Episode 14 - Fred Kirschenmann

Fred Kirschenmann is a farmer, academic, and pioneer advocate for resilient farming joining us to weave together why healthy soil is essential for farmers, our planet, and for our health. An unmatched storyteller, Fred traces the evolution of US agriculture to the story of his family's farm from the Dust Bowl to the present. Grounding our conversation in the history of agriculture industrialization, Fred makes a case for shifting from a food system based around controlling nature to a food system based around relating to nature. 

This is a timely conversation: Fred has been warning of the risk of infectious disease increase and spread tied to agriculture for decades. As we continue to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, Fred explores how this moment of great disruption is an opening for social transformation. With his inimitable ability to identify patterns of problems, Fred explores the connections between soil health, farmer economic success, human health, and a healthy economy. 

Glorying in a conversation with the “Farmer Philosopher”, our dialogue delves into the relationship between spirituality and agriculture. Fred offers a vision for cultural transformation in how we related to nature and each other by engaging in meaningful peaceful conversations and relationships. 

Fred's assessment of the future we are facing is clear-eyed. He shares why he is hopeful that the younger generation will shift our relationship to nature. And he is equally clear that changing agriculture practices at the scale and pace needed to avert the worst of climate change is not a foregone conclusion. Join us for information and inspiration.

And as promised in the episode, here is the “reading list” from this conversation:

Culture and Agriculture, Ernest L. Schusky

The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells

The Wizard and the Prophet, Charles Mann

Building a Peace Narrative, Charles Eisenstein