The RegenNarration 231. A Force for Mending? Reflections from the Regenerate conference & its election-week context
The Regenerate conference in Denver a couple of weeks ago was like no conference I’d experienced in the ‘regen ag’ / food systems space. Such a presence of next generations, women and varied cultures amongst the 500 attendees. And multiple moments of crazy serendipity. It also started the day after the US federal election. So the air was heavy with emotion and uncertainty, when Sarah Wentzel-Fisher, the ED of Quivira Coalition, the primary organising body, opened the conference in tears. It was a unique context to this gathering, a context that also couched some of the most extraordinary stories of regeneration you’re likely to hear in one place.
So, come the last snowed-in day of the conference, I pulled out the mic and recorded four short grabs of 15 to 20 minutes each. I wondered if I might chase more good folk down. I’d had such wonderful conversations with dozens of people. But in the end, this small sample of voices seemed to represent those conversations pretty well. While they were also each notable in some way, offering particular insight about the conference and its election context.
Each guest introduces themselves as we go:
- Anica Wong, Communications Director at Quivira.
- Shumaisa Khan, Carbon Ranch Initiative Manager at Quivira.
- Aria McLauchlan & Harley Cross from Land Core.
- Emma Ractliffe from the Agrarian Futures podcast.
Then we launch into where they’re from, their ancestry, brilliant regenerative work, conference reflections, how it might change what they do, and finally their raw reactions to the election result (and of course their favourite tunes). It resulted in some viscerally felt wisdom for this moment. I also offer a bit more on the conference and surrounding vibe at the start and end of the episode. With thanks to Quivira, HMI and AMA for kindly having me along.
Chapter markers & transcript.
Recorded 8 November 2024.
Title slide (counter-clockwise): Anica, Shumaisa, Emma, Aria & Harley.
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Music:
Regeneration, by Amelia Barden.
Intro music by Jeremiah Johnson.
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