results with other urban gardeners, food bloggers and family farmers. With her photography skills and on-camera likeability from 30 years as a working actor in New York and Hollywood, Kaye created a web show, also titled “Late Bloomer,” chronicling her discovering how to grow food. A year later, her summer garden produced over 150 lbs. of produce, about 40 percent of which was given away. She also wrote her first e-book, “10 Steps to a Great First Garden.”

And, in 2015, Kaye created her first DVD, “Growing Heirloom Tomatoes,” a compilation of her five-part series on YouTube.  “Late Bloomer” now has 96 episodes on YouTube and in 2015 won Best Edutainment Series at Miami Web Fest 2015. In 2016, Kaye added a vlog to the channel, which includes 50 videos and offers Kaye an opportunity to visit and share other gardens and urban farms with her audience.  Kaye’s goal is to inspire anyone to grow their own food and take charge of their food security.

IN THIS PODCAST:  Greg chats with a new friend Kaye, a recent convert to organic gardening who has been chronicling her challenges and amazing successes in her small garden.  Living in California on the beach has it benefits, but it also comes with a challenging microclimate due to early morning fogs that limit the sun to her small garden. Kaye shares how she was inspired to start a vlog about her learning curve and has won several accolades for her work. She is still learning, but she is willing to share both the challenges and the answers she is finding on this new journey to food security.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/27/kaye-kittrell/ for show notes and links.

A beginner's experience converting to larger scale organic farming.

Shaun has an upstart one-acre mini-farm called BioManna Farms in Warrenton, NC. On his farm he grows using a combination of conventional and bio-intensive techniques, slowly moving towards a completely organic set up and is growing in all four seasons, with majority of production coming during the typical growing season.

He is planning to expand to three acres in the future, and into other ventures to diversify, such as beekeeping, vermicomposting, and nursery growing.  Shaun is in the process of starting a CSA, has taken agricultural entrepreneurship classes at his local community college, and has secured three local restaurants to buy his produce.

IN THIS PODCAST:  In this podcast:  Greg talks to a newer farmer in Shaun who is having some success using biointensive farming techniques.  Shaun shares how he reclaimed the land his family was leasing out to a hay farmer and starting growing crops to sell to markets and restaurants. He is applying the skills he has learned through his reading, internet and agriculture courses at his local college.  His interest in organic farming is taking root in his community and he is gladly sharing a few tips here.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/24/shaun-keesee/ for show notes and links.

173: Brendan Gaughran on Liver and Gut Health

Understanding the sequence of food driven diseases

Brendan holds a degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Connecticut and his MBA from Bentley University. He has spent 15 years in the Healthcare field and was an executive for a major nutraceutical manufacturer before starting multiple companies of his own, the latest being Liver Medic. He conducts health lectures to both physicians and the public. His research focuses primarily on gut health, liver health, endocrine system, adrenal fatigue and optimum diets.

IN THIS PODCAST: Brendan teaches Greg a lot about the functions and dysfunctions of the liver and gut, and how a cascade of medical issues can be traced back to the health of the gut. Brendan explains why he gave up his well-paying career to focus on finding answers on the treatment of metabolic syndrome. He describes what his research has revealed and how our foods we eat are a huge contributor to our health, starting with our gut bacteria.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/22/brendan-gaughran/ for show notes and links.

Finding the motivation to make changes in our diets 

At 15, Ocean was a co-founder of the Creating Our Future environmental speaking tour, on which he and three other participants spoke in person to more than 30,000 students, presented for 2,000 people at the United Nations, and opened for the Jerry Garcia band in San Francisco.

In 1990 at age 16, Ocean founded YES!, an organization he directed for the next 20 years with the goal of connecting, inspiring and mobilizing visionary young leaders worldwide.  He has since spoken to hundreds of thousands of people, led hundreds of retreats, workshops and Jams for leaders in over 65 nations, written books, mentored (and learned from) changemakers, and been a creative partner and lead editor for several bestsellers.

In 2012 Ocean founded the Food Revolution Network, which now has more than 350,000 members working for healthy, sustainable, humane and delicious food.  He currently serves as adjunct professor in the Peace Studies department at Chapman University.  Ocean has personally spoken and facilitated leadership gatherings in Jordan, Israel/Palestine, Singapore, Costa Rica, Russia, Finland, Canada, the Netherlands, India, Peru, and across the USA.

All this and he is also an active and proud father of special needs twins, a lover of life, and a human being who is trying to live in a good way on this earth.

IN THIS PODCAST:  Greg chats with Ocean Robbins of the Food Revolution Network to talk about changing our food future and how important it is to make a change in today’s diets.  Starting at a very young age, Ocean had been motivated and inspired to help others eat better for their own health.  Now as an adult and father, his drive has only grown stronger and deeper to spread a message of education on the food choices being made today.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/20/ocean-robbins/ for show notes and links.

A researcher's perspective on the marvelous efficiency of honeybees.

Robbie was a business journalist and co-author of a book on leadership, who turned her attention to honeybees when her brother, a beekeeper, brought her jars of honey harvested from his backyard hives. Inspired by the teamwork and efficiency displayed by these tiny pollinators, she left her job as a business editor/writer and wrote “Bees on the Roof.”

The middle-grade environmental fiction novel tells the story of four seventh graders competing in a science competition but also educates young readers about the importance of honeybees to our environment and the dangers they face from the still mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder.

Robbie, who graduated from Princeton University with a degree in history, grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Charlottesville, Va., Boston, Mass., New York City and Washington, D.C.  She and her husband now live in Philadelphia, where they raised their two sons.  She has never been stung by a honeybee (Wasps are a different story.)

IN THIS PODCAST: Greg meets Robbie who is not a farmer or gardener but really has a story to tell that can make a difference. Robbie was inspired by some honeybees and decided to learn more about them. Her research eventually led her to write an environmental fiction book for middle school kids to help them understand and appreciate the honeybees and the challenge of colony collapse disorder. She shares with Greg some of the amazing details she learned through her research and talks about how adults and kids can help the bees.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/17/robbie-shell/ for show notes and links.

Cultivating the future through seed saving and education

Don has been offering hands-on, practical workshops at Seven Seeds Farm since 1997.  His farm is a small, organic family farm in the Siskiyou Mountains of SW Oregon; situated at 2,000 feet elevation on a 7,000-foot-tall-forested mountain with rushing spring fed creeks flowing through the land and nestled among old growth forests.

Don helped to found the Siskiyou Sustainable Cooperative, which manages a 300 share CSA, a commercial seed growing operation, and an equipment co-op and internship curriculum among the 12 cooperating farms. He also co-founded the Family Farmers Seed Cooperative, a seed growing, marketing and distribution cooperative comprised of 10 western organic farms. 

He sits on the board of the Rocky Mountain Seed Alliance and is a regular contributor to the Oregon State University Small Farms educational program.  Don is also a charter member of the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) as a plant breeder and a seed company advocate. Don is regularly sought out as a teacher, collaborator and consultant in the Pacific Northwest.

IN THIS PODCAST:  Greg chats with an organic seed farmer and educator Don  also explains how and why a couple cooperatives got started including the Open Source Seed Initiative.  He has been able to open his farm to host intensive seed academy classes and he guides Greg through the topics that are covered.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/15/don-tipping/ for show notes and links. 

Offering cost-effective marketing for small farms and food producers

Sarah spent 17 years in the marketing industry, working with clients across diverse industries. As her values evolved, her career in marketing became dispiriting — until she realized she could use her marketing skills for something she felt really good about: good food. 

Sarah founded Grapevine Local Food Marketing in 2016 to help small farms, local food producers, and other small food businesses.   In August, Katy Horst joined the Grapevine team, and together Sarah and Katy provide websites, logos, Facebook marketing, email newsletters, and other marketing services to clients in Indiana and beyond.

When Sarah's not working on marketing projects, she's usually growing food, buying food, cooking food, photographing food, or eating food. Sarah also enjoys helping people develop an appreciation for real food through education and recipes, and she's a founding member and board president of her local food council (NWI Food Council).

IN THIS PODCAST: Greg hears from a woman who got tired of marketing food “products” and figured out it was much more rewarding to market for small family farms and local food producers instead.  Sarah tells how her desire to eat better and be healthier led her to a farm that needed some help.  This led to a very satisfying career change and a chance to make a difference for local people who make real food and help regular people find the sources of the good food.

Visit https://www.urbanfarm.org/2016/12/13/sarah-highlen/ for show notes and links.