Topic: Agriculture

Latest

[ Episode #87 // Permaculture Paradigm ]

Jun 29 2015

Usually we think of permaculture as a system for land and food, where humans work with the flows and systems of nature. Can we also apply permaculture to societies? To our justice or education systems? Can we reorganize our civilization to live on yield rather than the principle before depleting our most important stocks?

In Extraenvironmentalist #87 we talk about the ideas permaculture offers to our societies. First, we hear from a series of interviews and discussions at North American permaculture conferences and convergences. Then, we have several segments with Toby Hemenway as he highlights basic design principles of permaculture, the paradigm shift they entail and the ways to restructure our civilization from agriculture toward horticulture.

// Speakers in Order of Apperance

Chuck Marsh - www.livingsystemsdesign.net
Rennie Davis - betribe.org
Andrew Millison – PDC Online
Don Tipping - www.sevenseedsfarm.com
Mark Robinowitz – www.peakchoice.org
Jude Hobbs - cascadiapermaculture.com
Pandora Thomas - www.pandorathomas.com
Scott Pittman - www.permaculture.org
Jenny Pell – www.communitybydesignllc.org
Claudia Joseph - permaculture-exchange.org
Kelda Lorax – www.divinearthgp.com
Rick Valley – earthkeeperlandscaping.com
Charlotte Anthony – handsonpermaculture1.org
Penny Livingston - regenerativedesign.org
Toby Hemenway - patternliteracy.com
Joel Salatin - www.polyfacefarms.com
Larry Santoyo - www.permacultureacademy.com
Jacki Saorsail - www.gaiauniversity.org
Peter Bane - http://www.permacultureactivist.net

// Books

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway
The Permaculture City: Regenerative Design for Urban, Suburban, and Town Resilience by Toby Hemenway
The Permaculture Handbook: Garden Farming for Town and Country by Peter Bane

// Music (in order of appearance)

Problems - Titles via OneandThree
Lapa - Roadwalk via Loci Records
Emancipator - Diamonds via Loci Records
Nym - Lesser Known Good via Loci Records
Misun - Nobody Knows via Et Musique Pour Tous
Timbre - Song of the Sun via Earmilk

// Production Credits and Notes

Our editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #87 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Nathan in Ontario
Benny in the noosphere
Armand in New York
Gavin in Virgina

(more…)

[ Episode #86 // Slow Money // Part C ]

May 25 2015

Mini Episode

The soil of our food system provides the roots of our culture. Without soil, our modern lifestyle would cease to exist. As climate change accelerates rates of soil erosion, will the global population be left as a stranded asset? As we fail to describe the real cost of cheap food through our vocabulary and economics, and true value of land is lost in the equation. Can we change our language and culture in time to create a new practice of sustainable farming and eating?

Extraenvironmentalist #86 closes out our coverage of the recent Slow Money National gathering through discussing the farm bill, culture, and the language of sustainability. We first hear from a panel with poet, farmer and author Wendell Berry, Maine Representative Chellie Pingree and Louisville, KY Mayor Greg Fischer. Then, a session on culture covers how our society is shaped by expectations and approaches to food. Our final piece from the conference features Douglas Gayeton discussing the Lexicon of Sustainability.

// Links and News Items

Panel with Wendell Berry, Chellie Pingree and Greg Fischer
Town Hall Meeting on Culture
Douglas Gayeton - Keynote

GMO Investing Q1 2015 Newsletter - Jeremy Grantham - Are We the Stranded Asset?
Neil DeGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye: Is Mad Max Our Future?
US National Census: Biking to Work Increases 60 Percent Over Last Decade, Census Bureau Reports h/t @GregorMacdonald
Journal of Environmental Investing: What Divesting May Yield: Revisiting “The Grasshopper and the Ant” in the Context of University Endowments

// Books

The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture by Wendell Berry

Growing Food in a Hotter, Drier Land: Lessons from Desert Farmers on Adapting to Climate Uncertainty by Gary Nabhan

Local: The New Face of Food and Farming in America by Douglas Gayeton

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break]

Slow Money 2014 Highlight Video

[End]

Jeremy Grantham Speaks at League of Conservation Voters Capital Dinner

// Music (in order of appearance)

Burhou - Please Delete via IndieShuffle
Gramatik - In This Whole World via Soundcloud
Daniel Martin Moore - Live from the Slow Money 2014 Gathering
Glass Ghost - Sound of Money via Soundcloud
Mirror Talk - Some Boys via All Things Go Music
Trampled by Turtles - Where Is My Mind (Pixies Cover) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits and Notes

Our editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Ben Evans of BenEvansCreative.com

Episode #86 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Shad in British Columbia
Kiel in California
Carolina in Sweden
Seymour in Massachusetts

(more…)

[ Episode #85 // Slow Money // Part B ]

Apr 13 2015

Mini Episode

Our 20th century food system has created a global market for cheaply priced commodities of corn, wheat, soybeans and rice. We pump a plethora of food from the earth, in the same way we pump barrels of oil. A vision of never-ending technological progress frames the creation of genetically modified organisms in an attempt to keep agribusiness as usual moving forward. But do GMOs work as claimed? Will they be a crucial part of a sustainable food future?

Extraenvironmentalist #85 focuses on the topic of GMOs in the second of our three part series from the 2014 Slow Money Gathering. We first hear from a town hall meeting on food with Patrick Holden, Richard McCarthy, Judy Wicks and Preston Correll. Then Severine von Tscharner Fleming presents a youth perspective on farming and food. Then, a panel on GMOs covers the latest research into industry claims. In the second half of our show, we hear an exclusive radio edit of Vandana Shiva's keynote on the psychology of war embedded in our industrial food system.

// Links and News Items

Town Hall Meeting: Food
Severine von Tscharner Fleming
Breakout session: GMOs
Vandana Shiva - Keynote Video

The Heretic's Guide to Global Finance: Hacking the Future of Money - free ebook

What's the true cost of gasoline?

Wolf Street: no bottom yet under the fracking bust

// Books

Good Morning, Beautiful Business: The Unexpected Journey of an Activist Entrepreneur and Local-Economy Pioneer by Judy Wicks

Making Peace With the Earth by Vandana Shiva

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break]

Slow Money 2014 Highlight Video

[End]

Aziz Ansari on Chickens

// Music (in order of appearance)

Phoria - Emanate (Tom Gillieron Rework) via Soundcloud
Gregory Porter - Liquid Spirit (Claptone Remix) via IndieShuffle
Daniel Martin Moore - Live from the Slow Money 2014 Gathering
The Be Good Tanyas - Waitin' Round to Die (Avener Remix)
Gramatik - Victory via Soundcloud
Monkey Safari - Cranes (Wolf + Lamb Remix) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Ben Evans of BenEvansCreative.com

Episode #85 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Richard in Spain
Paul in CA
Benny in Australia
Jim in WA
Zach in NJ

(more…)

[ Episode #84 // Slow Money // Part A ]

Mar 2 2015

Mini Episode

Our industrial system of agriculture and an integrated global marketplace has created an abundance of available food for those in wealthy nations. Cheaply priced produce and meat shows up in our supermarkets and restaurants with rarely any concern. Values of efficiency and synchronized just-in-time deliveries have been served by a philosophy of capital-intensive financing for food. A monoculture has been created that is now threatened by droughts of water and credit. Are there less complex ways of growing food that can reduce dependencies on large-scale finance?

Extraenvironmentalist #84 is the first of our three part series from the 2014 Slow Money Gathering. We’ve taken more than 22 hours of our live broadcast footage from the leading thinkers on sustainable sustainable food systems, editing their thoughts and speeches down to the best parts for our podcast audience. We first hear from Woody Tasch, author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered, Marco Vangelisti of Essential Knowledge for Transition and Mary Berry of The Berry Center. Then, Joel Salatin outlines a vision for building a truthful farming system that can dramatically reduce the capital intensity of farming while building living systems.

// Links and News Items

Joel Salatin Keynote video
Marco Vangelisti video
Woody Tasch - Opening Keynote Video
Mary Berry - Keynote Video

Dead malls: Half of America’s shopping centres predicted to close by 2030

‘Not Mayberry anymore’: Oil patch cops scramble to keep up

// Books

Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms, and Fertility Mattered by Woody Tasch

Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break]

Slow Money 2014 Highlight Video

[End]

Christine Lagarde on facing strong headwinds in the global economy

// Music (in order of appearance)

Caribou - Back Home (umami edit) via Soundcloud
Hayasua - Farewell Blues via IndieShuffle
Daniel Martin Moore - Live from the Slow Money 2014 Gathering
Huon Kind - Feel Like This via The 405
Shakarchi & Stranéus - Hissmusik (HNNY Edit) via Soundcloud

// Production Credits and Notes

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #84 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Ekaterina in Canada
Pete from North Carolina
Eric from Massachusetts

(more…)

[ Episode #78 // Open Knowledge Society ]

Jun 1 2014

Mini Episode

With emerging and innovative methods for distributing information and the means of education, we're still embedded in the relationships created in the 20th century. Can our societies distribute knowledge to enable healthy forms of production and consumption as a template for a decentralized and equitable post-growth economy?

On Extraenvironmentalist #78 we discuss the FLOK Society Project with Michel Bauwens of the P2P Foundation & John Restakis, author of Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital. Michel and John talk about the concept of the partner state and the creation of a new knowledge commons as the basis of society. We talk about how Ecuador is seeking to transition to this decentralized economic model in preparation for the 21st century. Then, we jump back to the late 1950s to hear from Erich Fromm and Aldous Huxley on The Mike Wallace Interview as they discuss similar ideas nearly six decades earlier.

// Books

Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the age of capital by John Restakis

// Links and News Items

NPR: Finding Power for the Cloud

Some 50% of Japan municipalities may disappear

The Japan News: Stemming the fall in population

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 33m

Open Source Philosophy
Practical Post-Scarcity

[ Wrap-up ]

Erich Fromm
Aldous Huxley

[End]

Terence McKenna

// Music (in order of appearance)

Cosmonaut Grechko - Anytime
DJ Curb - Accentuate the Positive
Gabriel Rios - Gold (Thomas Jack Remix)
Cocoon - Cathedral (Dinnerdate Remix)
Purrple - Tide (Feat. Term K)

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Our listener Stacco for helping in the production process
Radialistas for their assistance in recording this interview

Episode #78 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Patrick in North Carolina
David in Sweden

(more…)

[ Episode #77 // Locally Invested ]

Apr 29 2014

Mini Episode

As trust is lost in the global financial system and its intermediaries, surplus investment capital seems stranded in ever more risky international asset flows. Are there ways of re-routing investments towards local processes that rebuild communities and food systems? Will alternative investment strategies develop in time to challenge the failing narrative of a standard approach to retirement savings?

On Extraenvironmentalist #77 we talk about developing an investment paradigm for the future that's rooted in local business and healthy food, first with Michael Shuman of Cutting Edge Capital and author of Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity. We ask Michael about ways to invest locally that have the potential for better returns on capital and community cohesion while getting thoughts on the coming revolution in crowdfunding. Then, we speak with Carol Peppe Hewitt about the idea of Slow Money and ways that it can rebuild our foodsheds as detailed in her book Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money.

// Books

Local Dollars, Local Sense: How to Shift Your Money from Wall Street to Main Street and Achieve Real Prosperity by Michael Shuman
Financing Our Foodshed: Growing Local Food with Slow Money by Carol Peppe Hewitt

// Links and News Items

60 Minutes: Is the Stock Market Rigged?

NYT: Can a Pop-Up Service Fix It? Probably

Extraenvironmentalist Youtube Channel

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 21m

Forget gold, buy farmland
Jim Rogers on commodities, the agriculture boom and perilous times ahead
As Farmers Age, Japan Rethinks Relationship With Food, Fields
BBC Report on Farmland Investment in the Ukraine

[End]

Jeb Brugmann - from the upcoming XE miniseries on the built environment

// Music (in order of appearance)

Cuz - Tamatebako via god is in the tv
Robin Schulz - Shyer (Bootleg)
Paperwhite - Got Me Goin (Robotaki Remix) via The Burning Ear
Ghetto Brothers - There Is Something In My Heart (Spanish Gold Cover) via IndieShuffle
MSMR - Hurricane (Goldroom Remix) via Dancing Astronaut
Pharrell - Happy (NEUS Remix // Bobby C Sound TV edit)

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #77 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Sarah in North Carolina
Hadi in British Columbia
Raul in Illinois
Feargal in Ireland

// Send us a BTC tip for #77

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

Donate Bitcoins

(more…)

[ Episode #72 // Green Wizardry ]

Jan 27 2014

Mini Episode

The members of the middle class in the United States are finding increasing difficulty achieving and maintaining their expectations for jobs, housing and other basic aspects of life. With the limits to growth putting basic lifestyle assumptions under increasing assault, can people use intermediate technologies to reduce their ecological and financial footprint? If we start imagining new ways of procuring energy, food and shelter can we also reconfigure our culture in the process?

In Extraenvironmentalist #72 we discuss appropriate technology with John Michael Greer as he describes the ideas in his new book Green Wizardry: Conservation, Solar Power, Organic Gardening, and Other Hands-On Skills From the Appropriate Tech Toolkit. JMG describes how a downwardly mobile middle class can begin mastering the skills necessary to change their lives and their culture. Then, we talk to Jessica Kellner of Mother Earth Living about her book Housing Reclaimed: Sustainable Homes for Next to Nothing and the people across the United States who are building their homes out of salvaged materials for hardly any money.

Note: In the RSS feed version of this episode we have a 15 minute version of our interview with Jessica Kellner, on our Soundcloud page you'll find the full 36 minute interview.

// Books

The Integral Urban House
Green Wizardry by John Michael Greer
Housing Reclaimed by Jessica Kellner

// Links and News Items

#1 - http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.ca/2014/01/seven-sustainable-technologies.html via our listener Robin

#2 - http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/10/29/241664654/community-supported-canning-gets-locavores-through-winter?ft=1&f=1001

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[First Break] - 34m

Jacob Brownowski - The Ascent of Man
Thomas Friedman - Why Green is the new Red, White and Blue
Obama - The True Engine of Economic Growth
Ray Kurzweil - The Coming Singularity
Carlin: When the Electric Grid Goes Down
James Burke - Connections - The Trigger Effect
EF Shumacher on Appropriate Technology

[End]
Small Is Beautiful: Impressions of Fritz Schumacher

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Afrobeta - Love is Magic
Emilijo A.C. - That's All I Do
Stefan Biniak - The Read All About It Bootleg via Soundcloud
Rhianna - Stay (Call Me Señor Cover) via IndieShuffle
Androme - Gunjule

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #72 was supported by donations from the following generous listeners:

Vincenzo in PA
Patrick in OR
Dean in CO
Kevin in CT
Paul in CA

// Send us a BTC tip for #72

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

Donate Bitcoins

(more…)

[ Episode #70 // Downloading Responsibility ]

Dec 10 2013

Mini Episode

An ongoing economic crash that feels like the onset of a deep freeze is far more exhausting than a rapid implosion. As bubbles are reflated and debts accumulate yet again, the system lurches towards its next financial accident. While the global operating system fails, can the exchange of critical goods and services detach from failing currencies? Does the international financial system retain any value if people no longer need it?

In Extraenvironmentalist #70 we catch up with Nicole Foss and Laurence Boomert on their tour across North America as they speak with communities about preparing for hard times. Nicole and Laurence highlight community initiatives that can help people meet basic needs, even as monetary institutions pursue desperation measures. Then, John Michael Greer joins us [88m] to answer a few listener questions and to highlight the lack of whole systems thinking in internet visionaries after Seth and Justin discuss the money illusion.

// Books

Local Dollars, Local Sense by Michael Shuman
Inquiries Into the Nature of Slow Money by Woody Tasch
The Money Illusion by Irving Fisher

// News and Other Items Discussed

Freicoin - the demurrage based cryptocurrency

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 35m

Consum-oholic zombies fed big debt transfusion
Living Debt: Rising costs in UK force millions to borrow
Bartering to survive in Spain
I'm broke, let's barter - Greece's new alternative economy

[End]

Alan Watts

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Dorothy Morrison - Rain (Bobby Busnach Make it Rain Remix)
Skeewiff - Man of Constant Sorrow
Ed Sheeran - I See Fire (Kygo Remix) via Earmilk
ZZ Ward - 365 Days (Jerry Folk Remix) via Jaqui
Fredico Aubele - Somewhere Else

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Kevin in CA for the Filter Bubble Wrap at the end

Episode art: Wall Street in 1929, one week before the Black Friday crash. People gather due to high volume of trading.

This show was supported by donations from our generous listeners:

Danny in New Orleans
Patrick in Oregon
Eric in DC

// Send us a BTC tip for #70

Even .0001 BTC goes a long way!

Donate Bitcoins

(more…)

[ Episode #65 // Restoring Function ]

Sep 1 2013

Mini Episode

A fundamental flaw in our economy drives the consumption of our ecosystems until they enter terminal dysfunction. This logical error has eroded numerous civilizations and landscapes. Can our species cooperate to restore large-scale degraded ecosystems across the planet before terminal collapse?

In Extraenvironmentalist #65 we speak with John D. Liu about his experience documenting the restoration of China's Loess Plateau from desert into functional ecosystem. John describes how the project could be applied to desertifying land across the planet to sequester carbon while providing meaningful livelihoods for billions. Then, we share our thoughts on three years of Extraenvironmentalist podcasts before taking on RadioLab.

// News and Other Items Discussed

Green Gold on John D Liu.
Images of the Loess Plateau

Declaration of Interdependence

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 35m

Green Gold with John D Liu

[End]

Louis CK on Environmentalists

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Active Child - She Cut Me via Earmilk
The M Machine - A King Alone (Robotaki Remix) via Daily Beat
The Royal Concept – On Our Way (Oliver Nelson Remix) via Starting to Feel It
MS MR - Think of You (RAC Remix) via Pigeons and Planes

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel
Production Assistance via Simon JM

RadioJab - Voice Acting: Olga K, KMO, Glen G. and Jane R

This show was supported by donations from our generous listeners:

Linda in Canada
Simon in Norway
David in Boulder, Colorado
Robin in Vancouver, British Columbia
Josh in Raleigh, North Carolina
Bill and Cindy on Gabriola Island, British Columbia
Brandon in the Noosphere

(more…)

[ Episode #62 // Land Grabs ]

Jun 30 2013

Mini Episode

A financial sector built on a foundation of continuous material expansion is seeking returns in a slowing global economy. Will investments in global farmland be able to provide the returns expected by pension funds, endowments and future financial claims? Why are investors suddenly emphasizing the same data and charts that environmentalists have been pointing towards for decades?

In Extraenvironmentalist #62 we discuss the global race for farmland with Fred Pearce as detailed in his recent book: The Land Grabbers. We hear about his journey around the world to uncover the secret deals being signed by governments at the expense of their people. Then we speak with Gregor Macdonald about the global energy trends driving this search for innovative returns. Gregor describes why the age of nuclear power is ending as complexity overwhelms large systems and how the global economy has changed dramatically since conventional oil reached its plateau.

// Books

Fred Pearce // The Land Grabbers
Gregor Macdonald // Solar's Rise, Nuclear's Demise - June Issue of Terrajoule

// News and Other Items Discussed

One year away from global riots (from 9 months ago)
6.2% Food Inflation in Saudi Arabia
With electricity and water in short supply, Egyptians grow tense

XE Video with Dennis McKenna
XE Video with Nate Hagens

New Economics Institute ReRoute Summit - July 19th-21st

Beatboxin' Rick Wolff

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 23m

Michael Hudson from an upcoming episode of the Extraenvironmentalist
Glen Gary & Ross - A Film About Land Grabs
Jack Alpert from Extraenvironmentalist #11
Brazil - Protests of Discontent

[End]

A clip from our recent video with Nate Hagens

// Music (in Order of Appearance)

Bugseed - Thinking of You via Soundcloud
Shine 2009 - Eurozone (CFCF Remix) via Gorilla vs. Bear
Cosmo Sheldrake - Rich ft. Ana Roo via Pigeons and Planes
Daft Punk - Get Lucky (Beats Antique Cover)
Blackstreet - No Diggity (Bondax Remix) via The Music Ninja

// Production Credits

Our correspondent and editor Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

Episode #62 was supported by donations from one of our generous listeners: Beccy in Australia

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[ Episode #58 // Permaculture Possibilities ]

Apr 17 2013

Mini Episode

Even though our global environmental challenges have become dramatically more severe over the last several decades, our understanding of ecological processes have significantly deepened. Permaculture approaches offer a unique toolkit to address problems of desertification, poisoned landcapes, impure water supplies and more. Yet will low-tech solutions that work with nature be able to capture a public imagination expecting technological progress to look like business as usual?

In Extraenvironmentalist #58 our correspondent Kevin joins us to cover permaculture approaches to our global challenges. We hear segments from Pacific Northwest Permaculture Convergence sessions on innovative landscape management practices, biochar for carbon sequestration, mycological approaches to cleaning up our pollution and more. We also hear a few extended interviews from the Pacific Northwest Permaculture Convergence to wrap up our coverage of the largest permaculture summit in North America.

// Additional Links

Extraenvironmentalist Youtube Channel for New Economy Summit Coverage
Coursera MOOC on Climate Change Literacy
Allan Savory's TED Talk on Greening Deserts

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[End]

The Overview Effect

// Music (in Order of Appearance)
NONONO - Pumping Blood via Pigeons and Planes
Formidable Vegetable - Small and Slow via Soundcloud
The Garden Song via Youtube
The Embassy - Everything I Ever Wanted (Kisses Remix) via Soundcloud
Formidable Vegtable - Oil via Soundcloud
James Blake - Retrograde (Finn Filly Edit) via Et Musique Pour Tous
Haim - Falling (Duke Dumont Remix) via Hard Candy

// Speakers in Order of Appearance

3:06 - Maurice Robinette via www.managingchangenorthwest.com
13:40 - Francesco Tortorici
15:52 - Chuck Estin via www.biosdesign.us
16:30 - Francesco Tortorici
22:49 - Peter McCoy via www.radicalmycology.com
37:28 - Forest Shomer via www.insidepassageseeds.com
41:00 - Andrew Millison via www.beaverstatepermaculture.com
52:19 - Judith Alexander via l2020.org
55:42 - Paul Cienfuegos via PaulCienfuegos.com
1:04:55 - Mark Robinowitz via www.peakchoice.org
1:25:26 - Josho Somine
1:41:00 - Nancy Chase via www.shambalafarm.com

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

(more…)

[ Episode #57 // Permaculture Convergence ]

Mar 19 2013

Mini Episode

Despite the massive destruction our species has wrought on the earth, we've also learned a tremendous amount about ecological systems in the process. As our old narrative of domination crumbles, an understanding of how to work with nature is emerging. Can we apply the ideas of permaculture to society when facing energy depletion, climate change and social breakdown? Will our future society be able to regenerate the planet?

In Extraenvironmentalist #57 we hear from the many speakers at the 2012 Northwest Permaculture Convergence as recorded by our editor Kevin. We hear segments from the dozens of conference session sessions themed around permaculture approaches to global challenges, the social aspects of permaculture and ideas on the built environment. Kevin explains some of what he learned about permaculture from attending the conference and we briefly discuss a few signs that our economic reality is quickly changing.

Note: On our next episode we'll be bringing you a bit more coverage from the Pacific NW Permaculture Convergence.

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 1h10m

Max Keiser - Soviet era of empty shelves dawns
Michael Hudson via Renegade Economists on 3cr
Bailout terms shock Cypriots

[End]

John Liu - Green Gold

// Music (in order of Appearance)

Bibio - A tout a l'heure via Tell All Your Friends
Formidable Vegetable - Yield via Soundcloud
Formidable Vegtable - No Such Thing as Waste via Soundcloud
Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You (Free n Losh Remix) via Salacious Sound

Learn more about the speakers along with full time-coded show notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_8WqD40M5Z0kbMWeIS8dlLsoRLSP__Jkdd-S88X3168/edit?usp=sharing

// Speakers in Order of Appearance

Learn more about the speakers along with full time-coded show notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_8WqD40M5Z0kbMWeIS8dlLsoRLSP__Jkdd-S88X3168/edit?usp=sharing

[Permaculture Approach to Challenges] - 3m46s

Mark Robinowitz
Mike Maki
Jan Spencer
Andrew Millison
Sharon Ferguson
Marisha Auerbach
Jenny Pell
Maurice Robinette
Rick Valley
Michael Pilarski
Pat Rasmussen
Forest Shomer

[Social Aspects of Permaculture] - 45m55s

Willie-the-Wind
Judith Alexander
Maurice Robinette
Sharon Ferguson
Jenny Pell
Mighk Simpson
Mark Lakeman
Forest Shomer
Mike Maki
Afia Menke
Marisha Auerbach
Melanie Rios
Jan Spencer
Mark Robinowitz

[Permaculture Approaches to the Built Environment] - 1h20m05s

Afia Menke (reading from an unsourced book)
Mark Lakeman
Andrew Millison
Joel Lee
Marisha Auerbach
Jan Spencer
Rick Valley
Mark Robinowitz
Sharon Ferguson

// Production Credits

Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

(more…)

[ Episode #51 // Culture of Dying ]

Oct 15 2012

Mini Episode

The globally dominant culture is suffering from an economic, ecological and social crisis that has deeper roots than failing budgets and environmental degradation. Do we have a role to play if our culture is headed towards its eventual death? Though our economic system has trained us to be needy, can we approach these challenges as if we were needed?

In Extraenvironmentalist #51 we speak with Stephen Jenkinson about our cultural difficulty with death. Stephen draws on lessons learned from decades of working with death to describe how we can frame our civilization's trajectory. We ask how to find sanity in a time of alienation and if we can be a human in difficult circumstances. Stephen describes the distinct jobs given to us as our family members die. Also, John Michael Greer joins us briefly to talk about the death of Western culture.

You can stream Griefwalker, the film made about Stephen's work.

// Music (in order of appearance)

Van She - Don't Fear the Reaper via The Fader
Kaki King - Bowen Island via KCRW
Trails and Ways - Animal (Miike Snow Cover) via IndieShuffle
Elle Goulding - Anything Could Happen (Blood Diamonds Remix) via Salacious Sound
Crystal Fighters - At Home (Passion Pit Remix) via Fist In the Air

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)

[Break] - 40m
John Michael Greer speaks on death

// Production Credits
Kevin via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

(more…)

[ Episode #48 // Urban Minds ]

Aug 26 2012

Mini Episode

Human populations have lived a rural lifestyle through most of history, depending on agriculture or hunting and gathering. As abundant oil reserves fueled the rise of modern civilization, urban life grew along with it. In 1800 only 3% of the world's population lived in cities, in 1900 that number reached 14% which increased to 30% in 1950. The majority of our species became urban in 2008 as more than half of humans are now living in cities. Because of petroleum powered agriculture we've supplanted increasingly more humans from food production into other activities. With the exhaustion of our biosphere and the end of cheap oil can we draw on examples from cities of the past to shape the human population centers of the future? Will lessons before economic growth provide a context for life after growth?

In Extraenvironmentalist #48 we speak with archaeologist Paul Sinclair about the Urban Mind project. Paul discusses a new field of archaeological research that is discovering the role of urban gardening throughout history and during wartime in ancient cities. We ask Paul about the role of cities in shaping the way humans think and he tells us how he survived a food crisis in Mozambique. After discussing a world before economic growth, Donnie Maclurcan of the Post Growth Institute tells us how we can start building a post-growth world [1h 14m]. Donnie describes the benefits of asset mapping your community and why you should participate in Free Money Day on September 15th. Last of all, John Michael Greer joins us [1h 58m] to answer listener questions and to talk about David Korowicz's FEASTA study, Trade Off: A Study in Global Systemic Collapse which details how a cascading collapse could lead to rapid end for the global supply chain.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Agnes Obel - Katie Cruel (Feltman & Badutski Remix) via Et Musique Pour Tous
Stevie Wonder - Living for the City (Reflex Stems Revision) via Bandcamp
The Vaccines - The Winner Takes It All (Abba Cover) via The Pop Sucker
Visitor - Coming Home (Lifelike Remix) via Harder Blogger Faster
Abba - Money, Money (Sebastian Sas Remode) via Soundcloud
Neil Young - Old Man (Sound Remedy Remix) via Et Musique Pour Tous

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[Break] - 32m
Bill Rees speaking at the Vancouver Urban Forum
Ed Glaeser speaking at the Vancouver Urban Forum

[End]
Peter Victor at the Montreal Degrowth Conference

// Production Credits
Kevin M. via Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

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[ Episode #43 // Occupy With Aloha ]

Jun 13 2012

Mini Episode

The people of Hawaii have lived an incredible story of cultural assimilation. Numerous external influences on the island have driven a process of creation and destruction, resulting in innovative musical styles. Now, Hawaii faces difficult challenges with food security and genetically modified seeds as it survives the dying values of a corporate culture. Can we learn from the adaptability of the Hawaiian people to facilitate a process of cultural change in Western society?

In Extraenvironmentalist #43 we speak with Makana about his mastery of the slack-key guitar and the lessons Hawaiian culture has to teach us at this tumultuous time. Makana tells us about GMOs in Hawaii, the importance for food security and the story of his experience in singing truth to power at an APEC dinner in Honolulu hosted by President Obama. We ask him for a brief summary of how his aquaponics system works. Next, we speak with Darren Drrda [at the 1h12m mark] about the themes in his book The Four Global Truths and how we can take the first steps towards living an interconnected life that embodies the new story we're creating about our species.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Telepopmusik - Brighton Beach (Freddie Joachim Remix) via The Music Ninja
Makana - Napo'o Ka La via Makana
Makana - We Are the Many via Makana
Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Man on Fire (Little Daylight Remix) via Soundcloud
Sunday Girl - Self Control (Young Empires Remix) via IndieShuffle

// Extended Clips (in order of appearance)
[1st Break] - 25m
Hawaii GMOs - Islands at Risk
What is aquaponics

[2nd Break] - 52m
Makana on CNN

[End]
Bill Rees speaking at the Montreal Degrowth Conference

// Production Credits
Production Assistance | Kevin at the Sustainable Guidance Youtube Channel

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[ Episode #26 // The Four Horsemen ]

Oct 22 2011

Mini Episode

Is capitalism failing or is it producing an intended outcome? There are a group of people privy to the internal mechanisms of our global economic rationale who are willing to share a vision of how the system really works. Though their original intent was to serve what appeared to be a beautiful machinery of supply and demand, they soon realized how greatly the assumptions of our economy are disconnected from reality. Is economics labeled as the dismal science only because of the way we currently practice it?

In Extraenvironmentalist #26 we speak with Ross Ashcroft about his upcoming film The Four Horsemen which explains how the world really works through interviews with 23 of our planet's leading alternative economists, Wall Street insiders and economic thinkers. Ross describes how his desire to become a farmer led him to understand the problems of international finance and how a career in the film industry provided the catalyst to create a documentary about the global economic system. Ross talks about what he learned from interviewing such a well accomplished group of economic experts and what it was like to be in the same room, talking one-on-one with Noam Chomsky. Will our economy collapse because it is being orchestrated to do so or will finance fall apart because it is based on junk science?

// Music (in order of appearance)
TV Girl - Benny and the Jets via Break on a Cloud
Penguin Prison - Don't Fuck With My Money via Hard Candy
Charles Bradley - The World (Is Going Up in Flames) via Quit Mumbling
Shotgun Radio - A Bad Place ft. Mimi Page (Minnesota Remix) via Big Green Beats
Lana Del Rey - Blue Jeans (PatrickReza Dubstep Remix) via Movements and Nonsense

// Extended Clips
Tarek El Diwany on Financial Fallout via Renegade Economist
US Jobless Epidemic Masked by Statistical Shenanigans via RT
USA Might Face a Potentially Violent Revolution via RT
Elizabeth Warren on Fair Taxation via American Spectator

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[ Episode #23 // Fermenting Culture ]

Sep 14 2011

Mini Episode

Sustainability is not a spectator sport. Unless every single one of us radically alters our participation in the rapidly failing industrial food system, within the next few years we'll find our food prices spiking and chaotic weather decimating the food distribution networks we have relied on. In the age of cheap and abundant refrigeration, we're losing our species' long relationship with live culture foods produced by fermentation. The health and nutrition of humanity is suffering from this relatively sudden break from ingesting bacteria responsible for regulating the energy metabolism of our bipedal bodies.

In Extraenvironmentalist #23 we speak with food activist and author Sandor Katz about how to ferment the counterculture. We discuss the philosophical underpinnings of live culture foods, the historical role these foods have played through human history and share some recipes to get your hands dirty and your cabbage sauering. Sandor describes how a local economy built of food preserved with bacteria from your own backyard can help you become part of your environment on a deeper level. Can our trend toward ever greater rates of obesity and poorer health be partly due to our obsession with hygiene and the sterilization of everything that we eat? All of this along with the first appearance of Cooking with the Extraenvironmentalist as our airwaves pick up a slightly different version of public radio.

// Music (in order of appearance)
Stewart Phillips - Thanks, Smokey! via Zoochosis Youtube Channel
Zack Hemsey - Mind Heist
Anomie Bell - Ain't No Sunshine via The Music Ninja
DJ Topcat - Folsom Prison Gangstaz via Soundcloud
A Smooth Jazz Tribute to Gorillaz
California Dreamin - Minnesota via This Song Slaps

// Extended Clips
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Symphony of Science - Children of Africa
Bruce Lee - Be Water My Friend

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[ Episode #14 // Discovering Dirt ]

Apr 17 2011

Mini Episode

Though we call it dirt, the soil beneath is the skin of our planet and the breadbasket of our species. Is there a connection between the lifespan of a civilization and the rate at which its topsoil erodes? The agricultural practices of past societies can serve as a stern warning against highly erosive farming and point the way towards a revolution in the way we produce the sustenance needed for survival and prosperity. What does it mean that rapidly increasing food prices are causing riots around the world while a dump-truck load of soil enters the Mississippi Delta every second?

In Extraenvironmentalist #14 we speak with Dave Montgomery, author of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations. In his book, Dr. Montgomery covers historical evidence from Rome, Greece, China and other societies to trace a link between population dynamics and erosion. Even though the land of North America has only experienced heavy agricultural erosion for a much shorter span, we've already mined the fertility of the U.S. Southeast to churn out tobacco, driving populations towards the Pacific in search of more productive land. We discuss some key historical examples and talk about how modern trends point to serious concerns for the present as soil productivity declines at a rapid rate. Can a crisis in global agriculture be avoided when our society is heavily dependent on the temporary agricultural output boosted by petroleum dependent chemicals?

// Music (in order of appearance)
Conner Youngblood - Summer Song via The Music Ninja
Bibio - K is for Kelson via Et Musique Pour Tous
Mount Moriah - Lament via The New Music Collaborative
Daughter - Landfill via Earplugs Not Included
Daughter - Candles via Earplugs Not Included

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