Stewardship & Sustainability Series: Recent Episodes
Y on Earth Community
Welcome to the Y on Earth Community's "Stewardship & Sustainability" podcast series!
Join author Aaron William Perry as he discusses hopeful information and actionable inspiration with community leaders, authors, and educators from diverse geographic, social and cultural backgrounds.
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE & DISASTER PREPAREDNESS This special live-audience podcast episode was recorded at The Riverside – Boulder, featuring three community resilience and disaster preparedness experts: Miranda Clendening, Don Hall, and Henry Mitchell (as well as a special guest appearance by Brigitte Mars). With a focus on community relationships, knowledge building, and long-term strategies such as […]
[Changing Finance & Financing Change – The Global Alliance for Banking on Values] When it comes to stewardship, sustainability, and care of humanity, there is a much better way to bank than the status quo… and it is already happening around the world at considerable scale! Values-based banking provides companies and families deposit and credit […]
Episode 175 – Brigitte Mars & Ron Lemire – Holistic Healing Renaissance in Boulder, CO – a 50 Year Retrospective The Holistic Health Renaissance in Boulder, Colorado – a 50 Year Retrospective Why has organic food become so widespread (albeit still not ubiquitous, as it was through all of human history up until about 100 […]
Henry Mitchell IV, “Master of Disaster,” on Community Preparedness In this informative interview, Henry Mitchell IV, a professional disaster preparedness and biosecurity expert, discusses the many things we can do in our homes and communities to be better prepared, and to cultivate more livable, resilient lives. Exemplifying the “calm amid any storm” ethos, Henry, a […]
Mohawk Mother Leads Land Rematriation Movement in Ancestral Territory In the bucolic Schoharie Valley of central New York, blazing autumn leaves adorn the surrounding hillsides above flat river bottom lands that are among the most fertile in the world. Here in this valley the mighty Mohawk Nation inhabited one of its great village centers for […]
Description Reclaiming True Human Nature: Evolving from Domination to Partnership Riane Eisler is one of the most important scholars, thinkers, and visionaries of our lifetime. Her monumental body of work, which includes the well-known book The Chalice and the Blade (1987), provides us a view into the prehistoric reality of our species (which is, in […]
At once both avant garde and redolent of days of yore, the James Ranch Grill provides a unique on-farm dining experience in a comfortable, elegant, “cowboy jazz” setting. Here cuisine isn’t about fancy frills or gastrochemistry gymnastics. It’s about real food – real food sourced directly from the fields we see sloping down the valley […]
The Courage to Save and Restore: Bald Eagles Return to the Sky In this special episode, hear first hand the extraordinary story of how one woman helped to save bald eagles from extinction and restore their numbers in North America. Honored by the Iroquois Confederacy with laudatory tribal membership for her remarkable work, Tina Morris […]
Jeff Poppen, Author, Barefoot Biodynamics: How Cows, Compost, and Community Help Us Understand Rudolf Steiner’s Agriculture Course Discussing his decades-long experiences as a Biodynamic farmer in Tennessee, Jeff Poppen distills the key principles and practices of this advanced form of organic stewardship, fertility-building, and nutrient dense food production first articulated by Rudolf Steiner one hundred […]
Banking for good with Climate First Bank Founder and Chairman, Ken LaRoe Ken LaRoe is the Founder and Chairman of Climate First Bank, the fastest growing new bank in the United States. With approximately 600 shareholders, Ken and his team have grown Climate First Bank in only three years to around $100 million in capital […]
John Milton – a Force for Nature In this special episode, Aaron William Perry hosts a long and lovely conversation with John Milton and one of his “senior students”(and Y on Earth Community Ambassador) Bud Wilson. John Milton is a force of nature, an emissary for nature, and a voice for nature. Notable among the […]
Large Scale Stewardship from Patagonia’s Home Planet Fund Dahr Jamail, Communications and Media Relations Lead at Patagonia’s new Home Planet Fund (HPF), discusses how they are funding large-scale, indigenous-led ecosystem restoration and carbon sequestration efforts around the globe. Indigenous peoples who are living according to their traditional life-ways make up only 6-7% of the total […]
The post Episode 166 – Dahr Jamail, Communications & Media Relations Lead, Home Planet Fund first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Kelpie Wilson - The Biochar Handbook - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 165 – Kelpie Wilson, Unveiling the Secrets of Biochar (The Biochar Handbook) first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Kate Wilson - Vail Resorts - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 164 – Kate Wilson, Vail Resorts, VP of Environmental & Social Responsibility first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Jared Meyers - Legacy Vacation Resorts - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 163 – Jared Meyers, Chairman, Legacy Vacation Resorts first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Dr Elaine Ingham - Soil Food Web- Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 162 – Dr. Elaine Ingham first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Jake Plummer - UMBO - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 161 – Jake Plummer, Co-Founder of UMBO on Functional Mushrooms for Elite Performance first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Sophie Monpeyssen & Olivier Girard - Le Ciel Foundation - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 160 – Sophie Monpeyssen & Olivier Girard, Co-Founders, Le Ciel Foundation first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Helen Atthowe- Author - The Ecological Farm - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 159 – Helen Atthowe, Author, “The Ecological Farm” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Gabe Brown, Author "Dirt to Soil"- Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 158 – Gabe Brown, Regenerative Farmer/Rancher & Author, “Dirt to Soil” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Soraya Afzali - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 157 – Soraya Afzali, Expert Political Scientist on the Dangers of Autocracy & Charismatic Leadership first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Lisa Bronner Author of "Soap & Soul" - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 156 – Lisa Bronner, Author, “Soap & Soul” (Dr. Bronner’s Clean Genius) first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
John Rogers - Renaissance Campaign - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 155 – John Rogers, Holistic Systems Thinker & Author, “The Renaissance Campaign” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Sarah Arao - Mantle of Hope - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 154 – Sarah Arao, Founder, Mantle of Hope in Uganda first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Joy and Eric McEwen - Raising Resilient Bees - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 153 – Joy & Eric McEwen, Authors, “Raising Resilient Bees” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Goetheanum - Jean-Michel Florin & Ueli Hurter - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 152 – Ueli Hurter & Jean-Michel Florin on Biodynamics at the Goetheanum in Switzerland first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Nicolette Hahn Niman - Defending Beef - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 151 – Nicolette Hahn Niman, Author, “Defending Beef” – Regenerative Grazing first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Hunter will be live-blogging at COP 28 - find her postings at Climate and Capital Media.
The post Episode 150 – Hunter Lovins on UN’s COP 28 Climate Change Summit first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Ander Etxeberria Otadui - Mondragon Coops - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 149 – Ander Etxeberria Otadui, Head of Co-op Dissemination, Mondragon Corporation first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Jorge Fontanez - B Lab - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 148 – Jorge Fontanez, CEO, B-Lab USA & Canada first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Sheila Foster - Biodynamic Demeter Alliance - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 147 – Sheila Foster, Executive Director, Biodynamic Demeter Alliance first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Matthew Derr - Chelsea Green - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 146 – Matthew Derr, Executive Director, Chelsea Green Foundation first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Jerry Tinianow - CSO - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 145 – Jerry Tinianow, CSO & Founder, Western Urban Sustainability Advisors first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Vicki Hird - Rebugging the Planet - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 144 – Vicki Hird, Author, “Rebugging the Planet” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Cynthia Tina - Founder - Community Finders - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 143 – Cynthia Tina, Founder, Community Finders first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Maria Rodale - Love Nature Magic - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 142 – Maria Rodale, Author of “Love, Nature, Magic” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Nathan Stuck - Founder - Profitable Purpose Consulting - B Certifiied - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 141 – Nathan Stuck, Founder, Profitable Purpose Consulting, on B-Certifications first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Dr. James Gordon MD, Founder, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, on Trauma Healing in Ukraine
The post Episode 140 – Dr. James Gordon MD, Founder, The Center for Mind-Body Medicine, on Trauma Healing in Ukraine first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Nisha Poulose - Regenerative Rising - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 139 – Nisha Mary Poulose, Executive Director, Regenerative Rising first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Tom Chi - At One Ventures - Y on Earth Community Podcast - Regenerative Technologies
The post Episode 138 – Tom Chi, Founder & CEO, At One Ventures, on New Economic Epochs first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
What if there were a global corporation with over €15 billion (~$16 billion) in annual sales, that was cooperatively owned and democratically managed by its 90,000+ employee-member-owners? There is. And […]
The post Episode 137 – Georgia Kelly, Founder, Praxis Peace Institute; on the Mondragon Cooperatives first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Ben Raskin - The Woodchip Handbook - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 136 – Ben Raskin, Author, “The Woodchip Handbook” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Amazonian Chief Tuwe Inu Bake & Ari Brasil - A Message from the Heart of the Forest - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 135 – Chief Tuwe & Ari Brasil – from the Heart of the Amazon first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Author, theologian, and spiritual elder, Reverend Matthew Fox, shares his profound wisdom and deep insights about the essential importance of our relationship with Mother Earth, our celebration of the Divine […]
The post Episode 134 – Reverend Matthew Fox on Hildegard von Bingen & her “Viriditas” first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
In this unique episode, author and Y on Earth Community founder, Aaron William Perry, shares reflections, updates, and musings. He looks back on what’s been accomplished thus far with the podcast series; workshops, retreats, and ceremonial gatherings; strategic partnerships; and the books and other resources already published. Aaron observes that “we’re all in this together,” […]
The post Episode 133 – Aaron Perry – Reflections, Updates, & Musings upon an Auspicious Milestone first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
[The Magic of Crestone & the Manitou Foundation] Hanne Strong, Founder and President of the Manitou Foundation, discusses her work in the environmental, cultural, and spiritual arenas. With decades of work and collaboration at the global level, including at the first UN Summit on the Environment in Rio de Janeiro and many of the Global […]
The post Episode 132 – Hanne Strong, Founder, Manitou Foundation first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-acm0QzKMk [A Healing Vision for Ukraine] In this special conversation with Douglas Gardner, former United Nations Resident Coordinator in Ukraine, we discuss the current conflict in the region as well as opportunities and strategies for deep healing of the traumas that have affected so many people in that region. About Healing & Proven Trauma Recovery […]
The post Episode 131 – Douglas Gardner, (former) UN Resident Coordinator to Ukraine, on Healing & Hope first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Hayley Nenadal is the Festival Director of EarthX Film, and shares about upcoming environmental film screening events at EarthX Film, South by Southwest (SXSW), Mountain Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival, and the EarthX Earth Day gathering in Dallas, Texas in April. Notably, she discusses Ben Master’s “Trojan Horse” film titled “Deep in the Heart” […]
The post Episode 130 – Hayley Nenadal, Festival Director, EarthX Film first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
Bernard Amadei - Engineers Without Borders - Y on Earth Community Podcast
The post Episode 129 – Professor Bernard Amadei, Founder, Engineers Without Borders first appeared on Y on Earth Community.
“Searching” for Climate ActionRuby Au, Head of North America at Ecosia, discusses how the transition to stakeholder capitalism is enabling more positive impact for people and planet than business as usual. Reflecting on her international experience as an impact and social entrepreneur, Ruby observes how differently business is approached in different cultures, including how the “calculations” tend to take different variables into account, whether formally or informally. At her current post at Ecosia, a social enterprise search engine that dedicates its profits to climate action, Ruby heads their North American division of operations. Learn about climate action, ethical business practices, purpose-driven and service-driven technology companies, and more in this inspiring episode.
CALL TO ACTION"Make Ecosia.org your default search engine browser!"- Ruby Au, Head of North America, Ecosia.orgAbout Ruby AuRuby Au is the Head of North America at Ecosia, where she is responsible for Ecosia's user growth and market strategy across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Prior to joining Ecosia, Ruby worked in Nairobi's social impact & tech startup scene, where she founded and exited Lumen Labs, a Nairobi-based EdTech company. She later launched the African office for San Francisco startup Endless Computers as their Business Development Lead in Africa. Ruby holds dual degrees in Business and Environmental Science from the University of Southern California.
About EcosiaEcosia is a not-for-profit tech company based in Berlin, Germany that dedicates 100% of its profits to the planet. It finances tree-planting projects as well as other environmental and social initiatives, such as solar power plants and community-driven climate projects. By offering users a green alternative to search and browse online, Ecosia has been able to plant over 160 million trees worldwide. The company is B-Certified, and maintains high standards of transparency, social responsibility, and environmental stewardship throughout its operations and spheres of influence. Additionally, the company maintains strong data sovereignty practices so that its users are not trailed by the same digital footprint found in other for-profit search engines and digital marketing platforms.
RESOURCES & RELATED PODCAST EPISODESEcosia.org
Chicago project: https://blog.ecosia.org/openlands/
Los Angeles project: https://blog.ecosia.org/urban-tree-equity/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruby-au/
Episode 94 - Tom Chi, At One Ventures
Episode 95 - John Liu, Ecosystem Restoration Camps
Episode 85 - Kate Williams, 1% for the Planet
Episode 65 - Eric Lombardi, Social Enterprise & Protecting the Commons
Episode 96 – John Fullerton, The Capital Institute
Episode 127 - John Perkins, Life Economy vs. Death Economy
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[Got “Life” Economy?] John Perkins discusses his updated 3rd edition of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, in which his NYTimes bestseller is brought current with a special focus on China’s rise to global economic dominance alongside the United States, which has held the position of largest economy (and global influencer) since World War Two. Building on his distinction between a “Life Economy” and “Death Economy,” as presented in his book Touching the Jaguar (see Y on Earth Community Podcast Episode #72), Perkins makes clear the dysfunctions of “business as usual,” and lays out several of their key origins (including the 1980s “greed is good” attitude that was central to the economic theories of Nobel Prize winners Friedrich von Hayek (1974) and Milton Friedman (1976) who advocated shareholder profits as the ONLY objective of corporate behavior). In addition to articulating many of the key reasons we are facing the global crisis that stand now before us, Perkins also articulates the characteristics and strategies needed to change course and to achieve a “life economy” instead.
That is, Perkins is helping to find the path from a deeply flawed “predatory capitalism” to a much more ethically oriented “stakeholder capitalism,” in which an ethos of stewardship, regeneration, care of humanity, and relief of suffering is paramount. Having worked as an “economic hit man” (EHM) himself, Perkins now sees how China has deployed similar tactics around the globe in order to further its own national interest. He discusses the EHM strategy as having four main tactics: fear, debt, anxiety (over perceived/manufactured scarcity/insufficiency of capital and other resources), and a divide and conquer approach to securing access to resources, markets, and policy makers.
But, especially through his work with indigenous cultures in the Americas, Perkins has come to understand that our economic system isn’t the product of some immutable laws of nature, but is the outcome of prevailing attitudes, cultural biases, myths – what he calls our “dreaming” – and that we can and must now “dream a new reality” together if we are to survive and thrive during this momentous time of change facing our entire planet and species. “Perception molds reality,” he writes, and “living at a critical moment in history” we are invited – implored – to examine and transform our deep-held perceptions.
You can pre-order the updated version of Confessions today and receive FREE access to a special 90-minute “fireside chat” webinar program with John Perkins – johnperkins.org.
ABOUT JOHN PERKINSJohn Perkins is the author of the NY Times best-selling Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (now in its 3rd Edition), Touching the Jaguar, The Secret History of the American Empire, and Hoodwinked. He has lived four professional lives: as chief economist of a major global consulting firm where his actual job was that of an Economic Hit Man (EHM – clandestinely trained by agents of the so-called “Washington Consensus”), as CEO of an alternative energy company, as an expert on indigenous cultures, and as a writer, teacher, and speaker who promotes ecology and sustainability. He co-founded the non-profits Dream Change and Pachamama Alliance and applied his consulting fees to championing indigenous rights and environmental movements, working especially closely with Amazonian nations. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man has become an international bestseller in 38 languages and has sold over 2 million copies. He has been featured on ABC, NBC, CNN, CNBC, NPR, A&E, the History Channel, and in Time, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Der Spiegel, and on the Y on Earth Community Podcast.
RESOURCES AND RELATED EPISODESJohnperkins.org
facebook.com/johnperkinsauthor
linkedin.com/in/johnperkinsauthor
Episode #96 – John Fullerton, Capital Institute, Regenerative Finance
Episode #72 – John Perkins, Touching the Jaguar
Episode #50 – Dr. Anita Sanchez, Indigenous Wisdom, Pachamama Alliance
Episode #25 – Hunter Lovins, A Finer Future
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[“The Earth Has Music for Those Who Listen”] Professor David George Haskell shares new insights and discoveries from his latest book, Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and the Crisis of Sensory Extinction. Dr. Haskell discusses the special “coil” geometry of the inner ear – which is filled with fluid very akin to sea water – and how an array of cilia, or special “hairs” shared by millions of species large and small, allow us to perceive the vibratory symphonies that exist all around us. However, with our specific biological evolution, we humans are only able to hear a narrow sliver of all of the vast diversity of nature’s sonic abundance with our ears – unaided by technology. But, with the many technological instruments at our disposal, we are able to detect and “hear” the subsonic and supersonic communications of our flying, swimming, microscopic, and other animal relatives.
David invites us to frequently practice listening to nature’s many sounds, and to endeavor to experience the unity of life. He also shares with us how our musical instruments – the drums, woodwinds, and strings, are often made from trees, metals, and even animal parts that are all part of the sonic experience here on Earth, and that music is therefore a deeply ecological experience. However, David tells us, the advent of industrial machines and crowded urban landscapes has introduced an entirely new sonic experience to humanity – one that may be best described as "sound pollution" and that may have, for many of us, severed the direct experience of interconnectedness and interbeing with life that was commonplace for our ancestors. Hence the vital importance of getting to the parks, the woods, and, if possible, the wildernesses outside of our cities and suburbs.
SOUND IS A GENERATIVE FORCESound is a generative force, David tells us, akin to the earliest compression waves of genesis: before matter in the early universe was the plasma, and in it, the compression waves of the sound of creation. From humpback whales, whose sounds can travel thousands of miles through the ocean, to the tiniest of shrimp, and from the high-pitched call of the elk to the ultrasonic cacophony of bat colonies, our world is awash in sound… the sound of life.
ABOUT DAVID HASKELLDavid George Haskell is a biologist whose work integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of the natural world. He is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Sewanee: The University of the South and a Guggenheim Fellow. Winner of the 2012 National Outdoor Book Award for Natural History Literature, and the 2013 Reed Environmental Writing Award. Dr. Haskell delivers a unique perspective grounded in modern biological/ecological science and enriched by a more prosaic and timeless cultural ethos of connection and biophilia. His 2017 book, The Songs of Trees, won the John Burroughs Medal for distinguished natural history writing and was named one of the Best Science Books of 2017 by Public Radio International’s “Science Friday,” and was selected by Forbes.com as one of the 10 Best Environment, Climate Science and Conservation Books of 2017. His 2012 book, The Forest Unseen, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN / E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award.
RELATED LINKSDghaskell.com
Podcast Episode 24 – David George Haskell The Song of Trees
Podcast Episode 64 – Bethany Yarrow, Sacred Sound & Sacred Water
Joachim-Ernst Berendt - Wikipedia (Author of Nada Brahma: The World Is Sound, and The Third Ear)
Welewaters.com
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[Got Healing Adaptogens?] Danielle Ryan Broida, Co-Author of Healing Adaptogens: The Definitive Guide to Using Super Herbs and Mushrooms for Your Body’s Restoration, Defense, and Performance, provides a comprehensive overview of 21 key adaptogenic medicinal herbs and mushrooms in this special podcast episode. In this interview, you’ll hear about the key health and wellness attributes of: Chaga, Eleuthero, Turkey Tail, Turmeric, Goji, Schisandra, Acerola, Ginseng, Cordyceps, Maca, Lion’s Mane, Mucuna, Gotu Kola, Rhodiola, Ashwagandha, Reishi, Tulsi, Cacao, Gynostemma, Moringa, and Astragalus.*
About Healing AdaptogensThis amazing book, co-authored with Four Sigmatic Founder and CEO Tero Isokauppila, provides one of the most concise and accessible resources available to better understand the “defense, performance, and restorative” characteristics of these twenty-one adaptogens that have been utilized for thousands of years in folk and indigenous cultural traditions world-wide. With antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, digestion-aiding, endurance-enhancing, energy-boosting, neurotropic, neurobiochemistry enhancing, cognitive-boosting, restorative, nutrient-dense, immune-boosting, stress-mitigating, sleep-enhancing, mood-balancing, gut health promoting, beneficial microbiome enhancing, hormonal-balancing, and libido-enhancing effects, these adaptogens are utilize by millions of people world-wide, and are being studied throughout the global scientific community for their myriad benefits on overall impacts on health, wellness, performance, longevity, and quality of life.
*These statements are of an educational and cultural anthropological nature and have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Moreover, these products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Consult your physician for guidance on the appropriate use of these adaptogens. Although the United States FDA has been in existence for mere decades, humanity’s use of the treasure trove of ethnopharmacological abundance found on planet Earth dates back thousands of years, and, many believe, has been essential to humanity’s health, wellbeing, and evolution since time immemorial. Some people consider the systematic obfuscation of traditional herbal and mycological medicinal knowledge to be a form of cultural genocide, and to be an instrument of economic and political exploitation, not to mention the recent abuses by “Big Pharma” that have come to light through myriad criminal and civil legal proceedings, individual and class-action litigation, and critical investigative journalism.
About Danielle Ryan BroidaDanielle Ryan Broida is the co-author of Healing Adaptogens. She is a Registered Herbalist (AHG – American Herbalists Guild), Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Instructor of Mycology, and National Educator for Four Sigmatic. After receiving her degree in Environmental Studies and Philosophy from Whitman College, she studied Ayurveda in India became a Certified Yoga Instructor on the banks of the Ganges River and opened a private practice specializing in functional mushroom-based treatment for individuals with autoimmune conditions and chronic illness. Danielle has found her calling as an Instructor of Mycology at the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, and as Head of Education at Four Sigmatic. She brings her passion and expertise in herbal medicine, clinical practice, teaching, formulation, and her deep love for fungi, to the Everyday Magic® of Four Sigmatic.
Get a 20% discount on orders over $60 at foursigmatic.com using code: YONEARTH, and partial proceeds will be donated to the Y on Earth Community.
Resourcesdanielleryanwellness.com
foursigmatic.com (Use code: YONEARTH for 20% discount on orders over $60)
healingadaptogens.com @danielleryanbroida
@hayhouse
VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
Podcast Episode 118 – Miguel Gil, CEO, Organic India USA
Podcast Episode 117 – Mike Bronner, President, Dr. Bronner’s, the “Chocolate Episode”
Podcast Episode 116 – David Sandoval, Founder, Purium Organic Superfoods
Podcast Episode 110 – Brigitte Mars, “Cannabis as the Tree of Life”
Podcast Episode 19 – Brigitte Mars, “The Power of Herbal Medicine”
Podcast Episode 05 – Stephanie Syson, Biodynamic Botanicals Herbal Medicine Farm/Garden Tour
Yonearth.org/partners-supporters
yonearth.org/purium
welewaters.com
yonearth.org/support
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Nick DiDomenico is Co-Founder of Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR), which educates, designs, installs, and maintains regenerative land stewardship projects throughout the Boulder County region in Colorado. Utilizing terraforming, agroforestry, silvo-pasture, holistic grazing, and other strategies, Nick and his team are working to restore hundreds of acres. By shaping the land to collect, store, and distribute water throughout the landscape, and planting thousands of rootstock and sapling trees and shrubs using the “S.T.U.N.” (Shear Total and Utter Neglect) method, they are establishing hearty, drought-tolerant food forests in this semi-arid region and are helping to reverse desertification that is threatening thousands of acres in the region due to mismanagement. At Elk Run Farm, DAR’s demonstration and education center, the team grows Blue Corn, Amaranth, Hopi Black Beans, Chihuahua Blue Beans, and dozens of vegetables, herbs, and medicinal plants in the forest garden nucleus of the property. Sheep, pigs, chickens, and ducks provide a variety of ecological functions to the system, along with endless hours of entertainment for visiting children, students, and volunteers. Part of a global network of regeneration projects, Elk Run is the first Ecosystem Restoration Camp to be established in Colorado. Describing a deep spiritual connection to the land, water, and restoration work, Nick talks about the importance of reciprocity, community connection, collaboration with indigenous leaders, and weaving “technologies of prayer” into this lifestyle of service and stewardship.
HIS and HERSThis episode with Nick is a special “HIS” episode, which pairs with the “HERS” episode with DAR Co-Founder Marissa Pulaski (Episode #123). Through DAR, the couple offer Permaculture Design Certification workshops, regenerative agriculture and drylands silvo-pasture design workshops, retreats for pre- and post-partum healing and restoration, and delightfully grounding dance parties.
ABOUT NICK DIDOMENICOHailing from the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Nick is a regenerative designer, farmer, and builder. Inspired by indigenous culture and ancient farming practices, he works passionately to design the future of living systems. In 2015, Nick began farming on a barren and desertified 14-acre parcel of land in rural north Boulder County, now called Elk Run Farm, also the pilot research project for Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR). Today, Nick is working to develop climate change solutions through regenerative farming, working with private and public landowners across Boulder County.
RESOURCES & RELATED EPISODES* DAR.ECO * Facebook.com/drylandsagroecology * @elkrunfarm * Episode 94 – Tom Chi, Founder, At One Ventures * Episode 95 – John Liu, Founder, Ecosystem Restoration Camps * Episode 121 – Oliver Retzloff, Co-Founder, Wild Nectar Farm * Episode 123 – Marissa Pulaski, Co-Founder, Drylands Agroecology Research * VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
IMAGES
Marissa Pulaski is Co-Founder of Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR), an educational and community non-profit headquartered at Elk Run Farm near Lyons, Colorado. In this episode, Marissa discusses regenerative patterns, community relationships, food sovereignty projects with Shoshone, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Ute colleagues, Harvest of All First Nations, Spirit of the Sun seed saving projects, Community Roots Midwife Collective, and the Folk Farm School for youngsters. Describing the importance of the “language of the heart,” Marissa also discusses the imperatives of play, pleasure, spontaneity, dancing, grounding, praying, weeping, dreaming, freedom, and recognizing that we are all indigenous to Earth. She discusses her global travels and immersion in indigenous cultures in Tanzania, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and elsewhere as profoundly influential to her worldview and to her commitment to help create a new, post-industrial, post-colonial, “place-based” culture.
HIS and HERSThis episode with Marissa is a special “HERS” episode, which pairs with the “HIS” episode with DAR Co-Founder Nick DiDominico. Through DAR, the couple offer Permaculture Design Certification workshops, regenerative agriculture and drylands silvopasture design workshops, retreats for pre- and post-partum healing and restoration, and delightfully grounding dance parties.
ABOUT MARISSA PULASKIAs a graduate of Environmental Studies and the Psychology of Health and Healing at Naropa University, Marissa is passionate about igniting the innate human-earth connection within herself and others. She runs Folk Farm at Elk Run, encouraging play and the importance of intuition. A trained Doula, skilled herbalist, and cultural advocate, Marissa continues to evolve through practicing ritual, embodiment, and communication with the unseen. Marissa directs both the cultural advocacy and education branch within DAR. Leading programs for indigenous led cultivation and regenerative practice.
RESOURCES & RELATED EPISODES DAR.ECO * Facebook.com/drylandsagroecology * @elkrunfarm * Episode 19 – Brigitte Mars on Herbal Medicine * Episode 57 – Mohawk Women Lead the Three Sisters Sovereignty Project * Episode 95 – John Liu, Founder, Ecosystem Restoration Camps * Episode 108 - Ann Armbrecht, Author of Business of Botanicals* * Episode 121 – Oliver Retzloff, Co-Founder, Wild Nectar Farm * Episode 124 - Nick DiDomenico, Co-Founder, Drylands Agroecology Research * VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
IMAGESTRANSCRIPTComing Soon!
[Biochar Science with Dr. David Laird] In this episode Dr. David Laird, PhD, discusses the science of biochar. Biochar is a form of charcoal that occurs naturally as a result of forest fire, and that is produced in a controlled combustion called pyrolysis. Biochar is increasingly recognized as essential to many soil-building processes, and is hailed for its unique carbon sequestration properties.
ABOUT BIOCHAR
Biochar is like a sponge of sorts, with small, cavernous spaces throughout its structure that provide habitat for soil microbiology and that provide water absorption and retention advantages to soils. It is estimated that between 10% and 50% of the carbon in natural soils is char. With chemical properties between those of graphite and biopolymers (all forms of carbon), biochar has a “half-life” of 100s if not 1000s of years; meaning that the carbon absorbed from the atmosphere by the plants and trees that are made into char remains in the ground and doesn’t release back into the atmosphere for a relatively long time. This is the reason that the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other leading scientific authorities recognize biochar as a key to climate stabilization.
Dr. Laird discusses how evolving policy alongside evolving carbon credit markets are helping to transform the economic and ecological landscapes for farmers, ranchers, foresters, and other land-stewards who can apply biochar to their soils. With the correct incentives and market drivers, biochar has the potential to deliver one gigaton of net carbon reduction annually in the United States and 10 gigatons world-wide.
ABOUT DR. DAVID LAIRD, PHD
David Laird received a PhD in agronomy from Iowa State University in 1987. He is currently founder and president of N-Sense Inc, an agrotechnology company and professor emeritus at Iowa State University. As a professor he mentored 20 M.S. and Ph.D. students. He is author or co-author of over 157 refereed journal articles and book chapters related to biochar, bioenergy, clay mineralogy, clay surface chemistry and environmental science. His publications have been cited over 20,000 times and his h-index is 60 (Google Scholar). Previously he served as editor of Geoderma, associate editor for Soil Science Society of America Journal and Clays and Clay Minerals and as President and vice-president of the Clay Minerals Society. He is a fellow in the American Society of Agronomy and the Soil Science Society of America.
LINKS, RESOURCES, AND RELATED EPISODES
Video - David Laird: Biochar for Carbon-Negative Energy
International Biochar Initiative
Biochar Research Network Act of 2022 - SB4895 / HB8596
YONEARTH.ORG/SOILWERKS
YONEARTH.ORG/SOILACTIVATION
Episode 120 - Rowdy Yeatts, Founder, High Plains Biochar
Episode 91 – Finean Makepeace, Co-Producer, Kiss the Ground Movie
Episode 89 – Dr. Yichao Rui, Chief Soil Scientist, Rodale Institute
Episode 70 – Jeff Moyer, CEO, Rodale Institute
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[Got Flowers?] Oliver Retzloff shares about his flower growing enterprise at Wild Nectar Farm, where he and his husband Eric Knutson farm, ranch, and educate aspiring new and young regenerative farmers. In this episode, we are treated to the visually rich flower farm, and to the myriad ways in which growing and enjoying the beauty of flowers is central to the regenerative movement, to stewardship, and to creating a saner, safer, and more aesthetically pleasing lifeways on planet Earth.
ABOUT THE FLOWERS
We discuss Dahlias, Zinnias, Cosmos, Marigolds, Snapdragons, and others, and learn about their amazing healing and wellness properties as well as their roles in enhancing the vitality and balance in the regenerative farming context. Called the “unicorn of flowers” by Oliver, Dahlias are the national flower of Mexico, and their tubers are traditionally used by the Aztec people as a substitute for potatoes, a way to transport water, and as a natural sweetener. Zinnias are said to have antioxidant, antifungal, phytoremediative, and antimalarial properties, and are traditionally regarded by the Navajo people as sacred life medicine, and by the Pueblo people as enhancers of intelligence and eloquence. Cosmos are said to symbolize order and harmony, and to represent balance, tranquility, peace, love, modesty, innocence, joy and beauty. Marigolds are known to repel damaging insects from the rest of the garden and have traditional uses ranging from dyeing to treating jaundice, conjunctivitis, and fever. Snapdragons are native to the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern region, and are said to alleviate minor burns, detoxify the blood, purify the liver, and help reduce fever. As Oliver mentions, these flowers and many others make excellent pollinator habitat, and natural flower farmers who don’t use dangerous pesticides will often encounter the sight of bumblebees sleeping inside the blossoms of Snapdragons and other enveloping flowers.
ABOUT OLIVER, ERIC, AND WILD NECTAR FARMS
Wild Nectar Farms is located in Colorado, nestled up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in rural Boulder County. While Oliver is tending to the flowers, cutting and arranging bouquets for special events, and coordinating deliveries to local boutique flower shops, Eric can be found ranching, grass farming, and stewarding grass-fed cattle and the working horses and dogs employed to tend the herds. In their stewardship work, Oliver and Eric have learned to listen, observe, be patient, and above all, to recognize that nature is in control. Through the Flatirons Farmers Coalition, they teach practical skills to up-and-coming regenerative farmers in the region. They radiate and embody the special LOVE that is experienced in close intimacy with nature and encourage others to cultivate this deep connectedness with life.
LINKS, RESOURCES, & RELATED EPISODES
Wild Nectar Farm
Flatirons Farmers Coalition
facebook.com/wildnectarfarm
Yonearth.org/Soilwerks
Yonearth.org/Purium
Welewaters.com
Episode 03 – Brook Le Van, Biodynamic Farming & Soil Stewardship
Episode 06 – Stephanie Syson, Biodynamic Botanicals Herb and Flower Farm
Episode 19 – Brigitte Mars – The Power of Herbal Medicine
Episode 29 – Courtney Cosgriff – Honeybee Herbals
Episode 110 - Brigitte Mars - Cannabis as the Tree of Life
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[Got Biochar?] Rowdy Yeatts, Founder and CEO of High Plains Biochar, discusses the company’s RocketChar 301 technology for farm-scale and community-scale biochar production. Dubbed the “Prius” of Biochar technologies, RocketChar is very simple and elegant in design, allowing for easy in-field operation by non-engineering users. From Indiana to India, the technology has world-wide applications and can even be used in off-grid situations, as it is capable of generating its own electricity for operation controls.
About Biochar
Biochar is a form of charcoal that can be made from a variety of organic material, including woody biomass, corn stover, hemp stalks, and even cattle manure. Like charcoal, the char is made through a process called pyrolysis in which oxygen is limited, causing the biomass to smolder. The process creates substantial micro-tubule caverns in the material, resulting in a sponge-like, water absorbing, and soil micro-organism habitat that boosts soil building and carbon sequestration performance substantially. One gram of biochar is estimated to have 200 to 300 square meters of surface area as a result of this capillary porosity. Although precision technology is emerging to make biochar on a massive scale world-wide, the technique is an ancient one, made for centuries by pre-contact indigenous societies in Amazonia (such biochar is known as Terra Preta), and by many other folk and indigenous peoples around the planet. Now with the world-wide activation of robust carbon credit markets, and increasing demand for such credits from a variety of corporate and philanthropic buyers, biochar production is poised to scale exponentially, and could be capable of sequestering one gigaton (one billion tons) of atmospheric carbon annually.
About Rowdy Yeatts & High Plains Biochar
Originally from Casper, Wyoming, Rowdy attended high school and college in Oklahoma where he graduated from Oklahoma State University with a business degree. With a long-time interest in building and metal fabrication, Rowdy owned a boat dock construction business before founding High Plains Biochar in collaboration with the Kansas and Nebraska Forest Service agencies. In 2021 Rowdy and High Plains Biochar participated in Microsoft’s funded accelerator called gBeta, and in 2022 the company was selected for a US Department of Energy technology accelerator called REACH which is administered by Colorado State University and Innosphere Ventures in Fort Collins, Colorado. The company is also collaborating with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union to develop a carbon credit cooperative model for its biochar customers and RocketChar producers. In 2022 Kevin Johnson joined the High Plains Biochar executive management team and is working closely with Rowdy to scale up manufacturing, sales, and capitalization of the company’s activities.
LINKS, RESOURCES, AND RELATED EPISODES
HPBIOCHAR.COM
FACEBOOK.COM/HPBIOCHAR
YONEARTH.ORG/SOILWERKS
YONEARTH.ORG/SOILACTIVATION
Episode 91 - Finean Makepeace, Co-Producer, Kiss the Ground Movie
Episode 89 - Dr. Yichao Rui, Chief Soil Scientist, Rodale Institute
Episode 70 - Jeff Moyer, CEO, Rodale Institute
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[Got Waste Shark?] Richard Hardiman, Founder and CEO of Netherlands-based RanMarine Technology, discusses his innovative approach to cleaning up water born plastics. The “Waste Shark” is an autonomous water vessel that gobbles up unwanted contamination from the surface of oceanic, river, lake, and marina waters.
ABOUT RICHARD HARDIMAN & RANMARINE TECHNOLOGY
Richard, whose father is an engineer and whose mother is an artist, embodies the combination of creativity and technical precision that is so essential to innovating solutions for ecosystem restoration, environmental clean-up, and planetary healing. In addition to collecting and consolidating plastics for proper disposal, the Waste Shark is also capable of collecting unwanted algal blooms as well as critical environmental data from the marine environments it patrols (turbidity, acidity, oxygenation, etc.). With cellular, GPS, satellite connectivity and top-mounted LIDAR imaging technology capable of capturing images in 360 degrees around the vessel, the Waste Shark is also an important autonomous data gathering node in the global webwork of environmental monitoring devices. The technology can also be used in the vicinity of wind farms and other offshore energy infrastructure to monitor for a variety of environmental impacts.
Under Richard’s leadership, RanMarine is developing a larger Mega Shark device, and is also developing oil-spill cleanup capabilities for its robots. The company provides its technology solutions to municipalities, state departments, hotels and golf courses, and even customers like Disney and Universal in Orlando, Florida to help clean up the debris from their daily fireworks shows.
And, speaking of Florida, the technology is also useful in the cleanup of hurricane aftermath and other environmental catastrophes that release even greater amounts of plastics and other pollution into the world’s rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Richard Hardiman is the founder and CEO of RanMarine Technology, a Netherlands based USV (Unmanned Surface Vessels) company. A graduate of the GSB, Cape Town, Richard has been involved in a number of businesses, both as startups and scale ups since graduating in 2009. In 2016 Richard embarked on his most ambitious project yet, developing a water-borne drone that harvest plastic waste from the world's ports, harbors, rivers and marinas in an effort to reduce the effects of plastic pollution on the Earth's oceans.
Richard’s company, based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands now produces the WasteShark, which has been exported globally to USA, UAE, India, Germany and South Africa. Added to the WasteShark’s ability to collect waste, RanMarine has now also pioneered the collection of live data from water-borne drones, to measure water heath quality.
Not only has RanMarine Technology been able to disrupt the largely staid and closed environment of Maritime industry and has been able to use its technology to increase awareness around data in the sector. While it has by no means been a linear journey to success, Richard and his team have managed to create a business around new environmental innovation and at the same time be both commercially and environmentally successful; Richard believes this is one of the team's greatest achievements, commercial success based on doing good for the environment globally.
Richard divides his time between Cape Town, South Africa and Rotterdam, The Netherlands as the business expands into new markets.
Richard is a former journalist, broadcaster and Tedx speaker. Recently Richard became the recipient of the international AACSB Business Schools most Influential Leaders Honoree award in the category of CSR and Sustainability.
LINKS, RESOURCES & RELATED EPISODES
Podcast Episode #94 - Tom Chi, At One Ventures
Podcast Episode #65 - Eric Lombardi, Social Enterprise & Protecting the Commons
Podcast Episode #52 – Emilie McGlone, Peace Boat US
Richard on TedX Capetown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raYsXOJf8fc
RANMARINE.IO
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/ranmarine/
Facebook -https://www.facebook.com/RanMarineTechnology
Twitter - https://twitter.com/RanMarineTech
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ranmarinetechnology/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUggTYkPKwEaKKbC_IE8iTw
VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
WELEWATERS.COM
YONEARTH.ORG/PURIUM
YONEARTH.ORG/SOILWERKS
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ABOUT MIGUEL GIL & ORGANIC INDIA USA
[Got Liquid Yoga?] Miguel Gil, CEO of ORGANIC INDIA USA, discusses the tremendous healing benefits and deep cultural significance of Tulsi (Ocimum sactum), called the “Queen of Herbs” that is a center piece of the company’s organic tea, supplements, and fiber offerings. In addition to Tulsi, or “Holy Basil,” which millions in the Hindu faith grow in their own gardens, ORGANIC INDIA also offers teas and supplements with Turmeric, Ashwaghanda, and Shatavari, the healing properties of which have been espoused by Vedic and other ancient Indian cultures for millennia.
Organic India is a mission-driven company that direct sources its ingredients from over 2,500 family farmers in India, at an estimated 17% premium over commodity market pricing, and was founded specifically to help communities – and especially widows and orphans – especially hard hit by the financial and toxicity burdens of the so-called “green revolution” inflicted by multinational chemical corporations and other conspirators. One of the first and only Fair Trade supplement companies in the United States, ORGANIC INDIA USA is also now in the process of certifying its Tulsi through the Regenerative Organic Alliance’s Regenerative Organic Certification. In India, ORGANIC INDIA’s cutting-edge processing facility, which had its ribbon-cutting in 2019, is a Platinum LEED Certified factory.
Organic India’s products are formulated with the care and wisdom of the ancient Ayruveda tradition, and combines ancient traditions with modern ethnopharmacology and advanced formulations maximizing the adaptogenic benefits of its herbal blends. Tulsi has been long-known for its calming, stress-relieving, anti-microbial, immune boosting, and digestion aiding properties. Revered as a reincarnation of the goddess Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, Tulsi is considered divine in the plant kingdom, and as a connector between heaven and Earth is affiliated with prosperity and abundance.
After decades in the field of international business development, Miguel Gil was looking for something new. “I found myself reflecting on an inner void I was somehow never able to fill, despite my successes. I always felt that there was another more fulfilling, more meaningful path ahead of me that would allow me to be of service to a greater cause.” When Gil was introduced to the founders of ORGANIC INDIA, he witnessed a company with a vision that mirrored his own, and eventually accepted the invitation to take the helm at ORGANIC INDIA USA. “My long-awaited calling had come, with a glorious opportunity to be of service to a community dedicated to true wellness and healthy, conscious living.” Gil continues to lead the growth of ORGANIC INDIA USA. Committed to the triple bottom line, taking a holistic view of success that benefits people, profit, and the planet, Gil has led the company to its most successful quarter in the company’s recent history while continuing to share stories of regenerative agriculture and environmental recovery, fair trade practices, an altruistic supply chain, and a new business model based on value contribution at every step.
Use the code: YONEARTH to receive a 20% discount on your first order at ORGANICINDIA.COM.
RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES
Episode 117 – Michael Bronner, President, Dr. Bronner’s
Episode 89 – Yichao Rui, Senior Soil Scientist, Rodale Institute
Episode 70 – Jeff Moyer, CEO, Rodale Institute
Episode 21 – Chef Maria Cooper
Episode 19 – Brigitte Mars, Herbalist & Author
Episode 5 – Stephanie Syson, Biodynamic Botanicals
VIRIDTASBOOK.COM
ORGANICINDIA.COM
@ORGANICINDIAUSA
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[Got Magic Chocolate?] Michael Bronner, President of Dr. Bronner’s, discusses their delicious new line of Magic Chocolates. Building upon their global network of socially responsible, regenerative farming communities, the company is now blending mouth-watering, velvety chocolates with the finest regeneratively and organically grown ingredients and the alchemical wizardry of Swiss chocolatiers.
ABOUT MICHAEL BRONNER & DR BRONNER'S MAGIC CHOCOLATE
Made from Theobroma cacao, or “food of the gods” according to the ancient Greek etymology, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Chocolate is available in six flavors: Salted Whole Almond, Salted Almond Butter, Crunchy Hazelnut Butter, Roasted Whole Hazelnuts, Salted Dark Chocolate, and Smooth Coconut Praline. And, as revealed in the “behind the scenes” footage, available exclusively to Y on Earth Community Ambassadors, new flavors are due out soon. Additionally, the special chocolate is sweetened by organic coconut sugar, adding to the health and wellness benefits of the special bars.
Citing Dr. Bronner’s motto, that “we want to fulfill chocolate’s promise as an expression of love,” Michael describes how the company’s approach to transparency, pricing premiums paid to farmers, investment of proceeds in community funds, and creating schools for the children of the farming communities in which their raw ingredients are grown and harvested are all part of the company’s advanced regenerative organic strategy – this is a VERY different approach than the deliberately opaque and slavery/exploitation/child labor reality of main-stream chocolate supply chains. Michael shares that chocolate has its origins in Mayan and other indigenous Mesoamerican cultures in which the chocolate itself is described as “love emotes,” and that with European conquest over the past several centuries so much of this love has been excluded, excised, and squeezed out of the magical world of chocolate… until now.
A leader in the regenerative organic and stakeholder capitalism movements, Dr. Bronner’s maintains a self-imposed 5:1 salary cap between the highest and lowest paid full-time, fully vested executives and employees, provides health care, child care, and profit sharing, and reallocates all of its profits to taxes and charity after reinvesting as needed in the company’s capital infrastructure.
After graduating from Brown University with a degree in English, Michael traveled the world extensively, studying in Ethiopia and teaching English language in Japan for three years. A philanthropist, activist, and active community leader, Michael is an advocate for many social and environmental justice causes advanced by the company, including Fair Trade, organic standards, animal advocacy, and ocean conservation. He was promoted from Vice President to President in 2015, and his first directive under his new title was to promote his brother David to CEO – Cosmic Engagement Officer.
PODCAST EXCERPTS
Mike: "Well what's special about our chocolate? First of all, it's absolutely delicious, right? You mentioned I have, I have two kids or gosh, almost nine and almost six. And you know, we're talking about a, a rich dark chocolate that contains the finest ingredients from all over the world. You know, we get our, our cocoa from Ghana and the Ivory Coast and our, our coconut and sugar from Indonesia and, you know, vanilla from Madagascar. But despite not having any sugar, but coconut sugar, not having any cane sugar and being dark, my kids devour it, right? Like this is super indulgent chocolate. It comes in six varieties."
Aaron: "And you guys, obviously, across all of your products are deeply engaged in a number of communities in multiple countries."
Mike: "Yes. it's a new thing for me to start talking about chocolate use. Usually I talk about soap, so it's going to be fun."
RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES
Episode 114 - Elizabeth Whitlow, Executive Director, Regenerative Organic Alliance
Episode 111 - Gero Leson, Dr Bronner's Executive, Author "Honor Thy Label"
Episode 70 - Jeff Moyer, CEO, Rodale Institute
Episode 69 - Ryan Zinn, Dr Bronner's Regenerative Projects Manager
Episode 63 - David Bronner, CEO, Dr Bronner's
VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
VIRIDITAS-SOCIETY.ORG
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[GOT PURIUM?] David Sandoval, founder of the organic super foods company Purium, shares his passion for optimal health, financial freedom, and community service in this special episode. Dave and co-founder Amy Venner located their 40,000 square foot production facility located in the heart of Long Beach after the Rodney King “riots” devastated an already beleaguered community.
Motivated to provide local families – especially mothers – with far better economic opportunity than was otherwise available, Purium has since help uplift 1,000s of families and bring healing and prosperity to communities throughout the United States and around the world. David combines Naturopathy, Phytochemistry, and Foodology to formulate high-performance super foods that help us to (1) eat less quantity, and (2) receive far more nourishing nutrition in what we do eat.
If you’d like to experience the Purium magic, you can use the special code: YONEARTH to get $50 or 25% off your first order (whichever is greater), and proceeds from every order you make will benefit the Y on Earth Community. Go to YONEARTH.ORG/PURIUM or ISHOPPURIUM.COM to find products and to learn more.
ABOUT DAVID SANDOVAL AND PURIUM
Purium was created with a conscious network marketing business model (instead of the traditional “brick-and-mortar” wholesale or “mom and pop” direct sales at farmers markets and via online markets like Amazon), and provides a framework through which driven, dedicated individuals are able to get a grip on their own professional and financial realities while helping others improve their health and wellbeing. The company has created a “Million Moms Movement” in order to make this particular form of freedom available to mothers in communities all over – not only enhancing financial freedom, but also freedom of time and freedom of location.
Mr. Sandoval has been intimately involved in the evolution of organic standards, especially via the Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA) and has more recently helped Purium to become a leader in non-plastic packaging, using compostable bamboo- and hemp-based packaging instead. And, because the company employs a special “low temperature, fast dehydration” process at the farm sites when its organic super foods are harvested, it is able to ship nutrient dense and enzyme laden food blends in a format that is 95% the weight and volume of the harvested crops, further enhancing the carbon footprint and energy performance of the company’s supply chains.
Now, Dave is spearheading regenerative agriculture efforts in Utah and elsewhere and is inspiring an entire network of people to deepen their devotion to a regenerative lifestyle and experience of eating high quality, organic foods on a daily basis.
David is the author of The Green Foods Bible and The Toxin That Came to Dinner (free download available – see link below). He is also the co-founder of The A.W.A.K.E.N. Project, which provides rejuvenation retreats for families whose lives have been touched by autism.
PODCAST EXCERPTS
“healing begins at home…”
RELATED EPISODES & RESOURCES
Episode #106 – Jackie Bowen, Executive Director, Clean Label Project
Episode #91 – Finian Makepeace, Co-Producer, Kiss the Ground Movie
Episode #70 – Jeff Moyer, CEO, the Rodale Institute
Episode #37 – Dr. Nicola Siso PhD, Aspen Talks Health
Episode #3 – Brook Le Van, Biodynamic Farming & Soil Stewardship
THETOXINTHATCAMETODINNER.COM (free download)
ISHOPPURIUM.COM (use code: YONEARTH for discounts)
YONEARTH.ORG/PURIUM
VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
VIRIDITAS-SOCIETY.ORG
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Aaron: We're recording. Welcome to the Y on Earth Community Podcast. I'm your host, Aaron William Perry. And today we're visiting with the founder of Purium David Sandoval. Hey Dave, how you doing?
David: Oh, I'm doing amazing. So great to be here with you.
Aaron: Yeah. Great to be with you too. Dave, looking forward to our conversation today,
David: Indeed.
Aaron: David Sandoval founded Purum on the belief that raw organic foods should be both accessible and affordable for everyone and sustainable and conscious of mother earth beginning in the early years of the whole foods movement, Dave researched and studied alongside the most recognized industry leaders from all over the world. This knowledge inspire Purium in the United States and platinum health in Europe with only a small space and a few products to start. Dave joined, uh, By co-founder Amy near hand selected organic farmers to help produce pure and premium super foods to start their organic super food company. Since their humble beginnings, they've grown Purium into a 40,000 square foot, fully automated manufacturing facility with over 100 employees and 60 packs and products. Even with all the growth though, Dave remains at the heart of every decision and after more than 20 years, he stays committed to the latest research and whole food advancements, a true family.
Aaron: Dave is a lover of all humans and takes great pride in living a life that authentically reflects his love for the earth and its people. And Dave, obviously that, that ethic, that ethos, that philosophy resonates so deeply with us here at the Y on Earth Community. And I'm thrilled to be announcing in this podcast episode, a very special partnership that we're launching between Purium and the Y on Earth Community. And we'll be talking about that more in providing some nice links and resources for folks. But, uh, before we go there, let me, let me ask you let's rewind, uh, and ask, why did you start Purum back in long beach when you did, what was that like paint that picture for us.
David: Excellent. Well, thank you. And that's a great way to PLA place to start, you know, um, at the beginning, uh, I was dedicated, I had been working for a Japanese pharmaceutical company for six, seven years and they were trying to take Chinese herb formulas, convert them into pharmaceutical drugs. And so I learned a lot about the, you know, about the farming of these herbs and how to grow them and what their properties were, but I wasn't that into the turning them into pharmaceutical drugs part, you know, a and so I left that company and decided to start my own super food company, taking those same super foods and herbs and just giving them to people the way that got intended, you know, directly from the earth, grown in pure soil and, you know, and then dehydrated by a special method that, you know, kept all of the nutrients intact. So the reason I started my company is cuz I wanted to give people direct access to the highest quality foods that were available on earth. And if they made a decision, you know, if they made that decision that they wanted to consume that quality of food, but it wasn't available. I thought that that would be a real tragedy. So, um, I don't remember whether you asked me why I started my company or why I started it in long beach. So, um, but I could both,
Aaron: No, yeah, really both. You know, you, you, you, I think brought some info about why you started the company, but yeah. Why long beach, how did that happen?
David: Well, my company's, you know, motto was to end human suffering, you know, and to basically save the world. And I thought if I'm going to save the world and I can't even save the neighborhood that I'm in, then that's a pretty, pretty bad place to be. I wanted to be, you know, um, that philosophy that, you know, that healing begins at home. The change we seek in the world must begin at home. So I went to long beach in 19 92, 19 93, after the Rodney king riots had destroyed that part of long beach and all the buildings were burnt out. They were covered in graffiti. I'm not joking. They were gang bangers, drug dealers, prostitutes and truck drivers was all that you saw in that neighborhood. And I said, this is where I'm needed. You know, this is where we're needed.
[05:00]
So we went there and we rehabilitated the buildings and we hired gang members and we hired what at the time, uh, was a term called welfare, you know, moms, which was a terrible demeaning term, but we looked, we sought 'em out. We hired them and we trained them and we changed their lives. And we turned around that community so much that just 12 years later, every building on the block is rehabilitated painted. They were jobs everywhere. And so we ended up renting eight different buildings on both sides of the blocks as we grew and grew and grew knowing that healing, our community first would give us the, sort of the, uh, I don't know, a jump start on healing, the world.
Aaron: That's really so beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. Yeah. And you know, at the. y and earth community, especially with our ambassadors, we talk so much about how the healing begins with us inside with the, uh, within, and of course, uh, we're dropping this podcast episode right in the midst of the launch and release of my visionary eco thriller novel of read toss in which Purium has mentioned several times. And, uh, that's a big theme in the story there as well. So, wow. That's, that's an incredible, incredible story and, and triumph really of, of the human spirit, this, uh, uh, experience you've shared with us about long beach. And now you guys are, uh, committed to this million mom movement. Could you tell us a bit about what that's all about and, and how that plays into your strategy and your work at period now?
David: Absolutely. Well, obviously we like to serve communities that are oftentimes underserved, you know? And so once we had helped long beach reach that status, we are now in Compton, you know, um, we, a new movie straight into Compton instead of straight outta Compton, but, um, but anyhow, yeah, the million mom movement is an extension of just that you see, there are people who are unable to hold a traditional job. Um, they're caretakers, they're mothers. Um, they might be home bound because of some, you know, personal, you know, thing that we, we just don't even know, you know, who knows they might be on a, a dialysis machine and can't even leave their home. But, but for the million mom movement is to serve these people, the caregivers, the mothers, you know, um, the stay at home parents and all the people who want an opportunity to participate in a vibrant economy, you know, healing, their communities, healing themselves, and the million mom movement introduces them to that opportunity.
David: You know, how to select food, how to go grocery shopping, what to be aware of, you know, um, so that their children, you know, and their families are avoiding the chemicals and the toxins and, and really the dangers that occur in what most people considered food, uh, to give you the one example and then we'll move on. Every mother gives her child those little round OS. Right. Um, and now we know that the little round OS are chemical in them, that could literally cause you know, um, autism could cause learning disorders could cause cancer and all these other things. And that's the first thing we're feeding our kids. And so the million mom movement as an awareness, social activism arm, uh of um that really gets out there and, you know, speaks to some of the issues that are facing our society, you know, and, and, and I'm really proud to have helped and spawn and, you know, uh, and, and, and cheer on.
Aaron: Yeah. So important, Dave, and, you know, we recently, uh, interviewed for another podcast episode, um, the executive director of the clean label project and, and they are helping, uh, to reveal to the public, so many different toxins that folks find in their foods and even their household cleaning products, right. And even the, uh, the sh shampoos and soaps and things moisturizers were using during and after our showers. And it's so important that the public not only, uh, become really smart about where these toxins exist to avoid them, but also become really smart about the special clean foods we can be taking to help rid our bodies of, of these toxins that we've already been exposed to. And I know that's one of the important keys in the Purum formulations, and I'm hoping you might speak to that a little bit, especially as it relates to the toxin, uh, glyphosate.
David: Well, you know, uh, many, many years ago I became aware of the problem of genetically modified organisms. And I became a real, you know, uh, advocate against that, I guess, a real warrior. And then I realized that the danger of GMOs was real, but the true present danger was actually glyphosate. The chemical used to support the production of genetically modified organisms.
[10:00]
And if you read my book, the toxin that came to dinner, it's just a 60 page, little tone, and it will illustrate literally it graphically. And I mean, with graphs, um, graphically, the correlations between the increase uses of this particular industrial chemical called glyphosate, we know what is Roundup, okay. And we can smell it. As soon as you walk into the garden store, you smell this chemical and you know that you, it's not good for you. Okay. And so, and so, uh, this Roundup, there's now billions of dollars of judgment against the makers because it's been proven that it causes cancer and damages the human body.
David: So in my book, the toxin that came to dinner, I will show you the increase in over one dozen of the most common conditions afflicting mankind today that did not even exist in 1980. They were barely on the map in 1980, when glyphosate was introduced. And now 40 years later, you could see the exact increase of these diseases in our population correlated to the tonnage of glyphosate used in the environment. And now 75% of all food sold in stores is contaminated with glyphosate. 95% of all beverages sold in stores are contaminated with glyphosate and 99% of all people tested only because they never say a hundred have glyphosate in their blood right now, as we speak and glyphosate harms your body by destroying, okay. By destroying the friendly, beneficial, okay. Flora in your stomach that is necessary for you to digest food, absorb toxins, and produce serotonin, which is why depression is rampant in America today.
Aaron: Yeah. It's so critical. Dave, if somebody wants to get your book, the toxin that came to dinner, uh, where do they go to get that? Where do they find that?
David: So I'm going to, I'm going to give you a, a free download. You just share it with everybody who communicates with you. Okay. And I'm going to get that to you.
Aaron: Excellent. Wonderful. That's awesome. And what, um, I know you have some specific products that are, uh, geared for removing, uh, glyphosate from our bodies. Could you tell us about that a little bit?
David: Well, you know, I remember you guys are a little younger than me, but the beetles said there's no problems. There's only solutions. Okay. And I believe that. And so when I saw the problem with glyphosate, I meditated and I prayed and people are like, well, why didn't you go to the scientific books? I said, because nobody had ever cleaned glyphosate from the body before this has not been done before. Okay. And so, um, I meditated and I prayed and all of a sudden people started coming to me. Okay. The representatives of, of a, uh, literally, um, a Nobel prize winning doctor, Albert San XY, the person who discovered vitamin C, along with, along with Linus Pauling, he was actually the lead doctor. Leis Pauling was his assistant, but most people don't know that. So our cent Ji's group came to me and said, we have something that we believe that you might want.
David: And it was, it was amazing. It was, it, it was the, the part of our anyway, four different people came to me over the next months that had no idea that I would ultimately put these unique ingredients together in order to accomplish something that had never been accomplished before. So first, okay. I use AOUS bacteria that will bloom inside of the gut. And as soon as it blooms, it's a, it, it attracts this chemical binds to the chemical, be natures the chemical, and then another one of our ingredients will actually bind to that and allow it to become part of our feces or our urine, so it could move out of our body. Right. Um, and, and then we have another ingredient that repairs, the damage that was done by the glyphosate. So we grab it, we remove it. And then we repair the damage that was done by the glyphosate.
David: Now our preclinical trial done in the United States, um, proved that we can eliminate 74% of glyphosate in the bodies of people who have not changed their diet, who have not changed their diet and correspondingly. For those of you who have, you know, the knowledge C reactive protein, the biomarker for inflammation was reduced by 75%.
[15:00]
Now, if you could imagine you go to any doctor and say, I've got a product that could reduce CRP by 75% in six weeks, that doctor's going to call you a straight up liar. Okay. But we've got the scientific proof that we could do it in a double blind clinical study, of course, you know, validated and verified by the, I think it's the NSA or NSF, whoever it is that, you know, national science foundation.
Aaron: Yeah. Probably NSF NSA, I think, is engaged in, uh,
David: Other things
Aaron: Security and digital ESP, ESP, and that sort of thing. Yeah. Um, cool, cool. That is just amazing. So I want to make sure at this point to share with our partnership, folks can go right to why on earth.org/purum, and right there, you're going to see some other videos and resources about the Purum product and some direct links to get in and get some of these products for yourself. Uh, there's a $50, uh, minimum savings on your first order and it's $50 or 25%. Whichever's greater additionally proceeds from your orders, your first and your ongoing orders, uh, will come back and benefit the work that we're doing at the Y on Earth Community, which of course is an educational, nonprofit, uh, making all manner of work possible, including our podcast series. And, um, yeah, I really encourage all of you folks to check it out. I'm currently enjoying the ultimate lifestyle transformation. I've actually lost a few pounds and feeling amazing. And for me, you know, I've been a comfort eater since I was a teenager. And so one of my big things is eating a lot more food than probably I should be eating. And with this, uh, ultimate lifestyle transformation, Dave, I've actually been eating a lot less and feeling great. So, uh, you know, there's so many other benefits in addition to the detoxification that you're speaking to,
David: We call that subtraction by addition, and it's real. Um, most people spend less money in the month that they do a ult, including the cost of the ult for food than they've ever spent before. Um, you're not getting cravings because of something called, uh, the bidders effect. You're going to be taking three bidders a day, two power shakes, and a sour cherry that's tar cherry. And that in turn stops your cravings for carbohydrates and sweets. Um, you're going to be satisfying. Uh, your, your basically your glucose, you know, tolerance level is going to be really nice. So you're not going to have any carbohydrate cravings. So those little impulse snacks and, and things that you buy, just cuz because those aren't going to happen either. So most people tell me that they save an average of two to $300, you know, a month after they started using Purum products. And that to me is what, like I said, subtraction, by addition, you add in the ult and you start subtracting aches, pains, you know, digestive issues, but you also start subtracting money from your budget.
Aaron: Yeah. Look, I can, uh, corroborate this cuz I did a little bit of the math, uh, myself here over these last few weeks, you know, as I'm preparing to help, uh, share the Purum story to a whole lot of folks in our network, I want to make sure I understand the impacts myself. And I will tell you, I can already vouch and say, I'm saving at least one, 200 a month right now. And, and probably ably more than that actually, when I really add it all up. So, you know, what's,
David: And think about this. Most people don't realize that doctors’ visits copays on, you know, on medications days lost at work. Those are money that we could count. But what about your quality of life? What about waking up feeling amazing? The way I do every day at 16? What about never having an acre pain? Like I never do at the age of 60, you know? Yeah. I got these wrinkles and I got this gray hair, you know, I'm living that, but what's on the inside is no different from when I was 17. I never have an ache or a pain, a digested issue. I've got no issues. I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee. None of that. And I'm 60 years old, 60 years young, excuse me,
[20:00]
Aaron: 60 years young. I love it, Dave. Well, in this, this brings up another, I think really important point, which is about lifestyle and freedom and we're talking financial freedom. We're talking freedom to move in time and space and do what we want with our time and space. And one of the beautiful things about the Purum model, right? And, and I've been doing a lot of work in research since graduate school on regenerative economic models and how we can transform what we're doing in business and in our economy at large. And I think this is a great example of one of the structural strategies and that is Purum is a conscious network marketing business model. And what that means is it, it for affords an opportunity for any of us to say yes and to engage and to essentially ramp up our, uh, passive income and earned income, uh, potential with a very different sense of freedom in terms of our own time and in terms of where we're spending our time. And I'd love for you to speak to that Dave and tell us, you know, how and why did you originally choose the network marketing model? And uh, what, what is that looking like for you today in terms of how you're seeing other people being impacted? And, and I'd love to hear a bit about, you know, what, what does your day to day look like as well, your own lifestyle in all of this?
David: Well, let's take it one step at a time and thank you so much for that question. You know, um, if you know anything about how to market to people, there's three different ways. There's you sell direct to them? Doesn't matter how you do it. You could set up a booth on the corner or you could sell direct to them on Amazon, but you sell direct to your consumer. Right? And in that way, you know, um, that's a, a very interesting way. However, there's limits to that. The other way to sell it is through a store. You get the stores to sell it for you. They put it on a shelf, people come into the store and, and they buy it that way. And the problem is with both of those business models is they're fairly impersonal the store, the distributor, the jobber, the broker, they all make a bunch of money.
David: And by the time you buy a product that costs say a hundred dollars, it costs, you know, um, the store owner, $50, the, the distributor paid 35 for it. And you know, and so there's a lot of money that goes into the ether. You know what I mean? That just disappears. And so, um, when you buy direct or sell direct, okay. Typically a whole bunch of money just goes into the hands of the manufacturer. They get stink and rich because they're selling directly to you and they've cut out all the middle man. Right. And, and so what I decided to do was I only wanted my product to be recommended by people who had a personal experience with it, a positive, personal, amazing experience, and then wanted to tell everybody about it. Okay. When I see a movie, I love, I put it on Facebook, immediately tell all my friends, when I read a book like yours, I'm going to tell my friends about it.
David: Right. They're going to buy the book when I, um, when I, you know, go to a restaurant, especially when I go to a restaurant, cuz I'm so dang picky. I find a restaurant that meets my standards and I tell the world and I, and you know, I'm not an influencer the way like some people are, but if I tell people I love a restaurant, thousands of people end up there, you know what I mean? Absolutely. And you know, that restaurant owner never once gave me, you know, a, a free, a free plate for that, you know? Got it. Yeah. Right. And, and so what I decided is not only did, I only want my products recommended by people who had a great personal experience, I wanted those people rewarded for recommending my products authentically. Okay. But it had to go beyond that. It had to go to the point that after you trusted somebody who you knew who had our products, who used them, but what if you didn't have as good of experience as they did?
David: Well, I'm the only company that I know of that gives a 30 day supply of product with a 60 day money back guarantee. That means you could use every drop of it. Think about it for a couple of weeks and still return it. And I'm give you 100 of your money back. And the reason I do that, and the reason I give everybody their first $50 worth of products for free is because I want to show the confidence I have, that you are going to experience this life-changing transformation. And I want to make it as easy as I can for you to say yes. So if I give your first $50 for free, if I tell you that, if it isn't amazingly transformative, I will give you your money back. No questions asked. That's awesome.
Aaron: Yep.
David: I don't know how else I could reach out to people. How else I could let 'em know? You know, I'm the only company that doesn't use binders, fillers, excipients, preservatives, additives, coloring agents, flowing agents, you know, my products always 100% pure. I just got to let people try it. You know,
[25:00]
Aaron: We're super psyched to be part of the ecosystem now. And look, by the way, I got to mention that, uh, in the beginning of this story VERITAS, when our protagonist Sophia first arrives in Boulder and meets up with this wacky character, that's maybe somewhat autobiographical. She notices on his counter there's, uh, some Purium product. And, uh, in the back of the book, um, we have a few pages of information about the Y on Earth Community, our new VERITAS society and Purium. And, uh, if, if you have the book, there's a QR code right there, that'll take you right to Y on earth.org/per so that you can get these products and try 'em for yourself with, uh, you know, no risk with this, uh, 60 day return guarantee. And look, these products are amazing. And Dave, I want to talk, you know, here's, can't beat this for example. And, uh, one of my very favorites green spectrum, uh, right here, and these are, these are powders, and I'd love for you to share with us how you're making these cocoa hydrate. I've actually got a, a glass right there of some I've prepared to drink while we're talking, which I'm going to grab when you, uh, when you, uh, feel this question, Dave. But, um, you know, I I've been in the regenerative, uh, organic and natural food, uh, industry since, uh, I was a high schooler actually many years ago. And I'm a huge fan of eating directly from our garden, eating directly from our local regenerative farms. Of course, why on earth is partnered here with elk run farm in the dry land agro ecology Institute. And, uh, that needs to, I think be a big part of our strategy. And that said with the Purum products, many of which come in powder form are very easy to travel with. Very easy to run out the door, if you're running to a meeting or what have you, um, from
David: The law. you know.
Aaron: Yeah, this, this format, uh, for me, has been just a huge addition and compliment to the, uh, other ways that I'm eating the, the veggies and fruits that are grown right outside the door here. And so I was hoping you could tell us a bit Dave, about the, the manufacturing process itself, uh, as it relates to your organic supply chains and, and the packaging, I'm going to grab my drink right over here, cuz I forgot to bring it over before we started recording.
David: No worries. So my commitment, first of all, um, starts with my seed selection. You know, we select organic and many times aerial seeds and then we plant those seeds in some of the purest soil that's found on earth, the soil, the water, the seeds, this is where it starts. Okay. Um, now once the plants are ready for harvest and harvested, they're harvested at their peak of freshness and then immediately vacuum dehydrated at around 75 degrees. It starts at 68 ends up at 83. So an average of 75 degrees in two minutes, these juices have been turned into powders that will be stable for years with all of the enzymes, all of the protein, non-coagulated, I mean unheated okay. And still intact. And so non-coagulate proteins enzymes still could be measured in this food, delicate enzymes like proteins and amylase and Amy and, and lipase are still measurable.
David: Okay. And not to mention enzymes like super oxide tissue, chase, Transy, fatty acid oxidase, and all of those yummy ones. But the bottom line is that our dehydration process does something incredible. It guarantees, we use a hundred percent of the harvest that ultimately goes to nourish people. And that is not typical of, of, of a harvest where less than 50% of most harvests ever get into bodies to nourish people and not to mention the cost of transporting produce out of the fields. Ours is dehydrated in the field, reducing it to 5% of its original volume and weight. So our carbon food print is dramatically reduced. So we produce more fresh food, preserve it in the field and deliver it to people all over the world without waste. This is the dream, you know what I mean? This is the dream.
Aaron: Yep. Yep. It's absolutely beautiful.
David: The packaging is also the most unique packaging. You could imagine just like that dehydration process that we have recreated. Okay. And when the waves hit the rocks at the ocean and you see the spray go up in the air and then you see this, the little twinkles okay. Of the salt, as it comes back to the ground that is rapid dehydration done by nature, right in front of your eyes.
[30:00]
We created that process. We recreated that process to dehydrate food in a miracle of just imitating nature. Okay. But when we put that food, which was the best on the planet, we put it into unfortunately plastic bottles that were shipped all over the earth. So four years ago I made a commitment to develop packaging made out of bamboo in hemp that had no petrochemicals and no plastic. And we did it. And since that time we have displaced over 100 tons, 100 tons of plastic that we would've sold. We would've shipped that would've been thrown into landfills, but now was not. And I'm so proud of our plastic free commitment. I am so proud of what we've done, you know, in our commitment to this planet, its people and its creatures, the four-legged, the two-legged the winged ones and the swimmers. We're committed to all of them.
Aaron: So beautiful. Dave. It's absolutely marvelous. Boy. I, uh, I, I hope to see, peram continue to grow and, and scale and reach more and more people and, uh, help more and more families and communities and help clean up our overly, uh, infield world, which is so desperately needed at this point.
David: Oh,
Aaron: Can you tell us a bit about the, the impact you've had on the organic certification of food products over these years that you've been involved in all of this?
David: Absolutely. So when I came into the industry, organic was a little bit like natural. Anyone could use it anytime they wanted without regulation. Well, we decided that was wrong. And so we began to, um, go and create documented, um, and verifiable certifiable methods. It came from Oregon tilt, an amazing group of people put together the Oregon tilt method of verifying and validating and you know, and so Oregon tilt was the basis for the O C I, the organic crop improvement association. We called ourselves the organic CIA because we would go spy on farms that claim to be organic and, and certify them if they were and shut 'em down, if they weren't. And so the organic crop improvement association, we then lobbied the us D the us department of agriculture to adopt our standards and, and, and not to mention the European standards, um, which we ultimately harmonized just three years ago.
David: Now we went 25 years with a different standard in Europe, a different standard in Asia, different standard in the United States, but now it's been harmonized. And so now there is a, a, a safe space. There is a safe Harbor, there's a place you could go if you want to eat chemical free. And it's called organic food. And less than 1% in of the world's food is grown without chemicals, less than 1% of the world's food is grown without chemicals, less than 1% of the world's foods can be considered super foods. And at Purium, we provide you with organic super foods, the finest of the finest, the purest of the pure, the most potent of the potent, and we deliver 'em straight to your door. You know what I mean? Um, and nothing's more beautiful than that.
Aaron: Absolutely love it. And, you know, we've, we've had, um, some other guests on the podcast and I'll just remind folks real quick. This is the whY on Earth Community podcast, I'm your host, Aaron William Perry. And today we're visiting with the founder of Purium David Sandoval. And of course we've had a number of other guests, Dave working so hard, uh, in, in dedicating their careers to this kind of organic and, uh, health and wellness, uh, lifestyle oriented, uh, set of strategies and, and organizational offerings folks like Jeff Moyer and each Haoui over at the Rodale Institute. Elizabeth Whitlow over at the, uh, regenerative organic Alliance are many of our friends over at Dr. Bronners engaged in this work. So, uh, diligently and my gosh, my hope and vision and prayer is that more and more of us as individuals, as consumers, as responsible family members and community members are not only choosing these healthier, safer, better foods for ourselves and our families, but helping to spread the word in our communities.
[35:00]
It's, it's so critical and so important that, that we use our power of choice, not only for our own health and, and wellness and restoring our planet, but also to drive consumer demand into the economic system so that the companies we want to see scale and grow are the ones that scale and grow
David: Well. I wanted to take a minute to answer a previous question about the period economy. Yeah. You had asked me, you know, about why we chose per and I want to get into the economic part, you know, because, um, when you become what we call a period Perion brand partner, okay. A brand partner is just that it's, it's our brand, it's your brand we're partners in promoting that brand. And when you become a Perion brand partner, you get some really amazing benefits, you know, and the not the least of which is incredible tools and training to where it becomes easy to do what you do to help, you know, improve the lives of your community and your family. But more importantly, um, I can't even tell you how many lives I've seen changed. Uh, I've seen a woman who was living in her car in havai two kids on food stamps, and somebody gifted her a period opportunity. And she took advantage of it. And just two years ago, she bought a house for her mother and then bought a house for her grandmother, bought a house for herself. Um, and this isn't about money, but this is about that opportunity because no matter where you live, it's called location freedom, no matter where you live, as long as you have access to the internet, you're at work with Purum. You know, so if you're a country person you want to live in the country, you're a city person. You know, you want to live on a boat. You want to live in the mountains. You want to live in the desert. It doesn't matter if you have an internet you're at work. And second thing is time. Freedom. No one tells you when to go to work and you're not spending any money on gas. You're not spending any money on coffee on the way to work, and you're not buying lunch off of a wagon.
David: That's for sure. And spending half of your wages on childcare, gas, and food, not to mention the clothes that you wouldn't wear, if you weren't going to that office. So if you think about all the money you spend unnecessarily to support your job, to support your job, it's like you're having another dependent. Okay. By the time you deduct the taxes and all those expenses and all of your time, which has value too, you spent 10 hours of your day and about 20% of your wages just to do your job. Now, imagine flipping that around and spend two hours a day, which is the average, the person at period, making an eight hour wage works. And yes, we have people making a half million dollars a year. And yes, we have people making a hundred thousand dollars and six figures, multiple six figures a year. But more importantly, we have people who have added 500, 1200, $3,000 a month that changes their lives, changes their lives. Because with our fast start bonus, you could put $3,500 in your pocket in a couple of weeks. And we've seen hundreds of people do it, who really needed that money. So yeah, you could earn hundreds of thousands, but that's not the important money. The important money is the money that pays your car payment when you can't makes your rent, when you can't pay those doctor bills. That's what I'm most proud of about the economy.
Aaron: That's so beautiful, Dave. Absolutely beautiful. Hey, listen. Um, before we sign off, I am really excited to ask you about the, uh, soil stewardship work that you're doing on some of the farmland you're working with, I guess, in, in Utah. Is that, is that right?
David: Well, yeah, all over though. Like one of the best projects I'm working on right now is with, uh, a famous native American tribe where, you know, we've identified bacterium and the feces of Buffalo, um, that actually regenerate soil faster than anything we've ever seen. And if you mix that together with some Cottonwood, right. Uh, and a little bit of, you know, activator, you know, a little, a few, my sillion right, just mixed in man. You could regenerate soil faster than anything you've ever seen, you know, and if you have to start from scratch, you know, and you have to just grow one year worth of sunflower seeds, you know, worth the sunflowers, just to, you know, strip out everything you can. And then, you know, maybe grow a year of, uh, of alfalfa and green manure that in, you know, to get all the Rium, you know, and, and all that yummy stuff, getting back in there and attract worms and, you know, get all of that happening. And so soil regeneration is my jam. You know, it's what I love to do. Um, we didn't have.
[40:00]
David: Generate the soil that we chose, we had a 7,000 ancient late bed with 99 feet deep of the richest soil you've ever seen. And we water it with mineral springs and yeah, we take care of it. We rotate it, we do all the good stuff, but we didn't have to regenerate our soil, but we do teach other farmers to regenerate theirs and we help other people to do that, you know, but what we, what we like I, I is, is, is like the, the regenerative, you know, in other words, once it's going, it gets better every year. Okay. It's not a matter of necessarily restoring that's not the regenerative. We do, we do the maintaining and you know what I mean, keeping it awesome. So, uh, but I love helping other farmers and other people, and I love the science behind it, you know, and I love the carbon sequestration part of it, where if you do it together, you could not only, you know what I mean? You could not only regenerate the soil. You could regenerate the, the whole carbon balance as well. And if we could just teach people to do that. Whoa, I mean, whoa.
Aaron: Yeah, absolutely. Whoa, indeed.
David: I got chills, you know?
Aaron: Yep, absolutely brother. Yeah. You know, my, my dear friend, Brook LA van co-founder of sustainable settings, biodynamic farm, uh, here in Colorado also, uh, a few years back connected up with some Lakota, uh, wisdom and medicine. And they started making the, uh, biodynamic preps using the, the Buffalo manure. And
David: those are my people,
Aaron: Incredible, incredible results already shown up from there, in so much so that they're soil data from there, uh, soil carbon increase literally went off of the chart of the NRC S's standard measurements. And you know, one of the things I point out in, in the book, why on earth in our soil stewardship handbook is that, uh, a 10% increase in soil, carbon worldwide is equivalent to sequestering all of the fossil carbon and the disturbed chemical agricultural car carbon releases, uh, since the beginning of the industrial revolution that will restabilize our climate. So
David: Bring back the Buffalo,
Aaron: What's that bring back the so beautiful what you're doing. And I'd love actually, to geek out with you sometime about the, uh, science and the, and the soil stuff you're doing. So, uh, you know, maybe we'll, we'll save that for another episode or another time, but, uh, I am, I'm just so thrilled for this opportunity to connect with you. And, um, so thrilled to be able to share with our whY on Earth Community, the Purium story, again, go to Y on earth.org/peram. If you'd like to, uh, get involved and get engaged. And, um, Dave, before we sign off with our podcast episode for the day, is there anything else you'd like to share or mention,
David: You know, only, you know, I know it sounds really, really corny. Um, but you know, I was a, I was a homeless guy living in the streets. People told me I was dirt. They threw at me. I was under a dark cloud, you know, so I grabbed some seats. I mix the with the dirt, waited for the rain and I fed the world. So I want you guys, no matter what anybody else says of you thinks about you. Like you just keep believing in yourselves. Okay. And, and keep remembering that, no matter what people say about you, it's still your job to love them. It's still your job to save them. Remember what Jesus Christ said on the cross? He said, I forgive them. They know not what they're doing. So don't worry about other people and their mistakes. Okay. Don't worry about other people in their judgment. Don't worry about other people in their path. Okay. Find your own, make it noble, pursue excellence, and sleep every night, knowing that you are awesome. You know, that's what I want. That's what I want the world to know is that you're the change. It's not somebody else, every little tiny thing you do, every smile. Okay. And every kind word is part of the change we need in the world. So compliment somebody doing something awesome. And they're going to do more of it. Okay. So let's make it everybody's job to go out. And tomorrow, everybody, you see being an amazing human being telling you appreciate the fact and you acknowledge and you see them for the effort they're making to make this world a better place. Yeah. That's what I want to leave you with.
Aaron: Amen brother. Amen to that. That is so beautiful. Well, I'll tell you what, Dave, thanks so much for visiting with us. It's been a, an absolute pleasure.
David: Yeah. The pleasure is mine. My grandfather was span Gusto MI. So, uh, so thank you so much for the opportunity.
[45:00]
Aaron: Yeah. Thank you. Bye Dave.
David: Okay. All the best
Aaron: Right on brother. That was super. So, uh, if you've got five minutes, we can do a quick behind scenes, uh, for our ambassadors.
David: I don't mind. I'm just going to cool the room down for one second and then we'll jump right in. So whatever
Aaron: You're, that was, that was not only amazing. Right. And I interview a lot of very impressive people, but by golly, that, uh, that little beautiful prayerful Soli where you gave at the end, there was precious. I mean, it was incredible.
David: Oh, You're the best brother. Thank you.
Aaron: Um, I'm uh, grateful for what you're doing, man.
David: So I used to what I call dude goddess trainings. Because I had, oh, I'm sorry about that. Because I have so many music festivals and stuff on my land and I like do these, you know, these trainings and I would teach 'em how to change the world. And I would say, all you have to do is compliment somebody doing something amazing and they're going to do more of it. It's that simple. And if you're a beautiful girl and you go up to a young man, who's probably looking at you going, whoa, you know, and you tell him, I just saw you pick up that trash or I just saw how kind you treated that dog. Or I just saw the way you walk that, that, that old woman to her car, whatever it is, you just find somebody doing something yummy and tell 'em that you appreciate that. And the world's going to change, you know? Totally, totally. And you find somebody who's off and acting mean and you tell 'em, I'm so sorry. I could tell that you're hurting right now.
Aaron: Yeah.
David: I can see that you're hurting right now and you know, I don’t know what it is and, but I'm not going to take it personally, you know? Yeah. Because I know you didn't mean what you're doing, you know? So did you need a
Aaron: That's right on brother
David: Let's do this.
Aaron: By the way. I I'd love to get out and visit you at your, at your place there near the sequoias. And uh, I think we'll be out on the west coast sometime this fall, hopefully, you know, doing some fundraisers and some events around the launch of Rita’s and all of that. So
David: When you do come on up.
Aaron: Yeah, Man,
David: For sure. Open invitation.
Aaron: Thanks. Yeah. I'd love to, um,
David: You could sleep in a tea or you could sleep in a GDO. You could, you know, sleep in a nice room with a Jacuzzi bathtub. We got options.
Aaron: Love it, love it. I like all of those very much. Well, uh, okay. If you're, uh, ready, we can five minute segment and it's 5: 55 now. So that should take us right around the top of the hour.
David: Perfect.
Aaron: And so, uh, if you're ready, I'll, I'll kick it off.
David: Yeah.
Aaron: Hey, friends here with Dave Sandoval, the founder of Purum, and we just finished recording our podcast episode together and now our, uh, really psyched to have a little, uh, few minutes behind the scenes here with Dave and, uh, Dave, I just, uh, I got to say that, that last few minutes of you closing out our podcast episode was, was so special, so heartfelt and, and full of wisdom. And, uh, it was interesting. You shared with us that you lived, you know, homeless at one point. And, uh, I'm just, I'm curious if, if you might just tell us a little more about that aspect of your, of your background. And of course, anything else you'd like to share with our, ambassadors and of course we're psyched thinking many of our ambassadors are going to get engaged with Purum and perhaps several will become brand ambassadors as well. So I want to be sure to mention that, but uh, that background you shared David it's, it's, it's really potent to hear your story.
David: Well, you know, I just think that God prepares us for the work that we're meant to do, you know, and I was meant to learn radical forgiveness. That was just, that was just what God wanted for me. So, um, I was homeless. I was living under trees, eating out of trash counts, you know, and people looked at me like I was an animal, you know, I must have looked like an animal. I'm sure. You know, didn't have a brush for my hair or had two sets of clothes and no clothes washer, you know? Yeah. So I washed my clothes in the ocean and one time there was a big storm, you know, and I went up to the rich people's houses with a trash can and a rake and a plastic bag. And I'm like, Hey, I'll clean up your yard after the storm, you know? And a woman says, okay, you know, so I just about got her yard spotless when a police car rolls up behind me.
[50:00]
Oh. And the like, assume the you're trespassing. I says, no, you're soliciting, soliciting, no soliciting, no trespassing. It says right there. I said, but the woman offered me $10. I said, no, no. You asked for $10. He told me to clean her yard. She didn't offer. And she wasn't about to say, no, look at you. You look like an animal. Wow. And I looked over at this woman and she's looking at me, like put him in the car, officer, put him in the car, you know? And I said, wait one second. And I looked over. I said, ma'am, I just want to say, thank you. And she said, what are you thanking me for? I said, you see these storm clouds, it's going to rain again.
David: Tonight, all’s I wanted was to earn 25 bucks. So I could go get that cheap hotel up the room and maybe buy a taco. That's all I wanted. Ma'am. And now thanks to you and this fine gentleman, I'm going to get two nights in a hotel room and I'm going to get six meals. I said, so thank you. And by the time they let me out, this storm's going to pass. And you did that for me, Mel. So thank you. And the officer slapped me on the head and push me in the car and said, shut up punk. That he didn't know. I was real. I was telling the truth. I had to find love for that woman. Or also I was going to be a bitter human being. So great creator led me there.
Aaron: Yeah. I header about that.
David: Yeah. So ever since then, I've been blaming anybody for my position. Yeah. You know what I mean?
Aaron: So empowering. Right?
David: Yeah.
Aaron: Truly. Well, do you have, is there any specific message you'd like to share with our ambassadors, particularly folks who might be interested in, in becoming, um, you know, brand ambassadors with period,
David: Man, I can't even tell you, you know, the only way I ever made money that got me out of my poverty was as a salesman, you know, just telling people about stuff and then they'd buy it and I'd make a little commission. And then my customers learned to trust me. And then they would always come back, buy more, you know? And that's the way it works at Purium. So I built Purum on that model, you know, to where every time someone comes back, they want more, you earned money when they tell their friends, you earned money. When they tell their friends, you earned money. And I did it to where, um, out of every like a hundred dollars, 25, 25 of it goes as a discount, 25 of it goes like as a first level commission. Right. And then another 15% goes to the field in the second level commissions to where at the end of the day, I'm paying out, you know, like 65%, you know, of what comes in. Yeah. And that's the beauty of network marketing is that it's redistributed. You know what I mean? It comes in and then it goes out and it goes out to the right people, the people who actually did the work. And so, um, at network marketing, people get confused. So I'm going to explain it. There's three ways to make money. One, you sell to the people, you know, and you make a really nice commission of big commission, right? And every time they order, you make that commission. And if you never do anything, except for that, we pay really good bonuses. If you become good at that. But when your friends come to you and you say, Hey, I see you recommended friends, you know, recommended products and making money. Could you teach me to do that too? Well then you've got a team working for you, right? Then you, you literally have built your business.
David: You've got reps working in this city reps working in that city reps, working in this part of town reps, working in that part of town. And you're like, wow, I've actually owned a business. I've got people working for me, but they not only work for you. They work for themselves because just like, you're my partner, they're your partner. And we're all partners in the same thing. Now it's multiple levels of income. Cuz you could just make money off of the stuff you sell. Or you could make money off of this stuff that the people you train to sell, sell. And when I say you train, I mean we train because we offer all the support to teach you how to do that. And so the coolest part is, look at what we call our income, okay. Statement, it's called an income. It's a whole like government AU authentic thing that has to be done by like auditors. And if it's wrong, like I could go to jail. This is serious stuff. Right? Income, disclosure statement. That's what it's called. So look for income disclosure statement and you'll see that the average person, you know, for the hours they work is making five times as much as the person, you know, for the time they put in, in that J B you know what I call the paycheck matrix, where you get up early, you get dressed a certain way. You get some place on time or you're in trouble. You work four hours before you can eat. No matter how hungry you are, you work another four before you can rest. No matter how tired you are, you ask for a vacation and it may not be granted. You ask for a raise that may not be granted. You ask for a promotion that may never be given. And you, you live your whole life beholden, no baby, no way. That's the paycheck matrix.
[55:00]
We're going to get you out of it. You're going to truly be in a place that no one can fire you that you have both residual and okay. Both residual and, um, uh, passive income and very few people have an opportunity to do that.
Aaron: That's really powerful. It's really, really powerful. Dave, I've been an entrepreneur. You know, I, I, I sometimes joke that that's a bit of a, of a hereditary disease and it runs in my family. So, uh, yeah, I've, I've been a, uh, a creator of my own destiny for better or for worse for most of my adult working life as well. And to give folks an opportunity like this, Dave, to step in and do the same in their own lives and in their own professional and, and breadwinning efforts. I mean, it, it, it's remarkable to have an opportunity like this.
David: Yeah. It's crazy to think that, you know, I send out thousands of paychecks. Okay. Me send out thousands of paychecks every week and we pay some people more than the president of the United States rates. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, wow.
Aaron: yeah, it's incredible. Really wonderful. Well, I'm so psyched for our connection, Dave, and, and this time with you today and, uh, super, super grateful and excited about our, our budding partnership between the Y on Earth Community and the Purum family. And, and for folks who haven't yet heard, the way we came in is with my dear friend and brother and our ambassador, John Parcell and, and his dear honey, uh, Rosie. And that's the love family group with Michael mais and some other just beautiful folks who have been building that part of the Puria ecosystem for a number of years now. And we're so grateful to be a part of that Dave and, uh, excited to invite in many of our friends and colleagues from the Y on Earth Community to join and become a part of that as well.
David: Amazing. Well, we say that you have to find your why, you know, you have to find your why on earth and I just really commend you for the work that you're doing. I want to celebrate you, acknowledge you. I want to, you know, really raise you up brother, because, um, not too many people take on the work that you've chosen to do. Okay. So for everybody who's watching right now, I want you to lift this man up. You know, I want you to, to, to send him that love that strength, that karma, that energy to keep this the, the pep in his step, you know, keep the energy in his heart and, and that fire his belly so that we could change and make the change that we all need, you know, in our own way. So keep doing your part, everybody we're rowing this boat in the same direction toward the same short. Okay.
Aaron: A men. Yeah. Thank you brother. I appreciate that, Dave. And, uh, yeah, it's, it's a good thing. It's a good thing.
David: Thank you, brother. All the best.
Aaron: All the best chow. All right, man. I think that's awesome. And uh, I think that's
David: A wrap. That's a wrap baby.
Aaron: Yep. So, uh,
David: Thank you so much.
Aaron: Thank you, Dave. I, I really look forward to continuing our, our connection and discussion and, and visiting you here sometime this fall. Hopefully.
David: Absolutely. So, uh, so, um, do you know the festival, uh, BTI Fest?
Aaron: Yeah. I heard a little about it. Um, I don't really know the details of what's happening,
David: But that's going to be on my land. You might want to come around that time.
Aaron: When is that happening?
David: Uh, September like, uh, the third weekend in September.
Aaron: Yeah. And where, how would I figure out like dates and, and who to connect? I mean, is it the kind of thing we should have? Like a, a why on earth ver toss booth or how,
David: Oh, hell yeah. Oh, heck yes.
Aaron: Who would I connect with to do all the planning and
David: Logistics? I'll put you together. I'll put you together with the people. That's going to be awesome. We're going to have a booth too. So I'll put you right next to us.
Aaron: Awesome.
David: We're going to have a booth for our autism, for our nonprofit autistic kits.
Aaron: Yep. Excellent. I'd love to be there.
David: Beautiful, man. Let's make a plan for it.
Aaron: All right. Dave sounds good, man.
David: And it's Benita or
Aaron: VERITAS. Yeah, this was a term coined by the German mystic Hildegard fund Bing. And she was about 900 years ago and it means the green healing energy of God that flows through plants.
David: Whoa. So I call that photosynthesis, but yeah. Um,
Aaron: Well, yeah, I think it's that plus more?
David: No That's plus. So do you know what the, do you know in Chinese? Have you seen the symbol for grass?
Aaron: No, I don't know. It
David: It's a man on his knees at Antar holding leaves above his head in humility.
Aaron: Oh, I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it.
[01:01:06]
David: So Veta detox is like, um, uh, like Chloe, Chloe is my daughter's name, but Chloe was the Egyptian goddess of greens. Right. And she represented the energy that flows through greens. And so I bet Veta detox is related to the goddess Chloe in some way. I mean just energetically, you know what I mean?
Aaron: Yeah. I think you're probably right about that. And man, I you're going to love this story for, I mean, it is, it's big. It's all about these times we're living in and the, the big healing that's, uh, underway now.
David: Beautiful man. Well, uh, you know, like, like the, the people, these mystic people, I know who, I don't really trust all the time. You know, they're sort of a little crazy, but they're always like Dave, it's already been done. I said, then why am I doing the work? If its already done
Aaron: Yeah, no, it's both end. Right,
David: Exactly. All right bro, Okay, Bye, Bye.
Aaron: Thank you.
[Got Viriditas? Brad Lidge Interviews Aaron Perry About His New Novel - VIRIDITAS]
In this special “book launch” episode, Philadelphia Phillies World Series Champion and Y on Earth Community Co-Founder, Brad “Lights Out” Lidge interviews author and Y on Earth Community Co-Founder, Aaron William Perry about his brand new visionary eco thriller novel VIRIDITAS: THE GREAT HEALING IS WITHIN OUR POWER. Brad and Aaron have been pals since elementary school days, when they played little league baseball and football together, attended the same church, and stepped into the adolescent threshold into adulthood at the same middle school in Denver, Colorado.
ABOUT VIRIDITAS & BRAD LIDGE’S EARLY MANUSCRIPT READ
Brad was the first person to read the entire draft manuscript of Viriditas – before the editing team decided to cut about 200 pages from the final, published version. In this special interview, you’ll hear Brad and Aaron talk about the book, from the exciting story line that has protagonist Brigitte Sophia fleeing for her life from New York City to remote farms and wilderness areas in Colorado, to the major themes, threads, and messages in the story that are so pertinent to these very momentous and perilous times that we’re all living in together. There is a tremendous “revelation” at the end of the story, a special communication directly from Mother Earth – MAMA GAIA – herself to all of humanity… a message that we all need to hear right now.
Brad and Aaron also discuss how Brad’s manuscript read led to a few substantial changes, including “toning down” the luscious love-making scenes so that the story would be appropriate for most ages, including teenage daughters!
PODCAST EXCERPTS
Brad: “I know how much of you is in this. And I know you know, the amount of time and effort and heart that you've put into this. So truly excited that this is now going to be able to be there for the public and they will be able to see all that. And for all of that knowledge and wisdom in education to get out there…”
Aaron: “So, from what I understand, and as you know, I did a whole lot of research in putting this book together. This term was coined by the German mystic Hildegard von Bingen and she was an extraordinary character, about a thousand years ago, predating St. Francis of Assisi by about a century. She was in frequent correspondence with Bernard de Clairvaux, whom some of our audience probably will be familiar with and she was an Abbess in charge of, from what I understand quite a number, of nuns who were devoting their lives to the connection with the divine and Hildegard von Bingen ended up writing prolifically for music and books. And she wrote about the healing power of stones and especially the healing power of herbal medicines and other plants. And this term that she coined ‘Viriditas’ refers to greening and basically means the green healing energy of the divine life force that flows specifically through plants, through the plant kingdom.”
Brad: “I have one more question about some of those goodies, because one thing that I think I found to be great with this book, obviously it takes place a lot of it here in Colorado. I mean, it's focused obviously in the United States, but that being said there is, there's an incredible non-Western centric vibe running through the book in terms of that esoteric, you know, ancient wisdom, ancient knowledge religions native American understandings all these different things go into it…”
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VIRIDITASBOOK.COM
VIRIDITAS-SOCIETY.ORG
VIRIDITAS.AI
IMAGES
PODCAST INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Speakers in the audio file:
Speaker 1: Aaron William Perry
Speaker 2: Brad “Lights Out” Lidge
[Start of transcription 00:00:00.0]
Aaron: Welcome to the Y on earth community podcast. Today, we have a really special episode for you. I'm here with my great friend and colleague and fellow board member of the Y on earth community, Brad Lidge. Hey, Brad.
Brad: Aaron, how are you Buddy?
Aaron: I'm doing great. Excellent. How you doing?
Brad: I'm doing great. Happy to be here and catch up with you about a lot of fun, but important things.
Aaron: Very cool as always. Yeah. Yeah. I'm really excited about what we're going to be sharing and talking about today and I guess cutting right to the chase, Brad I'll share that we're going to have a little chat here about this epic novel that I just finished writing after more or less five years of, of pretty concerted effort. And we're going to tell you a lot about it and what's in it, but Brad you've been so intimately involved with the process with this book project. And in addition to all the other work we're doing through the Y on earth community you've been really in the front lines and instrumental in how this project has come together. And of course you read the entire manuscript and provided a number of really helpful ATS and changes in opportunities for improvement.
Brad: We'll see
Aaron: Which is appreciated for sure. I'm pretty confident that at least for some of 'em, it was definitely some major improvements that we were able to make. But yeah, so Brad, unlike many of our other podcast interviews, I guess, in a way you'll be interviewing me here as much as anything. So yeah, if you'd like, I guess take it away and I'll hand you hand you the book here for a second.
Brad: Thank you, Aaron. We first, I got to say being with you on, if not every step of the way, at least the vast majority of 'em has been an honor and it's been a blast. I mean, it really has to see you kind of take all this knowledge and education and wisdom that you have and I'm not just saying this to fluff you up right now. I'm actually serious that you've taken so much and been able to put it into this book. And I know how much of you is in this. And I know you know, the amount of time and effort and heart that you've put into this. So truly excited that this is now going to be able to be there for the public and they will be able to see all that. And for all of that knowledge and wisdom in education to get out there, because I think one of the most important aspects of this book, and there's a lot, and we'll talk about 'em, but the education that goes in here for a lay reader, but even, you know, not a lay reader for someone who's familiar with a lot of different concepts and, and familiar with Y on Earth and what you're trying to accomplish and what you've been accomplishing to see it all play out in this novel has just been a lot of fun to be a part of.
Brad: So I don't know if anything I said has actually helped or not. We'll see. I'm sure you'll get probably your worst feedback from my ideas.
Aaron: Nope.
Brad: But it has certainly been a blast to be a part of this with you and to see the design of this again, it’s I mean, you guys did such a great job. I know Hunter was a big part of it.
Aaron: Yep. That's my son.
Brad: Yeah. Your son, Hunter, and just an incredible job. So it's really exciting to actually have a physical copy of this finally for me, and to be able to comb through pages, to mark it up and take notes and scribble and scratch. And as I think we all like to still have that actual physical copy of a book. I know it's easy to read things you know, just comb through your computer and everything else online, but I love having a physical copy of this in my hand. So I am very excited and I think it's going to be very well received. So yeah, I'm just excited to talk about some of this stuff today with you and I won't continue to go on with these general statements. I know there may be some more specific things we want to get into, but congratulations on this finally getting out.
Aaron: Awesome. Yeah. Thank you brother. I appreciate that. And yeah, I realize, you know, one of the things that transpired here over the last few months as we were deep in the editing and final wrap up and getting all of the graphics and cover art together is that we ended up not podcasting as frequently as we ordinarily do. And in a sense, I'm not quite as polished as I might have been over these last couple of years. I forgot to introduce myself, AaronnWilliam Perry.
[05:00]
Brad: But most people are fairly familiar with that.
Aaron: I know that's, that's probably true. And the name of the book is, which is really, really important is Viriditas: the great healing is within our power. And we'll, we'll be able to tell you a bit more about what that all means. And I have to mention that there's a bunch of symbolism and cipher codes throughout this story with even more opportunities for folks to dig in deeper than just the narrative text. Of course, you can just read the narrative text too, if you want, but yeah, there's, there's a lot of kind of hidden treasure there for folks who want to do a little more digging.
Brad: I'm going to stop you right there because tell us how Viriditas came about, because I know that the history behind it is pretty cool, sounds very Latin. I've, you know, dabbled in Latin quite a bit, obviously, but it's not actually Latin. Tell us a little bit more about that, because that is a pretty cool title.
Aaron: Yeah, you bet. So, from what I understand, and as you know, I did a whole lot of research in putting this book together. This term was coined by the German mystic Hildegard von Bingen and she was an extraordinary character, about a thousand years ago, predating St. Francis of Assisi by about a century. She was in frequent correspondence with Bernard de Clairveux, whom some of our audience probably will be familiar with and she was an Abbess in charge of, from what I understand quite a number, of nuns who were devoting their lives to the connection with the divine and Hildegard von Bingen ended up writing prolifically for music and books. And she wrote about the healing power of stones and especially the healing power of herbal medicines and other plants. And this term that she coined ‘Viriditas’ refers to greening and basically means the green healing energy of the divine life force that flows specifically through plants, through the plant kingdom.
Aaron: And you know, of course we know scientifically that most all of the food and the energy we're able to utilize ourselves as human beings with our bodies is one way or another sunlight that is coming to this planet and transformed by the plant kingdom, through photosynthesis, into food that animals can eat, that we can eat directly and so on. And so there's a very profound and important obvious and literal suggestion there. But of course there's also a lot of mystical meaning and more esoteric meaning behind what is encapsulated in this term Viriditas. So yeah, it's definitely a sort of Latin sounding word, but as I understand it, it's not technically Latin, but she, of course, I think was proficient in Latin and decided to create this word that had this kind of Latin feel to it.
Brad: Yeah. Pretty, pretty impressive. And I mean, just hearing you kind of describe just that word, I guess something, and it's funny because I know you're normally the one doing the interviews, but I feel like, you know, this is a good chance for me to talk to you about the book and so many things in it. And I feel extremely fortunate to have read through the manuscript and you know, again, been able to look at so many details of the book and, but just the attention to that word alone. I mean, how did you find, because I mean, since I've, since we've reconnected, since I've known you, but since we've especially reconnected you know, these last 10 years, I mean, you've been studying this stuff with a passion obviously the sustainability and everything else that we get through Y on Earth, but also your education in so many different directions. And as I mentioned, and we'll get into that more, the education pieces that are in this book, how difficult was that to try and condense so much knowledge and education into a book without just kind of throwing stuff in there, just to throw stuff in there, which we definitely see authors do that from time to time. But I, for one found that the information and all the different not rabbit holes, but paths you go down, they're all relevant to the story. They're all necessary, especially as it culminates toward the end. But how tough was that to try and, you know, just imagine you get through your notes and scratching, I know you're a note taker and everything else, and just in day to day life, but just to condense that into a story must have been a monumental task.
Aaron: That is not hyperbole or, or exaggeration, you know, Brad, and as you know, because you read an even longer version of this manuscript, you know, this, this puppy's about 500 pages here, and I guess we cut out a couple hundred. And, and who knows maybe down the road, we'll find a fun way to make some of that additional material available, but yeah, there's a, a lot that's being discussed and addressed in all of these interwoven threads and themes here. And a big part of it is a look back through our history to get a better understanding of how we got to where we are today as a species on the planet, the human family here on planet earth.
[10:00]
And of course, there's also a lot of discussion around not only esoteric knowledge and wisdom, but indigenous knowledge and wisdom that I think is probably essential for many of us to reconnect and to really heal in our own selves, our own beings and our own relationship with the living biosphere, which from my perspective, in terms of our psycho-spiritual makeup is, is essential for the healing of the planet, the resting of our climate and atmosphere and the healing of the incredible toxicity that we've essentially loaded up the soil and the water and basically the entire biosphere with. So going through many edits and having an incredible team of editors. Yeah. Charmaine Boudro, Andrea of under ICAN. And of course David was just totally instrumental. And, Brad, with your read through and with, some of our other friends and Caressa read through, and a couple of other folks who took different pieces, it's, really has been a group effort and it takes a village to create a book. And of course, David Aretha. I was just blanking in my stream of consciousness to hear my bad, Dave, sorry about that. David Aretha, who's an amazing editor and has himself written and edited several hundred books. But that process really allowed us to call out much of what, you know, would be regarded as extra for a novel and a story that was very much intended for a mainstream audience. So yeah, this thing is trimmed down quite a bit, but still loaded with all kinds of, goodies and, and there's a big adventure in the plot line, right? Yeah,
Brad: There is. And I want to get to that in a second, but I have one more question about some of those goodies, because one thing that I think I found to be great with this book, obviously it takes place a lot of it here in Colorado. I mean, it's focused obviously in the United States, but that being said there is, there's an incredible non-Western centric vibe running through the book in terms of that esoteric, you know, ancient wisdom, ancient knowledge religions native American understandings all these different things go into it. And so I kind of wanted to throw that out there because, you know, regardless of what continent you're on or, or what you know, what you've studied or what your path is for a lot of these different understandings that have come to us, you pull from so many different ancient sources or you know, sources that evolved or whatever it is. It's not just like a Western centric view of this stuff. And I think that that actually lends itself to, you know, when you're able to stitch those things together and you're not just pulling from things that are things we hear about a lot, but also from things that we don't know a lot about. And they actually synthesize, and it actually works. That's what I kind of found super fascinating with this. So yeah, you, there's a lot of different aspects of this, but I just want to say that you did a great job, not focusing on maybe some mainstream understandings and concepts, but pulling things from a lot of different places you know, near Eastern far Eastern whatever, and being able to mesh them together. And you know, I don't want to give too much of anything away here, but I just thought you did a great job with that.
Brad: Not just again, pulling from already known things that you, maybe you can read in a Dan brown book or whatever, having some of those elements, but then yet taking it to a level far beyond anything, you know? And I understand Dan brown is a fantastic, I love his books, but yeah. Yep. You go far beyond that. And I think that that's one thing that you don't find in a whole lot of you know, novels for the masses for the public. So well done on that. I don't even know if that's a question so much as I just wanted to say great job on that.
Aaron: Oh, thanks.
Brad: But I will say, I did want to ask you about that adventure a little bit and about the pacing of this novel, because it starts off pretty hot.
Aaron: Yep. It starts off a little bit like a Dan brown type of book mm-mmm
Brad: And you know, that must have been a lot of fun to kind of, you know, chase some of those scenes through your mind that that end up weaving a little bit in New York and coming to Colorado. And tell me about how that all kind of came down.
Aaron: Yeah, no, it's one of the things I find to be fun and interesting, and also perhaps a bit unconventional in a story like this, it definitely kicks off kind of hot and heavy in New York city where our main character, her name is Bridget Sophia, who is a brilliant computer scientist and has cracked the code to deep artificial intelligence, which of course is both very dangerous and very powerful.
[15:00]
All of a sudden, after a meeting with a bunch of financers on the upper east side, heading making her way toward Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum is being chased by these very scary sort of paramilitary guys with drones overhead and has to run through Central Park runs right by Cleopatra's needle that Egyptian Olu that's there behind the museum, and basically has to quickly decide what to do, because it's obviously such a dangerous situation and ends up with the help of a friend, basically going off grid catching a last minute flight to Denver, Colorado, where then the rest of the story sort of unfolds both here on the Front Range centered around Boulder and Nederland. And then they make their way to the West slope and end up at a magical biodynamic farm called sustainable settings outside of Carbondale, Colorado after a quick flight into the Aspen airport. And so yeah, the pacing kicks off kind of, you know, Dan brown, one of the ways we've described this to a few folks is it's sort of like Dan brown and the DaVinci code meet say Starhawk and fifth sacred thing with, you know, a little bit of Aldis Huxley's non dystopic, novel island sprinkled in there along with a, you know, many other elements, but yeah, it, the pacing kind of switches up. It's not an eco-techno thriller all the way through it. It ends up bringing us into this whole other kind of realm and experience with a major surprise at the end.
Brad: Yeah. A major surprise and it delivers. And you know, I was kind of referring to that earlier that just to be able to bring so many different concepts together in that, but talk a little bit about that. You know, about those, those scenes early on, you know, where Bridget Sophia has, you know, somewhat created an AI that is, you know, people are, and again, I don't want to give away too much of the book, but people are very aware, very conscious of, and she's, you know, kind of grappling with exactly who these people are that are chasing her down and trying to get off the grid a little bit. I thought it was awesome because obviously living in Colorado, it's, kind of a great tour guide through some of the more interesting places. Uh and it's funny because so many people pass through DIA, Denver, international airport maybe being aware of some of the things that have been written about it. Maybe not, there's all these weird understandings that, oh, you know, there's different codes encrypted within the airport and stuff, but you tackle all that stuff. And then you get through to you know, to kind of pushing it through to those different places. You mentioned Boulder, Carbondale, Elk Run Farm, talk a little bit about how you kind of selected some of those places and a little bit about that path and the, I guess the descriptive terminology you kind of have to use, because like I said, we're familiar with these areas, but there's a lot of people that aren't. So just kind of the descriptive language of getting people kind of familiar with the path that, that maybe aren't normally familiar with it.
Aaron: Yeah. It's for me been a lot of fun setting, most of this story in Colorado, because of course, you know, like you, Brad, I grew up here although I wasn't born in Colorado, I moved to Colorado at the age of 10. And so yeah, you know, one of the big things that developed in, in our lifetime was the switch from this cute little airport called Stapleton to this massive installation called Denver International Airport, which was strategically placed midway if you can imagine between the major European hubs and the major Asian hubs with also the sort of optimal placement to get down to the major south American hubs by flight. And it's no accident that our government has decided to locate the space, command the new Space Force element of our military right here in Colorado as well. And so in the story, get to play with some of those interesting, intriguing, and maybe even sort of conspiracy ideas centered around the airport. And, you know, we drop a few photos in there and some symbols, which if any of you are looking at the video here, you can see I'm holding up to one of the pages where there's this strange Masonic cornerstone placed in the Southern edge of the big, great atrium room at Denver International Airport with it, which itself has some codes on it. And yeah, kind of have fun playing with the intrigue there, but also dig into some of the very real history of this country, of how our culture has evolved with different organizations from the Catholic church to the free masons, the Templars, the ancient Egyptians, some of the ancient and esoteric Chinese and Japanese knowledge and how that has all kind of woven together into our present day world.
[20:00]
Whether we realize it or not, we have all these different influences you know, informing where we're at. And it's a heck of a lot of fun to be able to have, have, you know, play around with things like DIA, where of course there's a lot of weird kind of conspiracy notions out there already.
Brad: Well, and so, you know, talking through and taking us through some of those understandings of the foundations of our country, or maybe, you know, some elements of the church that brought us to where we were not always a super sunshine story. And so I think you do a great job of kind of delivering an honest, you know, unbiased look at some of these you know, unfortunate circumstances that maybe lead to where we are, how, you know, people haven't always been treated well, you know, it's our, obviously our great country, but had, hasn't always been a smooth ride. How tough was that to kind of pull out pieces and to kind of say, you know, what, not trying to you know, jump on anyone here, but it is important to relay this truth of, you know, how we got to where we are was that kind of tough to pick through some of those things and to be able to deliver that message successfully. And like I said, not trying to, you know, step on anyone's toes or crush anyone, but just being honest about how we are where we are.
Aaron: Yeah, yeah. I would say look, all of us who identify as human far as I can tell we're human and as such, you know, we make mistakes big and small. And I think one of the themes in this story is kind of looking at that collective truth and sort of deciding as a species, what do we want to do going forward? Do we want to lean into the healing that is really possible which of course invites us and perhaps obligates us on some level to lean into that healing in our own personal world as well. And so, yeah, there, there are a number of passages that I had to read and reread and sit and think and meditate and pray and, and switch some words a bit. And look, for example, looking at the history of the roaming Catholic church and the treatment of many of my indigenous friends and relatives right on up through my, our own generation. Yeah. You know, there's some really gnarly horrendous stuff there. And some of my Jesuit friends right now are actually doing really important work to heal some of those wounds, but at the same time, it's the church, the Roman Catholic Church that is also bringing such great hope and peace to so many people around the planet. And with the leadership of Pope Francis, Papa Francis, there's a lot of really extraordinary healing work and work around ecological stewardship and justice for the poorest of the poor. That is also part of this story. And so, yeah, there's, there's some additional lifting, I would say, as a writer to, to be able to look at all these truths from different angles and present, you know, hopefully a compelling and complete enough picture that really brings us each to ourselves and right now, and what are we deciding going forward and how are we going to help direct the progress of our generation of our world, of our culture and of our species going forward?
Brad: Yeah. It's not always a, a clear story. It's a murky, you know, story at best. When we look through how we got to where we are, but then I think that really helps inform us on how to go to where we want to go, which is obviously a huge part of the message of this book. And I'll get to, to that in a minute, but I want to take it from that first act, you know, with the fast paced and, and then, you know, finally ending up in, in Carbondale by Aspen, Colorado and in a beautiful setting there. And I found some of the education that happens now in the book and this act two, I mean, it was kind of mind blowing a little bit. I didn't know much about sweat lodges. I didn't know much about the land and all the plants that you reference and their medicinal qualities and everything else I found like act two was, you know, it, it’s the pace slows down a little bit, but you get this incredible education in that act. Uh that really, I think is you know, is, is a lot of these things that you've been learning over the last 10, 20 years, however long you were able to get that out in a really kind of fun setting. I mean, that's probably the chapter that I, for me or the act, I should say that out of three acts, the second one, I took so many notes on that one, just because there was a lot of you know, we, a lot of times we read these books by Dan brown or someone else we underline things, or we star something. I just found I was doing that over and over in that act. So talk a little bit about the delivery of that piece of information, cuz that must have been a lot of fun to be able to recall back and harken back to everything you've learned and to be able to educate you know, someone like me, for example, or so many other people that are going to read this.
[25:00]
Aaron: Yeah, no, that's, that's fun. Brad. I remember I was sitting in my car, we were talking on the phone right up snug against the foothills between Elk Run Farm and Lyons and the north end of Boulder, talking about that section of the book and you sharing with me just how striking it was, the scene at Sustainable Settings Farm and then her opportunity when she's invited to experience a sweat lodge. Yeah. And you know, but part of the fun of writing this kind of story, I've my, I've had a somewhat, I guess, unconventional life and I've had the opportunity to experience many of these indigenous ceremonies and experience kind of firsthand what it's like when that door shuts on that sweat lodge. And it's the blackest pitch black you could imagine cause there's literally no light coming in. And just, you know, how potent that is for the first time she's experiencing this. And it leads to a huge revelatory dream that she has that night. But you know, one of the things that's super fun for me about this book is it's also a documentary in a very real way, featuring all kinds of real places and real people doing real work to help improve our world here and now. And after you know, she's brought by this wacky guy in Boulder to Elk Run Farm for a quick visit for some nerving tonics from my friend Marissa Pulaski who runs Elk Run in the drylands AEC, ecology research, nonprofit with her partner, Nick [unintelligible] you know, after they stop in there for some special herbal kombucha to calm down Bridget's nerves, they a day or two later end up at Sustainable Settings where I actually worked like 20 years ago are there about and my friends, Brooke and Rose up there, the LA vans have done such a tremendous job educating literally thousands of people every year in biodynamics, permaculture, animal husbandry and sustainable living in general. Have the character kind of drop in on a permadynamics workshop that's happening, bridging permaculture and biodynamics. And we get to overhear the teachings of Brooke and Rose and a handful of other dear friends who have real wisdom and very practical knowledge to share with us in these times concerning soil and food and working with plants and animals in a regenerative fashion. So, so yeah, I it’s, it, it just makes my heart sing. Brad, knowing that like, yeah, this is so called visionary fiction. And our advisors suggested that was one of the best categories yeah. For The World. But, this is by no means fantasy, you know, that this is real, real, real stuff going on in here. And I remember when I shared an early draft of the Sustainable Settings chapter, we call it Susty, my dear friend, Mora Stiles, who actually was the lead editor on the book, Y on Earth and read a few early chapters on this and gave some really great feedback. You know, she said to me on the phone, I don't know what she said
Brad: Yeah. And I think you know, to that end, it is remarkable that all these places you're mentioning and everything else. Like people can read this and they can go there and they can experience it and they can see it. One of the most important parts I think of the book is that it is real to your point. And your characters. I mean, it's, it's really interesting to me because, you know, as we talk about Jiji Sophia and her path here, she's also acquiring like, along with the reader, this incredible education as she goes through things, a lot of things, I mean, she's incredibly brilliant, right? AI you know, creator, but also, you know, maybe a little bit lacking in some of these other important elements of this full picture of having an incredible knowledge and wisdom and education. But as she goes through this book with Leo she's able to kind of build up this knowledge and this, you know, big revelation for her you know, starts to happen. And it starts to become more and more intense. And I think it happens, you know, alongside with the reader, like you're going through this with her and, and picking up this education with her, talk a little bit about,
[30:00]
you know, her character and how you kind of, you know, wanted to, to start her from, from someone who obviously is a, like I said, a very brilliant person, but that education into, into a whole nother set of wisdom, a whole nother part of, of understanding the big picture.
Aaron: Yeah, yeah. Her character um is boy it's, it's almost like this is a person I know at this point. Yeah. And she, she comes from the east coast, right. So this super computer that she's been working with for several years at the beginning of the story is located in Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. And she's extremely rational working with mathematics, working with cybernetics. And although, you know, she has her heart and her, her femininity about her. You wouldn't say that that was very much activated at the beginning of this story. And it's one of the things she really deepens into and connects with us. She spends more time with nature and on these farms and, and eventually spends many months in wilderness and there's a huge kind of opening and, and flowering that occurs there and yeah, her character, you know, she's brilliant. And so I had a lot of fun sort of basing aspects of, of her on some of the extraordinarily brilliant women. I know well many of whom I've worked with and learned from my daughter, OSHA being, you know, foremost in my mind among them. And so yeah, the, the character and how she's able to kind of move through this experience, it really, in a way sort of takes her into a quote unquote, another world, but it's this world, right. It really brings her into, into deep intimate relationship with this world with earth. And, you know, just a quick comment on the AI thing. I've had many friends and including my sweetheart, Caressa, express some real concern around the use of artificial intelligence in the story, because a lot of people for obvious and very justified reasons are super concerned about where artificial intelligence might be taking us. And so in the story, it's, it's a trope, it's a mechanism. And we even play with this idea that the most important AI in these times is not artificial intelligence, but is the actual, authentic intelligence living in the biosphere, in the DNA, in, in ourselves, that is a gift of creation. And so those themes are in there. And we do take a look at some of the big ethical questions around AI. There's a good bit of referencing to the history of the development of the technology, going back to World War II and even earlier with computing technology, but also a discussion of some of these big ethical questions. And that's one of the internal struggles that our character Bridget Sophia has to grapple with and ultimately make a decision about which leads into the major crescendo of the third part of the book. But yeah, I hope readers from, you know, all kinds of backgrounds who enjoy different types of literature and story will enjoy this character and enjoy the transformation that she goes through.
Brad: Yeah. And it is an, an incredible transformation for her, but also as I mentioned, incredible education for the reader. And I mean, kind of talking through that, I mean, you know, this is how happening, but at the same time, there's still this urgency because there's still, you know, these, these people, whoever they are after her and they have to continue to find a way to get away. And so, you know, when you were kind of at that part kind of end of act two beginning of act three, maybe you know, their, their placement trying to hide from those, those, you know, powers that be, that are hunting them down. So to speak talk a little bit about, because it, it really gets to a point there where I think it gets that full culmination of her. You know, we, you said, you know, a different world, I think kind of maybe more of a connection to the actual world to the real world, instead of being in this, you know, AI world in her mind, she fully immerses into the real world in that part and is connected to, you know, so many different things in that aspect before, you know, the real big amazing revelation happens. Uh just talk about that point, because it's almost like, you know, the story kind of art gets to a point where it settles a little bit. You still are understanding that the, but then it kind of settles and then bang the big, the big kind of revelation happens. But talk about kind of thinking through that, getting to a point where she really before this, before this big ending happens, where she really has to sink in and be fully immersed with the actual world.
Aaron: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so basically
Brad: Through a lot of stuff, you, right. I want to pick this up.
[35:00]
Aaron: Yeah. So basically when she's invited to this sweat lodge a woman's sweat and has that experience, and then that night has this incredibly powerful dream. She basically comes to understand what she needs to do relative to the technology relative to Otto, relative to whether or not she's going to activate this artificial intelligence. And, and so basically decides she is going to or, or does she do something to, to turn it all off right. And shut it all down either way she has to go online and, and come back on grid briefly. Yeah. Which means whoever's chasing her is likely going to show up within minutes. Cuz the folks chasing her clearly have substantial capabilities. And we don't know who this is? The Russian mafia we don't know, is this the Israeli special forces? Is this the so-called deep state of the US? Is it some arm of some, you know, Chinese technology company wanting to get their hands on this incredibly powerful capability. We don't know who it is, but we do know that they're super capable, super dangerous and that they will go to any length really to get her in their possession. So what she, and this guy, Leo, who basically she connects with in Boulder, this really kind of wacky guy, she doesn't like at all at first and yeah, there's a little sort of autobiographical fund making in there.
Brad: Mm-Hmm
Aaron: You know, she, and he prepare their horses knowing right after they go online in Carbondale at one of the cyber cafes there, they're going to have to flee to Hightail it up into the wilderness. Yeah. And he happens to know a very amazing spot for them to go to and they end up spending a lot of time there and she's there alone for quite a bit of the time cuz he has to go back and forth down to the farm to get more food and provisions and so on. And so she goes into this deep kind of solitude and solitary experience, which of course would be very intense at first, especially if you can imagine it being winter, a lot of that time and living in a cave a lot for that time. But through that, she ends up really growing this deep personal connection with the nature that's all around her and the, and the splendor and the magnificence of it all. And, and it helps in her transformation now while she's there something pretty scary happens right toward the end of their time up living in that cave. And so that, that kicks us into the, the final crescendo of the story.
Brad: Yeah, yeah. Act three. And you know, I think it, it's almost like she has to go through that to be, to be ready, you know, for what act three delivers. And again, I don't want to give away anything and I'm not going to but that being said at this point in the book you've given, you know, such an education, such a knowledge and such insight into so many different things, but you still withheld so much because it's about to come out in act three. And I'm trying to figure out how to be nimble around, you know, the plot here and not give anything away. But for me, this is the big reward and, and I feel like you know, for a reader, you, you get some incredible reward here. Some incredible messages delivered that draw upon things that maybe have been mentioned in the book so far, maybe not, but I mean, pulling 'em out of so many different walks of life, kind of what I was getting to at the beginning of when we were talking, pulling Eastern, Western, you know, ancient, modern, every philosophy and, and understanding and, and religious practice that you can imagine because they do all weave together and they, they can synthesize. And what it does is it actually brings us through this incredible message of how to get to hopefully where we want to get to in the future, by understanding this past, by understanding this knowledge in these wisdoms and these esoteric understandings and everything that goes into it, it kind of, it kind of blew my mind a little bit how I don't want to say perfectly seamlessly, but yet at the same time, somewhat seamlessly, all these messages are leading us to one's particular spot. And I think you did a great job of, of, of capturing those messages in a way that we can understand that, oh my gosh, the writing's been on the walls.
Aaron: Mm-Hmm
Brad: For you know, on the wall, on the walls for, for many, many, you know, decades, centuries, millennia
Aaron: mm-hmm
Brad: Of what we are supposed to do next. And so I guess that would be the part where I'd be curious how many like notebooks and journals and articles you have scratched out, because you bring together so many different things in that, in that, you know, those couple of chapters that start to launch in act three, how tough was that? To be able to pull all that together and, and you know, I'm sure you probably had this incredible education as you were going through it too. Like, oh my gosh, this does, you know, go with that. And that goes with this, and this goes with that. How am I going to get this all in and you know, not make a 5,000 page story instead of a 500 page story?
[40:00]
Aaron: Right, Yeah. Has been a lot of fun bringing together, you know, there you'll find in here there's some Egyptian, there's some Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Latin, there's a lot of different languages and symbols being pulled from these different cultures and time periods. And yeah, literally the writing's on the wall in many instances, Brad, and of course with your archeology and, and history and religious history backgrounds, it's been so much fun kicking these ideas back and forth with you. And you know, some of our dear mutual friends, Kevin Townley good buddy Renee Perez out in New York city and, and many others who have sprinkled in pieces of the wisdom in the story to help weave this together, Janet Scott, Walter, and it's, it's been a heck of a lot of fun. And moreover, I think has led me to understand this, this book, right? It's a simple book that is really also a prayer and hopefully a gesture that will help a lot of us in these times and in dealing with what we're dealing with, which of course is a complex set of interconnected challenges in crises on a global scale with very real and often diverse regional and local impacts and effects. And we need help. And I think it turns out that a lot of our collective and unique individual cultural legacies and heritages and lineages actually have a lot of wisdom to help us. And that includes a lot of the wisdom coming out of the ho Asho people, the IOI people, the Mohawk people the Hopi people and others. And this book, you know, is, is my best effort to bring all that together in a way that is really approachable for folks. And I'll, I'll share with our audience Brad. Um because of course we're doing some things with our marketing to reach all kinds of audiences, but I think with our Y on Earth community audience, I, I can go ahead and just share straight up that in this crescendo, in this major revelation, because of a series of events, mother earth ends up speaking directly to Bridget Sophia and to humanity through her about these times and about the tools and the choices that we have immediately before us and within us to deal with the situation that that confronts us. And so there, there's a lot in here, as you can imagine with, with that insight there. And like I said, it's, it's been not only a process full of hundreds of hours of research and conversation but also of but also of, of prayer and spending a lot of time myself up in the woods and wilderness and with the soil and with the water just asking for guidance and asking that when this come together, it be in great service to humanity and to our healing work here on planet earth.
Brad: And, and I think, you know, the message is delivered really well. And it is again, without giving away too much of how the ending unfolds a super, you know, positive feeling, a motivating feeling as well. And I know there's, there's so many negative sentiments out there right now. It's easy to kind of fall in that trap and you, it's just reality in a lot of ways, but also, you know, these messages of, of how we unwind this and how we, you know, kind of look in the future in a different way based on what we know from the past and then how to go down that path is just a lot. It it's excellent. It it's some of it's heavy, but, but it's all important stuff. And I think one thing for me that's really fun is yes, there's heavy messages. Yes, these are important understandings. But there's also a lot of maybe a little bit more light, maybe a little bit more fun things happening in this book. Yeah. So I, so I think it, it's going to hit a lot of different audiences and a lot of different ways, but talk a little bit about that, cuz that's one thing we didn't really get to, but as I stare at the cover right now, there's all kinds of different encryptions and everything else through the book that will be a lot of fun for the reader to kind of dive into and dissect and you know, different quotes and different things going on there. So talk a little bit about all the different encryptions that are not just on the cover of course, but are within the book. Yeah,
Aaron: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks for mentioning that Brad, because it's also been a lot of fun putting in a, a number of, of many, many dozen different symbols and a whole bunch, scores, of encrypted quotes, messages, and even references to sacred scriptures that are all relevant to the story. And to our times right now on the planet and big shout out to my son, Hunter Chestnut Perry and to Jake Welch, the two designers who made all the cover art and the interior symbols happen of course, Maggie McLaughlin with all of her brilliant and beautiful layout and font selection and all of that.
[45:00]
And so yeah, there, there are a whole bunch of additional treasures and Easter eggs that folks can, can dig into if they'd like. And, and yeah, there, there's a good bit of humor here and there there's one point where they're up hiking and, and, and this is very early, right after she escapes New York and comes to Boulder and Leo takes her up near Nederland, Colorado in the mountains and they go hiking to this special spot of his and she has to go pee and out there, you got to like go behind a tree and, and do your thing. And when she's doing that, she ends up taking a tumble and skinning her knee. And she's so embarrassed. She hates feeling out of control. And of course this is a very frightening situation and having to be off grid and being chased and, and Leo knows some herbal medicine and knows to pick some Yarrow to put on her wound. And that helps. But yeah, there's, there's kind of a lot of funny interplay, especially between those two characters. And with that and a number of other examples, there's actually a lot of information and education about specific herbs, herbal medicine as well that of course are not intended to diagnose treat, whatever the FDA disclaimer is, but it woven into this story is mentioned of a number of different very potent medicinal plants that they encounter along the way. So we got some humor and we've got some herbal medicine woven for you.
Brad: Yeah, For sure. Some great banter between Leo and Bridget Sophia and a lot of fun to read through that. And, you know, just as a whole, I, I will say just kind of flipping through, I know, you know, you leave a little note for your kids at the beginning, which is awesome. And I'm just like, you know, it's got to make you super proud as a dad to be able to deliver something like this and to have their help with a lot of this in different parts of this and them understanding what you're trying to accomplish, but how cool is that to be able to get this out and and to be able to be, you know, so proud of, and I'm sure you are, I don't want to put words in your mouth. I know you're proud of it and you should be, but to have them kind of help and influence you and to just kind of have that collective effort with a lot of people that helped, but specifically with them and as a dad to be able to get this message out and, and, and this particular work.
Aaron: Yeah. It's yeah, in my, in my heart, that's one of the main primary motivations behind this whole thing. And you know, Brad, we're of the same generation we're in our mid-forties. And, and we were just talking earlier with your wife, Lindsay, how, when we were growing up, Colorado's climate was pretty predictable. And in the springtime, you know, you could rely on it raining in the afternoons. And now we're dealing with very extreme and erratic winds and droughts and heats and colds, and just having that crazy destructive and sad Marshall fire December 30th followed the next day by a snowstorm. I mean, it was, it was like so hard to wrap our minds and in our emotional bodies around that reality. And, and so knowing that the possibility is, is very real. Our kids, as they're growing up are going to see even more of this disruption and this set of erratic and unpredictable dynamics and climate. And in other aspects of our experience on the planet, both cultural and economic on the human side and ecological on the natural side. And so this very much is an effort to help improve what the future's going to look like for our kids, for their generation, for the next seven generations. And that's, that's a very deep and, and heartfelt hope and prayer. And yeah, it's been, it's been incredible to be able to collaborate with both of my kids, hunter, you know, was really involved in the, some of the design work of the book. The front cover is his design. And he did a lot with the interior symbols and of course he and I had a lot of conversations over the last few years about the story as I did with my daughter Osha. And she, you know, has expertise in, in neuroscience and health and wellness. And you know, I was able to glean a lot of really important information by talking with her. And a good bit of that is, is woven in here as well.
Brad: Yeah. Well, as I said, you must be a super proud dad. Yeah, incredible family. And congratulations, man. That's all I got for you. I, I'm just super excited to go through it again, the actual physical copy. And I know this is going to be, it's funny, I mean, right. Like, I didn't, we didn't necessarily even plan on this that I would be kind of interviewing you so to speak, but it just, I mean, after reading through it, I just had so many questions for you.
[50:00]
And I think that, you know, questions in general, but also questions that are important for everyone to, to kind of be able to, to learn a little bit from, from the author himself. So that's been a lot of fun to kind of go through it with you. Thanks for thanks for taking the time to, to answer all these questions that I had. And I don't know, hopefully, hopefully this will help some other people have questions too.
Aaron: Yeah. Thank you, Brad. And just real quick, if any of you want to find more information, get involved and even join our email list for the upcoming book launch scheduled in June and, and we're going to be doing a lot thereafter, you can go to Viriditas-society.org, and it's V-I-R-I-D-I-T-A-S-society.org to get some info and stay tuned. We're going, we're going to be doing a lot of additional sharing of content and launching our Viriditas society effort as part of the Y on Earth community ecosystem as well. So yeah, and Brad, man, thank you so much for, you know, having this conversation, hosting this discussion today and for all of your involvement and effort and encouragement and support of the process these last few years, it's been a tremendous joy collaborating with you on this and I deeply appreciate it.
Brad: Well, you know, likewise, the feelings mutual, it's been awesome to be able to participate in this with you and to, you know, see these incredible ideas come to fruition in this book. So yeah, the pleasure's all of I for me and for, I guarantee for the readers as well. So awesome, great catching up with you, Aaron, and yeah, looking forward to, to the next steps and to wherever Rita toss is going to go.
Aaron: Yeah. Thanks Brad. You bet. Take care, brother.
Brad: All right. You too.
Speaker 3: The Y on Earth community stewardship and sustainability podcast series is hosted by Aaron William Perry, author thought leader and executive consultant. The podcast and video recordings are made possible by the generous support of people like you to sign up as a daily, weekly, or monthly supporter, please visit Y on earth.org/support. Support packages start at just $1 per month. The podcast series is also sponsored by several corporate and organization sponsors. You can get discounts on their products and services using the code. Y on earth, all one word with a Y these sponsors are listed on the Y on earth.org/support page. If you found this particular podcast episode, especially insightful, informative or inspiring, please pass it on and share it with a friend whom you think will also enjoy it. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for your support and thank you for being a part of the Y on Earth community.
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Elizabeth Whitlow, Executive Director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, discusses the recently launched Regenerative Organic Certification (ROC) for farms, food, beverage, and apparel products. Integrating three key pillars: soil health, animal welfare, and farm worker fairness, the ROC is the most comprehensive and holistic third party certification available.
The ROC was established through a collaborative effort by Dr. Bronner's, Patagonia, and the Rodale Institute, all three of which are at the forefront of the global regenerative movement (see episodes #111, #89, #70, #69, and #63 for more information). Acknowledging that "What we do to the soil, we do to ourselves," and the ancient Hippocratic maxim, "Let food be thy medicine," Elizabeth discusses the connection between soil health and well-being, and the converse, soil-toxicity and disease (including diabetes, heart disease, and myriad cancers). She also acknowledges the foundational contributions of George Washington Carver to the contemporary regenerative organic movement.
Elizabeth Whitlow's role as the Executive Director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance (ROA) is the culmination of over 20 years working for systemic change in agriculture systems. Whitlow began her career as an advocate for shade-grown, fair-trade, and organic coffee growers in Central America. Since then, she has worked across the spectrum of elevated certifications, both in farming and ranching. She is now leading the charge for regenerative organic agriculture, managing the holistic and high-bar Regenerative Organic Certified™ (ROC™) standard. The ROC is the North Star of certifications, building upon the USDA Organic label through the pillars of soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness. She resides in Sonoma County, California tending to her micro-farm and an array of animals, promoting community-driven, local food systems.
Regenerating the living crust of the Earth has been Elizabeth Whitlow’s mission since she was first exposed in the 1990s to the harmful practices of industrial agriculture and the power of building thriving food systems. Thus, began the long journey of examining the deeper systemic policies of agriculture and advocating for programs that reward holistic farmers. Now, as the Executive Director of the Regenerative Organic Alliance, Elizabeth is overseeing the launch of a revolutionary certification program, Regenerative Organic Certified.
RESOURCES: Web: regenorganic.org Instagram: @regenerativeorganic
Stephen Brooks has been living for the past 25 years in Costa Rica and is a world leader in creating thriving ecological communities, promoting Permaculture practices and fostering sustainable food production models. He is the co-founder of Ecoversity and the Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design & Botanical Studies. In 2006, Stephen co-founded and developed La Ecovilla, a 45 home community in San Mateo, Costa Rica. His most recent addition is Alegria Village, which neighbors La Ecovilla. Stephen has been featured globally, in Forbes, and in TV shows for Discovery, ABC and most recently Zac Efrons’ Down to Earth on Netflix.
In this episode, learn about Ecoversity’s educational offerings and certifications, about Permaculture, and about the Punta Mona Center. EXCLUSIVELY FOR Y ON EARTH COMMUNITY PODCAST AUDIENCE MEMBERS: 5% DISCOUNT on Ecoversity’s upcoming Permaculture Design Certification Course using this special link: https://www.ecoversity.org/a/2147498261/PgJgCbnX and discount code: YONEARTH. (The Early Bird sale price is available through November 17th, 2021; regular course price through December 7, 2021. In either case, 5% discount can be applied).
www.ecoversity.org
www.puntamona.org
www.alegriavillage.com
www.envisionfestival.com
@stephenrbrooks
[GOT BUDDHIST ECONOMICS?] Author, Buddhist lecturer, and finance professional Layth Matthews shares insights regarding happiness, contentment, and bringing more balance into our lives – especially in the hectic “rat race” of advanced economies. In his book, "The Four Noble Truths of Wealth: A Buddhist View of Economic Life", Layth brings together a mastery of Buddhist principles, expertise in economics and finance, and a sensibility about meaning, purpose, and thoughtfulness in hyper-consumerist society. The book is full of wise, pithy aphorisms, such as: “Beware of false urgency,” “The foundation of genuine discipline is making friends with oneself,” and “It is relaxing with the holes in one’s identity that creates a tremendous space for humor, curiosity, and compassion.”
After graduating from the University of Washington in Economics, Layth attended the 1984 Vajradhatu Buddhist seminary. Layth is President of Rigden Financial Inc. and recently joined the faculty of College of New Caledonia in Prince George, British Columbia, as an Instructor of Business Administration. Layth asserts that “A wealthy outlook is the first step and the fruition of genuine prosperity”. He is convinced the best way to help this world, spiritually and economically, is to make friends with oneself at the atomic level, and the best way to do that is through the practice of sitting meditation. His book, “The Four Noble Truths of Wealth: a Buddhist View of Economic Life” provides the foundation of a deeper form of prosperity which cools the fires of materialism from the inside out.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-genuine-prosperity-layth-matthews/ https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/understanding-genuine-prosperity-layth-matthews/ https://shambhalatimes.org/2015/06/09/buddhist-economics-090/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFourNobleTruthsOfWealth/ https://www.amazon.com/Four-Noble-Truths-Wealth-Buddhist/dp/0991802306/ref=sr_1_14?dchild=1&keywords=the+four+noble+truths&qid=1629573490&s=books&sr=1-14
https://www.taramartin.org/
[HONOR THY LABEL] Gero Leson, Dr. Bronner’s VP of Special Operations, discusses his new book, Honor Thy Label, chronicling the company’s development of farm-direct regenerative organic supply chains around the world. Gero shares the challenges and opportunities of working with diverse communities “on the ground” to source coconut oil, olive oil, chocolate, hemp, peppermint oil, and a variety of other ingredients from regenerative farmers in Sri Lanka, the Holy Land, India, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and elsewhere. He also discusses the creation of the Regenerative Organic Alliance – the leading certification body that incorporates land stewardship, fair trade practices, and animal welfare into its three-pillar framework.
Dr. Bronner’s is “cleaning up the world with soap” and leads the regenerative organic movement alongside organizations like Patagonia, Demeter, and the Rodale Institute. Instituting advanced internal mechanisms for regeneration, sustainability, and equitable treatment of its stakeholders, Dr. Bronner’s has voluntarily imposed an executive pay cap and allocates its profits to taxes, philanthropy, and activism. In Gero’s Honor Thy Label you’ll find vignettes by key Bronner family executives: Trudy, David, and Mike, and their colleague Michael Milam , as well as a very touching account of Gero's work to help heal the Jewish Bronner (originally Heilbronner) family's connection to its ancestral German roots.
Gero Leson is Vice President of Special Operations at Dr. Bronner’s. Since 2005 he has managed Dr. Bronner’s shift to sourcing its main ingredients from organic and fair trade projects. These ingredients are hemp, coconut, palm, olive, several essential oils, sugar, alcohol – and now cocoa beans.
Gero’s Special Operations team of 8 has built and operates, several integrated farming and processing projects with local partner teams. These involve hundreds to thousands of smallholder farmers, processing operations with 200-300 staff, and significant social impact through hands-on engagement in education, health care, and infrastructure development. The Special Ops team also works closely with and purchases from other projects not owned by Dr. Bronner’s, such as Canaan Palestine in the West Bank. In recent years, all projects are emphasizing the shift to regenerative agriculture to improve soil productivity, resilience – and carbon sequestration.
Born in Cologne, Germany, Gero has a master’s degree in physics from the University of Cologne and a doctorate in Environmental Science and Engineering from UCLA. Before working for Dr. Bronner’s he worked as an environmental consultant to US industry in the development of industrial hemp and in international development. When not traveling he lives in Berkeley, California.
RESOURCES:
- https://www.drbronner.com/
- https://www.facebook.com/DrBronner
- https://www.instagram.com/drbronner/
- https://twitter.com/DrBronner
- https://www.drbronner.com/media-center/images/
[GOT TREE OF LIFE?] In her second Y on Earth Community Podcast appearance, Brigitte Mars, world-renown herbalist, author, and educator, speculates on the potential connection between cannabis and the mythical tree of life. Drawing from her extensive herbal knowledge, historical and folk knowledge, and from the continuously developing archeological record, Brigitte takes us through an intriguing presentation, and an exploratory adventure.
Ranging from old testament biblical passages to the locale of Jesus’ first miracle (Cana), from the legends of Zoroaster to the Egyptian goddess Sheshmet (“lady of seven points”), from Scythian culture (“scythe = ‘to cut hemp’”) to the Urantia Book, from ancient Greek Dioscorides (author of ‘Materia Medica’) to the Sadhus of India, from Nostradamus to Abraham Lincoln, and from Plato to Carl Sagan, Brigitte takes us on a tour de force of fascinating cultural connections and possibilities.
Although you may not immediately “buy” all that Brigitte is presenting here, you are encouraged to consider the possibilities with an open mind!
Brigitte Mars is an herbalist and nutritional consultant of Natural Health with almost fifty years of experience. She teaches Herbal Medicine at Naropa University, and The School of Health Mastery in Iceland. She has taught at the Omega Institute, the Esalen Institute, Kripalu, Sivananda Yoga Ashram, Arise, Envision and Unify Festivals, and The Mayo Clinic. She is a professional member of the American Herbalist Guild.
Brigitte is the author of many books and DVDs, including The Natural First Aid Handbook, The Home Reference to Holistic Health and Healing, The Country Almanac of Home Remedies, The Desktop Guide to Herbal Medicine, Beauty by Nature, Addiction Free Naturally, The Sexual Herbal, Healing Herbal Teas, Rawsome! and co-author of The HempNut Cookbook. DVDs include Sacred Psychoactive, Herbal Wizardry for Kids of all Ages, Natural Remedies for Childhood Ailments, Overcoming Addictions, and Natural Remedies for Emotional Health.
Brigitte and her daughter, Sunflower Sparkle Mars run Herb Camp for Kids in Boulder, Colorado. Brigitte's other daughter is world famous activist/yogini-actress/ international model, Rainbeau Mars.
RESOURCES: www.brigittemars.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brigittemarsherbalist Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brigitte.mars/
Thanks for reading this far! Now, here's something special for the lawyers and regulators out there: The statements made regarding these plants have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these plants has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These plants and statements are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. All information presented here is not meant as a substitute for or alternative to information from healthcare practitioners. Please consult your healthcare professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires this notice.
In this important episode, Dr. Robert Cloninger, MD, PhD, discusses the key psychological drivers of personality that distinguish “post materialist cultural creatives” from “traditionalists” and “materialistic and individualistic modernists”. Drawing on substantial data as well as cutting edge genetic research, Dr. Cloninger, one of the most cited scientists in the world (top 0.01%), has identified three key personality traits that elucidate the different personality expressions: self-directedness, cooperativeness, and self-transcendence. In general, the first two are well developed among traditional corporate and political leaders (cooperativeness too often being limited to an immediate sphere of mutually-beneficial influence, but not necessarily for the greater good). But the third tends to be under-developed among world leaders. It is exactly this, the self-transcendence of creative characters, which “facilitates flexible and resilient adaptation in harmony with other people and nature” (MSM, “What Makes People Healthy, Happy, And Fulfilled In The Face Of Current World Challenges?” p.18 - see PDF link below). Those of us in the regenerative, stewardship, and sustainability movement would do well to understand this framework, and to do what we can to improve in all three categories. When all three are strong, tremendous leadership and positive impact is made possible.
Dr. Cloninger not only walks us through the data, science, and framework in a clear, cogent, and easy-to-understand manner, he also offers insights and suggestions as to how we can each improve our own traits. Thank goodness for neuroplasticity (!) suggests Dr. Cloninger, as he describes why he is hopeful and optimistic about human beings’ potential for growth, change, and psycho-spiritual evolution. Along with the interview, we encourage you to read the short paper, “What Makes People Healthy, Happy, And Fulfilled In The Face Of Current World Challenges?”, which succinctly outlines and explains all of this in a manner accessible to non-technical, non-scientific readers. “Well-being,” writes Cloninger, “depends on functioning with foresight, plasticity, and virtue,” and, he continues, “The development of self-transcendence has a radical transformative impact on self-directedness and cooperativeness. The purposeful striving of self-directedness is transformed into hope and letting go of fighting and worry…” and an “outlook that leads to love, hope, and humility…” (Op. cit. p.21-22).
Dr. C. Robert Cloninger, MD, PhD is Director of the Anthropedia Institute and Professor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis. He was Wallace Renard Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Genetics, Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences, and Director of the Sansone Family Center for Well-Being at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis until July 2019. The Anthropedia Institute is the research and advisory component of the Anthropedia Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to development of human well-being through initiatives in health care and education. He is widely cited and honored for his innovative biopsychosocial research that spans the genetics, neurobiology, development, psychology, brain imaging, and assessment of personality and psychopathology. His personality inventories have been used in more than 6000 peer-reviewed publications around the world and he is one of the most highly cited scientists in the world across all fields (top 0.01 percentile).
He received his B.A. with High Honors and Special Honors in Philosophy, Psychology, and Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin, 1966. He received his M.D. from Washington University in 1970, and Honorary Doctorates from the University of Umea in 1983 (MD in Genetics) and University of Gothenburg in 2012 (PhD in Psychology).
Dr. Cloninger has published ten books and over 600 articles in psychiatry, psychology, and genetics. His recent books include Feeling Good: The Science of Well-Being by Oxford University Press, Origins of Altruism and Cooperation by Springer, and Personality and Psychopathology by American Psychiatric Press. Among his many awards, Dr. Cloninger has received the American Psychiatric Association’s Adolf Meyer Award (1993) and Judd Marmor Award (2009), and lifetime achievement awards from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (2000) and the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics (2003). He received the Oskar Pfister Award in 2014 from the American Association of Professional Chaplains and the American Psychiatric Association for his contributions to dialogue between psychiatry, religion, and spirituality. He is a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science and of the National Academy of Medicine in the USA.
RESOURCES
Anthropedia Foundation: https://anthropedia.org
Zwir I, et al. Three genetic-environmental networks for human personality. Mol. Psychiatry, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-019-0579-x (2019).
Cloninger CR, Cloninger KM, Zwir I, Keltigangas-Jarvinen L. The complex genetics and biology of human temperament: a review of traditional concepts in relation to new molecular findings. Trans Psychiatry. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-019-0621-4
Cloninger CR. “What Makes People Healthy, Happy, And Fulfilled In The Face Of Current World Challenges?” Mens Sana Monographs 2013; 11:16-24. (Click following link to download PDF, published with permission of the author).
Herbal medicine is an essential part of the human story, and may be key to our ongoing health and wellbeing as a species. In this important interview, Ann Armbrecht, the author of The Business of Botanicals: Exploring the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines in a Global Industry (Chelsea Green Publishing, February 2021), discusses the global herbal medicine industry, supply chains, challenges, shortcomings, needs, and opportunities to become a much stronger exemplar of social and environmental sustainability and stewardship.
She shares her own intimate experience with the plant world, including how cultivating a relationship of reciprocity with healing plants may be essential for insights and understandings that modern western science may not on its own provide. Recognizing the deep heritage of indigenous and traditional life-ways and relationships with healing plants, as well as the knowledge made available through modern science, Ann describes an experience of “seeing double” – perceiving both the “visible” and the “invisible” realities embodied by our plant and tree cousins – and suggests that not “seeing double” makes us selfish. She encourages us to cultivate curiosity, connection, intention, and an ethos of reciprocity in our own relationships with healing plants, and discusses the “healing green energy of nature” that Hildegard von Bingen called “Viriditas” a thousand years ago. Gardens, Ann suggests, can awaken us to the lost art of “seeing”.
In the book, Ann shares insights and learnings from renown herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, and discusses herbal medicine companies such as Aveeno, Herb Farm (which has earned the Regenerative Organic Certification), and others. With such favorites as motherwort, black cohosh, lemon balm, calendula, and nettles, Ann reveals some of her own personal story while expertly reporting on the state of the global herbal medicine industry.
Ann Armbrecht is the director of the Sustainable Herbs Program under the auspices of the American Botanical Council. She is a writer and anthropologist (PhD, Harvard 1995) whose work explores the relationships between humans and the earth, most recently through her work with plants and plant medicine. She is the co-producer of the documentary Numen: The Nature of Plants and the author of the award-winning ethnographic memoir Thin Places: A Pilgrimage Home, based on her research in Nepal. Her latest book is The Business of Botanicals: Exploring the Healing Promise of Plant Medicines in a Global Industry (Chelsea Green Publishing, February 2021). She lives with her family in central Vermont.
Author Website: http://annarmbrecht.com/
Organization Website: https://sustainableherbsprogram.org/
Purchase Links: https://yonearth.org/partners-supporters/ Click on Chelsea Green logo (10% discount with code: YOE10)
Twitter: @armbrecht_ann
Facebook: @ann.armbrecht
Instagram: @ann_armbrecht
Chelsea Green Publishing Resources:
Facebook: @chelseagreenpub
Twitter: @chelseagreen
Instagram: @chelseagreenbooks
Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa, "Where healing waters flow," is a sanctuary in the San Luis Valley of southern Colorado enjoyed by many. In this episode, founder Elaine Blumenhein describes her spiritual guidance to create the sanctuary, the land-healing work she experienced, and gives thanks to her former husband and life partner, Dick Blumenhein, for his role in making Joyful Journey what it is. Also appearing on this episode are Charmaine Boudreaux, Group Event Coordinator, and Jason Denham, who is hosting a special retreat for caregivers and healthcare professionals at Joyful Journey this June: "Art of Well-Being: A Restorative Retreat with Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa" (June 27 - July 2, 2021).
According to its Mission Statement, "Joyful Journey is a sanctuary, a community, and a retreat, where people from all walks of life come to experience its soothing waters – to heal and find peace from the stress of their daily lives. As owner/guardian of these sacred waters since 1999, my intent is to allow our mineral hot springs’ healing water and therapies to awaken the hearts and uplift the spirits of all who come, so that they might experience the amazing benefits these waters provide." With sacred healing waters (full of natural restorative minerals), yurts, cabanas, a greenhouse grow-dome, labyrinth, and special meditation benches facing the four directions, this sanctuary helps people de-stress and reconnect with nature's magic and majesty. The towering Sangre de Cristo mountains stand vigil in the East, visible from the soaking pools.
Elaine Blumenhein acquired Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa in 1998 when it was just three pools and still named after the town where it stands: Mineral Hot Springs. She moved to the area in 1999 and since then, Elaine has added yurts, lodge rooms, tipis!, a large retreat center, a geodesic biodome greenhouse, an 11-unit labyrinth and more recently, two electric vehicle charging stations, plus numerous other aesthetic touches that have made this a true sanctuary for the soul. After living in the nearby spiritual mecca of Crestone for 20 years, Elaine recently moved back to Boulder to spend more time with her family. Her blessings and prayers reach Joyful Journey on a daily basis as she continues to contribute to the day-to-day activities.
Jason Denham is a life and recovery coach as well as yoga, meditation, and Pilates instructor, who founded Gr8fulMoves. In his former life, Jason was a caregiver for 15 years working as a mentor, coach, and program director in various therapeutic wilderness and residential settings. In those roles, he worked with small groups to help clients communicate more effectively, set boundaries, emotionally regulate, and work through trauma by connecting mind and body. As a former caregiver, who knows how taxing the role can be, Jason is very excited to be hosting the Art of Well-Being: A Restorative Retreat with Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa for caregivers and healthcare professionals.
Charmaine Boudreaux curates special group events and retreats at Joyful Journey, and works gracefully behind the scenes, putting the "joy" in Joyful Journey Hot Springs Spa.
RESOURCES: Joyful Journey website: http://www.joyfuljourneyhotsprings.com/ Joyful Journey Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoyfulJourneyHotSprings Joyful Journey Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joyfuljourneyhotsprings Gr8ful Moves website: https://www.gr8fulmoves.com/ Retreat: http://joyfuljourneyhotsprings.com/artofwellbeing/
Jackie Bowen, the Executive Director of the Clean Label Project, discusses the link between chronic illnesses like cancer, and low-level toxic contamination of our food, vitamins, sunscreens, and other products. Bowen informs us that the predominant "food borne illness" focus of the Food & Drug Administration, with rapid response protocols for containing Listeria, E. coli, Salmonella, and other pathogens is necessary but insufficient. We need comprehensive and systemic focus on long-term exposure to toxins such as lead (a neurotoxic carcinogen), cadmium, Bisphenol A (BPA), Dioxins, Phthalates, Perchlorate, and dangerous pesticides like Atrazine, Organophosphates, and Glyphosate. The Clean Label Project provides such analysis.
Covering products such as baby food, protein powders, edible oils, prenatal vitamins, sunscreen, and even pet food, the Clean Label Project conducts scientific, data-driven analysis, and shares its results with the public. Their "Best & Worst" listings show the most contaminated and least contaminated products in each category - a tremendous public resource that allows consumers to get informed and decide for ourselves.
Jackie also discusses the impacts of in utero exposure to toxins, often compounded by early childhood exposure from contaminated baby food, water, paints, and fire retardants, and the direct connection with decreased cognitive function and IQ, increased hyperactivity, increased conditions like autism, decreased immune function, increased allergies, increased infertility, and increased behavioral disorders. As a society, we are the unwitting guinea pigs in a century-long toxification of our food, water, and household products, and it is wreaking havoc on our communities and society.
Jackie also emphasizes the importance of eating organic foods high in antioxidant compounds as well as carefully selecting the products that we choose to buy, consume, and share with our families. She reminds us that each dollar we spend on healthy, organic food, is a vote made in our massive, complex food and product industries for decreased toxicity and increased health and wellness.
Jaclyn Bowen MPH, MS is a food and consumer products quality and safety systems engineer and executive director of Clean Label Project, a national non-profit and standards development organization with the mission to bring truth and transparency to food and consumer product labeling. Before coming to Clean Label Project, Jaclyn held numerous technical, standards development, food safety, quality, and executive roles within the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre, NSF International. Her expertise is in organic, gluten-free, non-gmo labeling, food safety, and label claim substantiation and compliance. Bowen authored one of the most comprehensive peer-reviewed studies of heavy metals in America's top-selling infant formulas and baby foods in America. Bowen and Clean Label Project have appeared on NBC, ABC, CNN, ‘The Doctors’, 'Dr. Oz', 'Dr. Drew' and 450+ print and online media outlets including USA Today and Huff Post. Bowen holds a Bachelors of Science in environmental biology from Michigan State University, a Master of Science in quality engineering from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Public Health in management and policy from University of Michigan.
RESOURCES: cleanlabelproject.org instagram.com/cleanlabelproject facebook.com/CleanLabelProject sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969718334442
In this instructional episode, social entrepreneur and accountant Aaron William Perry provides an introduction to accounting and bookkeeping for social enterprises, non-profits, regenerative farms, and sustainability and stewardship oriented businesses. The episode was recorded during a special workshop for the Drylands Agroecology Research community of regenerative farms near Lyons, Colorado: Elk Run Farm, Meta Carbon Farm, and Allens Farm. Introducing the material, Aaron provides some historical context behind the double entry accounting system that is the backbone of all accounting software (including Quickbooks) and financial reporting conventions of virtually all companies, non-profits, and organizations world-wide.
Did you know that modern accounting has its roots in the Italian Renaissance? Brother Luca Pacioli, a mathematician, educator and Franciscan Friar considered to be the "father of accounting," lived contemporaneously with Leonardo da Vinci. In 1494, Pacioli published the "Summa" in which he codified the systematic mechanics of double-entry bookkeeping and accounting. With this historical context in mind, Aaron discusses the five major account types (Assets, Liabilities, Equity, Income, and Expenses), how Debits and Credits work across each account type, and the major financial reports in which these five account types are expressed: the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, and Cash Flow Statement; also known in the non-profit arena as the Statement of Position, Statement of Activity, and Cash Flow Statement, respectively. This instructional session also walks through some of the basic functions organizations of every size and scale need to know: Invoicing, Depositing Monies, Billing and Expenditures, Reconciling Bank Accounts, Running Reports, Budgeting, and reading Financial Statements.
The Y on Earth Community first intended this workshop to be available only to the Ambassador network, through its Ambassador Resources. However, after some reflection and deliberation, it became evident that the workshop could be much more widely beneficial by making it public through this podcast episode. A very special thank you to Marissa Pulaski and Nick DiDomenico of Drylands Agroecology Research and Elk Run Farm, Azuraye Wycoff of Allens Farm, and Shane Weigel of Meta Carbon Farm. If you would like additional instruction and/or consulting and advising support from Aaron Perry and the Y on Earth Community Team, contact us via the "Advising & Consulting" resources page: yonearth.org/advising-consulting.
RESOURCES: Advising & Consulting Resources: https://yonearth.org/advising-consulting/ Background: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-entry_bookkeeping