Dumbo Feather – February 2019

ButitmeansthatifI lookaroundandtheroomisnotfilledwithyoungpeople,peopleof

colour,peopleonthenon-binarygenderspectrum,ifthey’renotthepredominantpeople

inthehouse,thenI’vegottoworkreallyhardtochangethat.Wehavea terrificteamatthe

ranch,butmoregenerallyI haven’tgotitrightintheranchingworldnorinthebanking

world—yet.Sogettingtheteamrightattheranchandconstantlysaying,“Where’sthe

diversity,where’stheinclusion?”isparamount.Becauseagricultureisasmessedupa

systemasitevercouldbe.I meanI thinkit’sthemostmessedup,giventhatitinvolvesour

naturalcommonsthatwecan’treplace.

Yeah.Fortunately,Californiaisnotonly

thefifthlargesteconomyintheworld

ifitwerea country,itisalsooneofthe

biggest,mostproductiveagricultural

regionseventhoughit’sbeenscrewed

upbyindustrialag.Andthere’ssome

excellentacademicleadershiponhow

industrialaginCaliforniasetthewheelsin

motionforunderminingthedemocracy,

whichI thinkweshouldlookmoreclosely

into.Sothebenefitsofchangingitare

hugeandthecostsofnotchangingitare

equallydevastating.Butifwecanchange

itinCaliforniawecanchangeitinIowa,

inWisconsin,intheMidwest.Industrialagwasn’tbornintheMidwest,itwasbornin

CaliforniaandmigratedtotheMidwest.AndtheMidwestissuckingwindrightnow.

Therearejustsomanydesperatepeopleforwhomthebottomhasfallenoutoftheag

market.Terriblemodel.Allthereturngoestothecommodityfuturestradersandnone

goestotheland.I spokeaboutthisbut

Sohealthysoilsbecauseoftheecologicalsystemservicesincludingre-sequesteringcarbon

thatthoseoffer.Becauseofthewaterqualityandquantityofretentionthathealthysoil

creates.Becauseofthehealthyfoodproductthatcreateshopefulhumanbeingsinstead

ofdiseasedhumanbeings.Becauseofthereturnoffofthelandbeingsufficienttopaya

livingwagetothosewhoworkit.Tosupporttheeconomicresiliencyofruraleconomies

’causethosearethenaturalstewardsofourlandandthewatchdogswhocantelluswhen

something’sgoingawry.Rightonuptothenationalsecurityelementofhavinga locally-

grownfoodsupply.

I don’tbelievein privatepropertyrightswhen

it comestoproductive landsor those landsthat

shouldbepermanentlyin thewild.I believe

thoseshould bepubliclyowned,andyour right

tooccupythem andto workthem dependsupon

yourabilityto stewardthem forthevaluesthat

meetallthe stakeholdergroups.

Wow.Yeah.Youjustbegantotouchonthefoodsystema
little.ThelastissueofDumboFeatherwasabouthealingthe
landanda beautifulman,CharlesMassy,inAustralia,has
recentlywrittena bookaboutregenerativeagriculture.Both
thedeepsystemicchallengeswithinthatsystemandalso
theopportunitytohealland,connectcommunityandcreate
nutrient-densefoodwhichhasflow-oneffectstothehealth
system.Tome it’s one of the most holistic, powerful, systemic
changes we can be creating. And the vested interests are so
deep and so hard to push through, it’s almost more messed up
than the banking system. I’m interested in your approach. Are
you thinking of your opportunity in the space to build a micro
version of what’s possible? Or to spread your wings wider?

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CHANGING THE SYSTEM

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