Sustainable Dish Podcast

Ben is a farmer in the UK and came out as a young adult to his family, who were all incredibly supportive. I spoke with Ben about his life, his experience as a gay farmer, and what he's doing to tell the positive story of how LGTBQ+ people can live a happy, productive life in farming. He is a beam of light, and I highly encourage you to give his feed a follow. He also started AgRespect, an organization to help others feel comfortable with their sexual orientation in rural communities. This past year, I lost my brother Evan on Valentine's Day. He was a member of the LGTBQ+ community, so this was an especially emotional interview for me.

 

Follow Ben on Instagram and be sure to check out AgRespect to learn what they're doing and how to get involved.

 

This episode is brought to you by Blue Nest Beef. There's a lot of choices for "better" beef out there and the folks at Blue Nest Beef are grassfed pioneers who've perfected all the steps it takes to make better beef even better. Not only is their beef delicious, but it comes exclusively from American ranchers who have been certified by the National Audubon Society as ranchers who are regenerating our land and bird habitats. If you're looking for better beef, visit their website here and use the discount code "2BUYBLUENEST" for 15% off your first order!

 

Thanks, and enjoy the show!

Direct download: Episode_121_Ben_Andrews.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:41pm EDT

The colonization and industrialization of our food system have wreaked havoc on our environment and health, but what's often untold about this system is the trauma Indigenous communities experienced throughout the history of this extractive expansion.

 

In this episode of the Sustainable Dish Podcast, I sit down with Sanjay Rawal, the director of the new film, Gather, "an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide."

 

We discuss his journey into filmmaking (his first film, Food Chains, about migrant agricultural labor in the U.S., is a must-see), how he, as a non-native, fostered a deep sense of collaboration with the First Nations Development Institute in efforts to genuinely portray the native characters in the film, why Indigenous land stewardship holds the solutions to the restoration and regeneration our soils need, and how the development of our connections to the land and the foods that make us who we are can not only restore food sovereignty, but also our health, culture, environment, and more.

 

Gather is a beautiful film and a collection of stories infused with history, reclamation, and hope. It's also a portrait showing us solutions that have always been here: Indigenous land stewardship, or what we non-natives are now calling regenerative agriculture.

 

To learn more about and watch Gather, visit the website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.

 

To make an impact to support the First Nations Development Institute, visit their website here.

 

This was a joy to record! I hope you enjoy it, too!

 

This episode is brought to you by Blue Nest Beef. There's a lot of choices for "better" beef out there and the folks at Blue Nest Beef are grassfed pioneers who've perfected all the steps it takes to make better beef even better. Not only is their beef delicious, but it comes exclusively from American ranchers who have been certified by the National Audubon Society as ranchers who are regenerating our land and bird habitats. If you're looking for better beef, visit their website here and use the discount code "2BUYBLUENEST" for 15% off your first order!

 

Thanks, and enjoy the show!

Direct download: Episode_120_Sanjay_Rawal_of_Gather_Film.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:36pm EDT

In this episode of the podcast, we talk with David LeZaks, a senior fellow at the Croatan Institute, about his work in regenerative agriculture finance. Croatan Institute is an independent, nonprofit research institute whose mission is to harness the power of investment for social good and ecological resilience by working at the critical nexus where sustainability, finance, and economic development intersect.

 

Fortunately, some investors are taking a more altruistic approach to how they invest their cash. Sometimes referred to as impact investment, more and more investors are only investing money where the project matches a specific set of goals or values like environmental rehabilitation or local food.

 

A new regenerative ag-dedicated venture capital investment firm called Soilworks recently launched and acquired grazing management software service PastureMap as its first investment, for example. 


David talks about some of his recent work identifying barriers for small and medium-scale livestock producers due to Covid-19 in an effort to identify key pain points where investment is needed. He was also involved in producing the Soil Wealth report, which surveyed the landscape to identify existing investment vehicles for regenerative agriculture and opportunities to expand them.

 

This episode is brought to you by Blue Nest Beef. There's a lot of choices for "better" beef out there and the folks at Blue Nest Beef are grassfed pioneers who've perfected all the steps it takes to make better beef even better. Not only is their beef delicious, but it comes exclusively from American ranchers who have been certified by the National Audubon Society as ranchers who are regenerating our land and bird habitats. If you're looking for better beef, visit their website here and use the discount code "2BUYBLUENEST" for 15% off your first order!

 

Thanks, and enjoy the show!

Direct download: Episode_119_David_LeZacks_Croatan_Institute.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00pm EDT

1