{"id":2018,"date":"2017-12-15T08:09:01","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T08:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sourcingmatters.show\/?p=2018"},"modified":"2021-12-24T18:44:33","modified_gmt":"2021-12-24T18:44:33","slug":"episode-2-fred-kirschenmann-of-stone-barns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/2017\/12\/15\/episode-2-fred-kirschenmann-of-stone-barns\/","title":{"rendered":"Ep. 2 Fred Kirschenmann: Organics founding father"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>episode 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n<h4>Fred Kirschenmann &#8211; President of Stone Barns Board<\/h4>\n<p>On our second episode of Sourcing Matters podcast we welcome a founding father of American Organics, Fred Kirschenmann. \u00a0A true legend known for promoting regenerative agriculture and food system reform through commitment to soil health, Fred Kirschenmann is a Distinguished Fellow for the Leopold Center at Iowa State, and is President of the board\u00a0at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in\u00a0Tarrytown, NY.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>QUICK GUIDE &#8211;<\/strong><em>\u00a0this episode covers the following subjects:<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>regenerative agriculture is proper on-farm natural resource management<\/li>\n<li>soil health harmonizes with gut health: microflora not too much different than soil<\/li>\n<li>investing in soil health results in positive human &amp; public health, planetary stability<\/li>\n<li>a review of Organic standards &#8211; then and now<\/li>\n<li>the future of hydroponics; should USDA Organic include growing in water?<\/li>\n<li>urban agriculture has arrived, and is here to stay<\/li>\n<li>the future farming workforce wants to grow food for each other, and not commodities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<blockquote>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">Sourcing Matters.show episode 2 recap:<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Closing out 2017 we take a step back to evaluate the current state of Agriculture and regenerative natural resource management with a true expert in the field of future food, Fred Kirschenmann. \u00a0\u00a0Hosts Aaron Niederhelman and Nathan Roman engage Professor Kirschenmann in a conversation of grave importance: \u00a0how do we feed ourselves on a shrinking planet? \u00a0And, how do we (re)establish food as our baseline for keeping ourselves and our planet in good standings. \u00a0\u21d3<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout the 30 minute chat Fred offers unique insight earned from decades of fighting for a stable future. His most poignant description of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regenerative Agriculture<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> may be the best ever captured. \u00a0Citing Sir Albert Howard\u2019s law of return, Kirschenmann concisely describes <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">regenerative<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as a process where \u201ceverything is renewed in the process of using it.\u201d \u00a0Kirschenmann goes on to explain that \u201cthere are more microbes in a tablespoon of soil than there are humans on the planet!\u201d \u00a0We learn that the impact of this has yet to be levered in modern food systems. \u00a0In fact, the vast majority of production in the developed world is based on an input-based approach where we\u2019re not properly using this (free) microbial army to cycle nutrients for our benefit. \u00a0Instead, for purpose of creating empty cheap energy for more consumers to nosh, we\u2019ve perpetuated an extractive approach in agriculture that is based on cheap petrochemicals, unlimited access to minerals and unlimited water which cannot be sustained. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAs we look at our future, and we don\u2019t have cheap energy to transport and grow food from thousands of miles a way &#8211; we\u2019ll see more food grown within bio-regions.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kirschenmann eloquently describes that for purposes of financial expense, or true cost of externalities, or even capacity to maintain nevermind scale a production model past a ceiling fast approaching &#8211; feeding a growing population on a shrinking planet will come only from better understanding and engagement of regenerative natural resources.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To reduce the potential of continuing an industry food fight &#8211; Kirschenmann is nothing but pragmatic. \u00a0Through a process of diplomacy leaders in DC should evaluate &#8211; Fred describes how he empowers even the most staunch conventional producers to see the light of investing in soil vitality. \u00a0By justifying his argument with numbers that back increased demand for alternatively produced crops; and on the other side of the ledger &#8211; the increased costs and commitment requirements for maintaining status quo of conventional production; and even further, the realization of externalities and true costs associated to modern agriculture on human &amp; environmental health &#8211; he makes it clear the only future of food production is regenerative. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u21d3<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Digging deeper &#8211; investing in soil health does not only benefits the bottomline, it directly benefits your health and enjoyment of food. \u00a0Hear how Kirschenmann describes the diverse benefits of whole food from health soil. \u00a0From the cause &amp; effect of changing diets and improving health in inner city communities &#8211; to supercharging the plates of the world famous chef Dan Barber &#8211; we must come out this half hour enlightened, and asking how revolutionary this could be in stabilizing our shared planet. \u00a0Maybe it\u2019s us, the consumer, that can move the needle. \u00a0What if this approach was to be exercised through proper channels? \u00a0Could well sourced food from healthy soil be the silver bullet diet that a marketplace desperately seeks with billions of dollars every year? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hear what Fred has to say about this&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the man who wrote the original rules on Organics, Fred Kirschenmann shares his thoughts on the recent ruling by the National Organics Standards Board to allow hydroponics to don a USDA Organics Certification. Fred offer a masterful description the benefits of food grown in water, and the vast market opportunities that will arise with further commitment. \u00a0But, after hearing the original intent pennded for Organics &#8211; it\u2019s obvious there\u2019s only one proper step forward here, and we may have just gone backwards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this chat Kirschenmann describes some of his recent experiences with the future workforce that\u2019s more interested in <em>\u201cgrowing food for people, than corn or soy in Iowa&#8221;.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Through his work at Stone Barns in Tarrytown, NY, and the Leopold Center at the Iowa State University, Kirschenmann is front and center in negotiating our shared future with the realities of planetary boundaries and evolving consumer interests.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h5><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The time is now for us to act, to innovate and to listen to what consumers and the future workforce seek from <strong>their<\/strong> food.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>episode 2: Fred Kirschenmann &#8211; President of Stone Barns Board On our second episode of Sourcing Matters podcast we welcome a founding father of American Organics, Fred Kirschenmann. \u00a0A true legend known for promoting regenerative&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"audio","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,3,59,7,57,54,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-audio","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-featured","category-food-values","category-podcast","category-regenerative","category-soil-health","category-sourcing-matters","post_format-post-format-audio"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2018"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5387,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2018\/revisions\/5387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourcingmatters.show\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}