An Organic Conversation

Farmland Ecology: The Relationship Between Animals, Soil and Trees

In Nature, everything supports and feeds off of one another. There is no waste, only relationships. It’s a system, an endless web of life and connections. Organic farms know the strength of this system and actively cultivate it, by inviting Nature onto the farm and seeing the farm as a part of the overall ecology of the place. This episode is about connections between animals, soil, and trees, and what one expert has discovered. The system is called Silvopasture. What's that? Tune in to find out.

Guest: 

Steve Gabriel, Author, Silvopasture: A Guide to Managing Grazing Animals, Forage Crops, and Trees in a Temperate Farm Ecosystem, Mecklenburg, NY

 

Healing Courage: Support for Survivors of Sexual Violence

Since the #metoo movement began last year, the topic of sexual violence has finally become a part of our public focus. Today we want to dive deeper into this much-needed conversation. We are speaking with a leader in this movement, a woman that will help us understand the forms of sexual violence, what the individual path of healing from such trauma often looks like, the importance of identifying as a survivor rather than a victim, and what support is available for survivors. And we won’t stop there. Host Helge Hellberg feels strongly that this conversation is not a topic shared just amongst women, but the conversation must include men, as well.

How can we expand the current conversation and make sure it is not simply a media focus for a few months, but will stay as an ongoing theme about the healing that needs to happen in our society? Tune in and be a part of this conversation.

Guest: 

Stephanie Burns, Founder & Director, Healing Courage, Port Townsend, WA

Medicinal Mushrooms: The Fabulous World of Fungi

From metabolizing environmental pollutants to absolutely critical roles in the process of decay and renewal in Nature to the absolutely stunning medicinal benefits for human health, mushrooms are mystical powerhouses with abilities far beyond most other plants or organisms. It’s the foundation of and for life. Today, we are focusing on the human health benefits of medicinal mushrooms, and explore just how amazing they really are, with one of the top experts in the field.

Guest: 

Jeff Chilton, President, Nammex Organic Mushroom Extracts, Tofino, B.C. Canada

The Human Longevity Project: Unraveling the Secrets to a Healthy Life

Newest research is showing us that the life around us defines the life inside of us – or, in other words, that we are mostly put together by bacteria and cells that are not human, but other life forms and that the strength and health of those bacteria very much defines how we going to live – healthfully, or not. We are speaking about a documentary series that is Unraveling the Secrets to a Healthy Life. After years of research and newest scientific findings in regard to gene expression, aging, and chronic diseases, we may have just found the key to unlock this mystery.

 

Guest: 

Jason Prall, Director, Writer & Producer, The Human Longevity Project, Seattle, WA

Medicinal Marijuana: Health Benefits, Safe Use, and Advice

The entire conversation about sustainable agriculture, food, and plant-based medicines is huge, convoluted, and full of – may we say – intentional errors? There are trillion dollar interests at stake between the agricultural and the pharmaceutical industry, and yet, medicinal marijuana is also not the cure-all easy fix. It’s a powerful and important plant and medicine that for millions of people offer incredible benefits. Still a controversial topic, but such a needed conversation. We will be discussing the health benefits, safe usage, and advice, from a doctor who is an expert on medicinal marijuana.

Guest: 

Dr. Rachna Patel, Medical Marijuana Doctor, The Medical Marijuana Expert, Walnut Creek, CA

 

Goatlandia Animal Rescue: Love for Animals, Love for Self

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” This beautiful quote by Mahatma Gandhi is the framework for this episode. We have come a long way in the protection of animals, as some of them do enjoy relative safety in the wild, as well as at home as domestic pets. Unfortunately, when it comes to animal welfare in commercially raised animals for consumption, such as chickens, pigs, lambs, and of course cows, there is little to no governmental protection. To make a difference, a woman in California decided to change her career and provide a safe haven for exactly those animals.

Guest: 

Deborah Blum, Founder, Goatlandia, Santa Rosa, CA

Wisdom of the Seasons: A Life Built on Organic Soil

We all live in cycles, moon cycles, sun cycles, menstrual cycles, seasons, birth, youth, maturity, old age, and ultimately death again. Destruction and creation. We are in conversation today about cycles and the wisdom Nature holds for us with no one better than Earl Herrick. Earl lives Nature every single day in his work at Earl’s Organic, the premier organic produce wholesale business out of San Francisco, in a life dedicated to organic agriculture.

Guest: 

Earl Herrick, Founder & Owner, Earl's Organic Produce, San Francisco, CA

California After the Fire: Lessons from a Biodynamic Vineyard

Last fall, Southern and Northern California experienced the worst fires in its recorded history. Fires are part of the ecological cycle, even necessary in the cycle of life. And yet, the devastation last year’s California fires left behind was unprecedented. How do we reconcile that, what can we learn from such an event, and how can we still help in the effort to restore what was lost?

So while the fires have ended, the aftermath and efforts to rebuild continue. One of the areas hit hard in Northern California was the Redwood Valley, a couple of hours north of San Francisco, and the home of Frey Vineyards. We are speaking with Katrina Frey today about her experience in the middle of the chaos, as Executive Director of Frey Vineyards.

Guest: 

Katrina Frey, Executive Director, Frey Vineyards, Redwood Valley, CA

Colorful Vegan Kitchen: Plant-Based Recipes for Everyone

One of the most powerful transformations in the world of diets has occurred for the term Vegan. In its early days in the 1980’s when I learned about it, Vegan often meant overcooked carrots with a cold tofu salad. Today we know that a plant-based diet, which is exactly what a Vegan diet comprises of – plants, is the healthiest way to eat. Newest biome research – biome being the bacteria in our bodies and particularly in our gut, shows that a fiber-rich diet of fruits and vegetables – ideally organic – is the most important piece for optimal microbial health in our bodies, and with it, the foundation for our own health. And today, the plant-based dishes some chefs are coming up with are simply out of this world - and actually easy to create, even for us, at home.

Guest: 

Ilene Godofsky Moreno, Author, The Colorful Kitchen, Brooklyn, NY

Children's Health: The Consequences of Industrial Food Production

We know that environmental health and human health are inextricably linked. So, when we talk about sustainable agriculture and organic food as the foundation for social and environmental justice – we also mean human health. This episode is about human health, for the most vulnerable of us, our children.

Two doctors have made an assessment of the environmental impacts of pesticides and other chemicals in our food part of their practice in their work of healing children. And with it, they have become experts in just how much the food we eat – or rather the food we feed our children - can make them sick.

Guests: 

Dr. Michelle Perro, Co-Author

Dr. Vincanne Adams, Co-Author

What's Making Our Children Sick? How Industrial Food Is Causing an Epidemic of Chronic Illness, and What Parents (and Doctors) Can Do About It

Bay Area, California