Rootstock Radio

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**Rootstock Radio**

Rootstock Radio celebrates the changemakers who are working to restore and revitalize our broken food and farming system. We balance the doom-and-gloom with real-life solutions for contributing to a sustainable future.

Latest Episodes:

Mai Nguyen: How Food Can Turn a 'Place' into a 'Home' Jan 28, 2019

Show notes

Tune in to hear about:

- How Mai learned that cooperation is essential at a young age

- Why a connection to the land is often especially important to refugees

- How Mai and other committed citizens changed legislation in San Diego for the better

- What sparked Mai's interest in farming

- Culturally relevant crops in organic agriculture (a topic that's been a long time coming within the good food movement!)

- The super-cool stuff going on at the California Grain Campaign

Alex Eaton: Let's Talk About Poop (Cow Manure, That Is) Jan 21, 2019

Show notes

Alex Eaton, CEO and cofounder of Sistema Biobolsa (or Sistema.bio), talks about the innovative solution Sistema.bio presents to small (and even larger-scale!) farmers. This incredible biodigester system turns animal manure into both rich fertilizer and methane gas that can be used for fuel and heat. In this way, Alex and his team are addressing climate change, food insecurity, and poverty around the world by providing the full package: technology, training and financing of a sustainable waste-to-resources infrastructure that truly works for small farmers.

Tune in to hear about:

How this magical biodigester works. (Of course it's not magic, but it's really, really cool science.)
The way Sistema.bio gives small farmers a game-changing new tool—plus the financing and education that must come with it for this change to be attainable.
Exactly how reliant our world is on small farmers—especially in places like Mexico where Sistema.bio is based.
Why Alex applauds vegetarian and vegan diets but doesn't think eating that way is the ONLY way to be a good steward of our earth.
The similarities between soil and bank accounts (think long-term investments).

Florencia Ramirez: How Much Water Do You "Eat"? Jan 14, 2019

Show notes

Florencia Ramirez is a researcher at the University of Chicago's School of Public Policy and author of the book Eat Less Water (not to mention an activist, educator and mother!). Today, she talks with us about how conserving water—perhaps the most precious resource on our planet—involves a lot more than simply taking shorter showers. In doing so, Florencia breaks down the idea of a "virtual water footprint," the relationship between our water and our soil, and why the solution to water scarcity is truly in our kitchens.

Jon Steinman: The Magic of Food Co-ops Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

Tune in to hear about:

Jon's personal interest in food, the food system and eating well.
The way consumer-owned grocery stores (aka food cooperatives) are being used to alleviate food deserts with fresh, local and natural items, not just to serve already-affluent communities.
Why co-ops are a huge benefit to communities.
A newer model of co-op ownership that allows for both consumer and employee investment and ownership rather than just one or the other.

Jon Steinman is producer and host of the internationally syndicated radio show and podcast "Deconstructing Dinner: Reconstructing Our Food System," and the author of Grocery Story: The Promise of Food Co-ops in the Age of Grocery Giants, which will be available in spring 2019.

Arty Mangan: From Juice to Climate Change Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Arty Mangan, director of Bioneers' Restorative Food Systems Program, has spent a lot of time working with farmers and producers, in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica, and has some great things to share about the organic industry, soil health and climate change. Today, we hear about his journey from owning and running a small, local, organic apple juice company, to being in charge of fruit sourcing for a large juice company, to his current work at the nonprofit Bioneers.

Tune in to hear about:

- What kept Arty going in the early days when he was keeping an almost impossible schedule and wondering if it was all worth it.

- Bioneers' success in bringing organic ag training to the deep South in the early 2000s.

- How Arty feels about trendy terms like "restorative," "regenerative," "organic," and "sustainable."

- The traditional greeting Peruvian farmers use, and why it inspires Arty.

- The most effective technology Arty knows of to draw carbon down out of the atmosphere and begin to mitigate climate change.

A-Dae Romero Briones: The Revival of Agriculture in Indigenous Communities Dec 10, 2018

Show notes

From bringing awareness to the strengths that indigenous populations can draw on -- a long history of working with the land, strong agricultural traditions and ample land on reservations -- to engaging native youth in the food systems of their communities, A-dae covers it all.

Tune in to hear about:

- How she and her colleagues at First Nations define agriculture a little differently

- A-dae's own journey from indigenous community, to law school, and back again

- What A-dae hopes the future holds in terms of seaweed, abalone shells, acorns and the environment at large

- How we can help support the existing systems within indigenous communities rather than imposing our own

- What we can all learn from Native culture about food, agriculture and the environment

Starhawk: Applying Permaculture to Plants…and People Dec 03, 2018

Show notes

Author, activist and permaculture designer Starhawk shares how agricultural permaculture can inform social permaculture (and what the heck that even means). Plus, she digs into how to engage with someone you don't agree with in a productive way—a worthy endeavor that's especially important today.

Tune in to hear about:

- Permaculture: what it is, why it's so cool, and how it fits in with other ideas about regenerative agriculture.

- Thinking about social conflicts through a permaculture lens.

- How climate change is a degradation of multiple ecosystems—something we need to be aware of in order to properly fight it

- How evolution is based as much on cooperation as it is on competition

If you enjoyed this one, check out our other conversations with Starhawk from 2017 and 2016!

Activism 101: Age is Just a Number Nov 20, 2018

Show notes

Kristy Drutman, a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley who is now the California Digital Campaigner for 350.org, talks about her work as an environmental activist over the past 5 years, her passion for environmental storytelling and organizing, how activists can work together across differences of age, gender and race, and where she sees herself in 5 years.

Tune in to hear about:

Kristy's own podcast, called Brown Girl Green, what she hopes to accomplish with it and how she'd like to grow it in the future
The role social media can play in activism
How Kristy takes care of herself while she's fighting so hard to influence positive change out in the world
The devastating effects of hydraulic fracturing (FRAC-ing) and why Kristy is especially concerned about this issue (an issue we've talked about before on Rootstock Radio!)

The State of the Seed Industry (And Why You Should Care) Nov 19, 2018

Show notes

Mark Schapiro, award-winning international and environmental journalist, talks about his most recent book Seeds of Resistance: The Fight to Save our Food Supply, how he got interested in seeds to begin with and how seeds are—in many ways—the most primal thing living organisms on this planet share. (Which is why the current state of seed breeding, seed patenting and total control of the seed industry by huge corporations is so troubling!)

Tune in to hear about:

Who, exactly, controls the world's seed varieties
Why Mark calls seeds bred by large corporations for wide application "crack baby seeds" and how these seeds differ from locally bred varieties
How the seeds produced by huge seed companies are not helping our world's climate change predicament one iota
Why, in spite of the discouraging current state of affairs, Mark feels hopeful about the future of our seeds, agriculture and planet

Rice: The New Frontier of Sustainable Ag Nov 12, 2018

Show notes

On this episode…

Co-founder and CEO of Lotus Foods, Ken Lee, talks about the winding journey (literally, time spent traveling through China) that brought him and his partner, Carol, to the creation of Lotus Foods and why he says that "rice is the best thing we could have stumbled on."

Tune in to hear about…

His best advice for people hoping to change the world in small—and big—ways.
The System of Rice Intensification and why it could be a global game-changer—if only farmers are willing to try it. (Think 50% less water required, 90% fewer seeds used, no agrichemicals necessary… are you curious yet? And no, it's not too good to be true.)
What percentage of the world receives more than half of their calories from rice.
The feminization of agriculture—why it's oppressive in the rice industry and how we can flip it to be empowering.
How Lotus Foods' Do the Rice Thing and More Crop Per Drop initiatives feed into what they call their "audacious goal" to change how rice is grown on the planet

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