Climate, Soil, Farming Alice Irene Whittaker Climate, Soil, Farming Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 41 - Reconnecting with Soil

Each of us is deeply connected to soil, whether we see or feel soil directly. It is the source of our food, medicine, and clothing, and is critical to the liveability of our ecosystems and to our lives. We can grow soil, and sequester carbon, feed ourselves, and strengthen local communities and economies in the process.

Guest Antonious Petro is the Executive Director of Régéneration Canada, a national organization promoting soil regeneration in order to mitigate climate change, restore biodiversity, improve water cycles, and support a healthy food system.

In this episode, we get into the principles of regenerative agriculture, barriers that farmers face, and the importance of soil. We look at the hopeful ways in which we can help nature and soil heal themselves. We explore how we need to make sure environmental, economic, and social well-being work together, if we are to have any hope.

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Fashion, Farming, Rewilding, Relationships Alice Irene Whittaker Fashion, Farming, Rewilding, Relationships Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 38 - Reconnecting with Land and Community through Slow Fashion

In the darkness of solstice season, a slim and nourishing light begins to return, imperceptibly, like the small and steady reconnections we are making to the earth and each other.

This conversation explores how we can reconnect with land and improve our relationship with the environment through natural dye and slow fashion. These practices allow us to express creativity and connect with our specific homes on a miraculous and hurting planet. We discuss how no one can shoulder the weight of environmental care alone – we need each other.

Malú Colorin, a Mexican natural dyer and designer living in Ireland, inherited her name and a calling for textile art from her mother and grandmother. She is the founder of Talú, a natural dye house and educational hub, and she is also the co-founder of Fibreshed Ireland, a community-supported social enterprise building networks to craft a regenerative Irish textile system based on local fibre, local dyes and local labour.

In the slowly-receding darkness, we reflect on what to let go of – and what we hold onto fiercely.

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Soil, Justice, Farming, Rewilding, Caretaking Alice Irene Whittaker Soil, Justice, Farming, Rewilding, Caretaking Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 34 - Revealing Why Women Grow Gardens

Why do we grow in our gardens? Are we searching for closeness to the mystery and magic of the natural world, or working to feed ourselves? Do we grow to create habitat for pollinators or enrich precious soil? Do we grow to foster community, or to grasp control in a scary world? Do we grow because we love beauty?

Wise and curious guest Alice Vincent delves into her new book, Why Women Grow: Stories of Soil, Sisterhood and Survival. Alice is a writer, broadcaster, career-journalist, and multi-platform storyteller, and her book Rootbound: Rewilding a Life was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize. Beyond the page, Alice is the host of the Why Women Grow podcast, which unearths stories of the land with inspiring women.

This beautiful and rich conversation roots into our relationships with nature and gardening in cities. We discuss perfectionism, being drawn to the soil, and motherhood. We refurl stories of women in their gardens, and pay homage to the gardens who raised us.

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Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Farming, Circular Economy Alice Irene Whittaker Soil, Regenerative Agriculture, Farming, Circular Economy Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 33 - On Location in Colorado: Regenerative Ranch, Regenerative Economy

This mini-documentary chronicles the journey of host Alice Irene Whittaker in 2019, when she traveled pregnant with her third child to Colorado to interview acclaimed, award-winning environmental economist and regenerative rancher Hunter Lovins.

Around a kitchen table in her regenerative ranch, Hunter answers curiosities about a circular economy that is modelled on nature’s cycles, and envisions the large-scale transition to renewable energy and ecologically-responsible business. Hunter reflects on her lived and professional experience in transforming landscapes and soil through regenerative agriculture.

A moment in time between two women is captured in this thought-provoking conversation that unfolds surrounded by horses, the homes of herons, and wide open sky. This episode challenges economic growth as a concept, dreams of the demise of the fossil fuel industry, and encourages designing an economy that fosters happiness and well-being.

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Farming, Food, Climate Alice Irene Whittaker Farming, Food, Climate Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 32 - Local Food Reinvented with Tech

How do we feed everyone, how do we feed cities? How do we tackle food deserts and food injustice? And what if there is not one answer to these questions - but many?

This experiment of how humanity tackles environmental breakdown requires all of us. People will find their niches. For Eddy Badrina, that niche is the intersection of economics, technology - and lettuce.

Eddy Badrina is the Chief Executive Officer of Eden Green, a part vertical farm, part technology company that produces year-round harvests of locally grown leafy greens.

This conversation explores vertical hydroponic farming, reducing water and energy, and how to feed cities with locally-grown food. We explore how, when facing environmental breakdown - that most complex of problems - technology and innovation can be a part of a complex mix of solutions.

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Farming, Food, Climate, Circular Economy, Systems Change Alice Irene Whittaker Farming, Food, Climate, Circular Economy, Systems Change Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 30 - Relocalizing Our Food Future

Imagine creating a food future where all people have access to nourishing affordable food, growing practices are regenerative, and our food systems transition from being global and fragile to regional and resilient.

An expert in reimagining resilient local food systems, Barbara Swartzentruber is currently Executive Director of the Smart Cities Office at the City of Guelph, where the City and County of Wellington are collaborating with public and private sector partners to build a circular, regenerative regional food system.

Facing international problems of daunting proportions, we interrogate: what are the roles of individuals, communities, and cities? Can we stomach the current economic model, and what are the alternatives? How can food connect and strengthen community?

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Farming, Caretaking, Relationships, Rewilding, Motherhood Alice Irene Whittaker Farming, Caretaking, Relationships, Rewilding, Motherhood Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 28 - Remembering We are Stewards

Looking at species in a landscape, we can see the stories of each creature and what role it plays in that ecosystem. So, what is our role in our landscapes?

Tao Orion is a permaculture designer, teacher, homesteader, and mother living in Oregon. She is the author of the book Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration.

This conversation about permaculture, agroecology, land rights, and ecosystem restoration illustrates that we can remember how to be a part of a natural world that we never left. We can tend to the hopeful return of biodiversity and flourishing webs of life.

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Farming, Climate, Justice, Soil Alice Irene Whittaker Farming, Climate, Justice, Soil Alice Irene Whittaker

Episode 26 - Reclaiming Food Sovereignty, Remembering Women Farmers

Food justice is interwoven with conversations about our women ancestors and motherhood in this episode of Reseed.

Guest Leticia Ama Deawuo has been a leading activist for food sovereignty and food justice for the past 15 years. She is the Executive Director of SeedChange, as well as a filmmaker, currently working on a film on Women Indigenous Farmers in Africa.

Ama sheds light on food sovereignty, a grassroots worldwide movement to reclaim food systems, with a particular focus on farmers’ rights. Could anything be more prescient to our precarious moment when workers are rising up and the Earth cries for our radical care?

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