The Regenerative Journey with Charlie Arnott

Charlie interviewed chef Darren Robertson of the Three Blue Ducks fame at The Farm at Byron Bay where he moved to 5 years ago after, amongst other things, being the head chef at the world famous Tetsuya restaurant in Sydney. Darren also speaks frankly about the pressures and strains of the hospitality industry, his initial interest in cooking, what he looks for in staff, and his gratitude for his life's journey thus far. This is a conversation that will interest food lovers, farmers, the hospitality industry and everyone in between.  To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.    Episode Takeaways : Establishing the Three Blue Ducks restaurant at The Farm at Byron Bay was a massive step up and into the world of farming and sourcing fresh produce directly from producers | Creative 'root to flower' cooking with food straight from the paddock | Australian salads are the best in the world! | Marco Pierre White was Darren's first culinary inspiration | Moved to Australia to work at the world famous Tetsuya in Sydney and fell in love with the food scene | Surfing was a game changer for keeping Darren focused and not falling down the rabbit hole of the late night hospitality industry | Advice for chefs in the time of Covid 19 | Hospitality industry mental health as a global crisis | Chefs evolving appreciation for food and its origins | Advice to a young Darren Robertson - put away 10% of income for Future opportunities and a rainy day, and be grateful today for what you have | Creating a community of passionate staff is a big part of their success | There’s no where to hide in a kitchen!  |The Biodynamic practice of peppering to rid rabbits of an area | Darren's parting advice- be kind, and give it a crack!  Links: Darren Robertson - IG  Three Blue Ducks  The Farm - Byron Bay  Tetsuyas - Restaurant  Marco Pierre White - chef  / restranteur      

This episode sees Charlie sit down with the impressively bearded and deep thinking Peter Windrim. Peter is a biodynamic winemaker and farmer, creative director, graphic designer and photographer. His contribution to agriculture has evolved by opening a wine bar in Byron Bay to encourage community and create conversation around natural wine. Having lived and worked on his family’s biodynamic vineyard in the Hunter Valley, he has philosophised his own definition of the practice which he explains with absolute conviction. He is a heart felt voice that places importance on knowing yourself and your vocation. To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways: I think there’s so much confusion there and I’ve been guilty myself of lip service and using other peoples words. So many people care about it and get lost in the beautifully, philosophical, touchy-feely nature of what biodynamics is | Rudolf Steiner, the father of biodynamics “Sulphur is what the spirit moistens its fingers with into the physical” | Thankfully now there are a lot of people who have caught the wave of the climate change movement & who have cottoned on to the importance of soil | I think there are certain products, the luxury consumables like wine, that people care a bit less about because they’re in it for a good time | Biodynamics is sympathetic agriculture but I felt lonely on the farm. Community is the backbone of what I do. I’m going to build a bar and build a community around natural wine | Wine was hijacked by the aristocrats and scientist 60-70 years ago. They gave it all this new language and judging shows based on clarity and purity and all of this stuff that wine wasn’t, and that farming isn’t, nor should it be | Biodynamics is like  the global pandemic, the more you learn to work with it, the more power it has | It sounds simple but if the farm looks good, aesthetically pleasingly good, you’ve done it right. And if you have pride in what you do, you’ll make it right | Everything that we do, informs the next thing that we do. We get so boxed in with where we should be….“No I can’t change career”….”no I’d have to study that first”…it’s such a shame that we feel like we can’t evolve with the fabric of our old selves | You’ve got to know what you know. People need to ask more questions    Episode LinksKrinklewood Vineyard - Hunter ValleySupernatural - Wine Bar Byron Bay Rudolf Steiner - Father of Biodynamics/Philosopher Terroir in Wine - A Definition Organic & Biodynamic Wine - Wine Australia Education Radionics in Agriculture Nicolas Joly - Godfather of biodynamic wine/author Matthew Evans - farmer, author, The Gourmet Farmer, Fat Pig Farm   

In this insightful interview with Martin Royds, he and Charlie discuss personal experiences relating to the polarising differences of conventional and holistic farming. As a fifth generation farmer, Martin evolved the family cattle property in Braidwood, NSW to biodynamic practices with a goal to reconnect city and country.  Together, they highlight the importance of economic influence in regenerative agriculture and solve the monetary concern that naïve consumers often have when purchasing nutrient rich food. There is an underlying subject that generational farmers have shifted their inherited knowledge over time to be in harmony with the environment and part of that comes from acknowledging the oversights of the past. Yet, the humility is in the fact that we are constantly learning. To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways:The epiphany was watching your land blowing away and thinking you need to do something different. Tried something different, the chemical experiment, and that was even worse |  Australian farmers have been extremely good at surviving in decreasing income and increasing costs. The difference now is setting a goal of where I want to be environmentally and socially and making every decision to reflect that  |  There is one kilo of glyphosate being used per every human on the planet. Our ancestors will look back at us and say “how on earth did you think that pouring that stuff onto the country was a good idea”  |  None of us looked at what was happening environmentally, we were asking how long it would take to get our money back  |  Most of our soils had 3% carbon and we mined it back to 1%  |  You can use double entry bookkeeping to fix the problem as soon as you add in environmental capital  |  Most farmers who are generational farmers find it hard to get out of “this is what my father or grandfather did” | Sadly, humans are one of the few species who leave the land behind them in a worse state  |  When people understand nutrient density in organic vegetables they will realise they can’t afford the cheap option because its poisoning me  |   My goal is that supermarkets will have to label their products with the amount of nutrients in those products. Ultimately that could lead to listing the amount of chemicals used to make it also | Episode Links:Nutri Soil – Biological Spray Solution Carbon in Soil – An explanation Double-Entry Bookkeeping – An explanation Charlie Massy – Author/Farmer Pennie Scott – The Bush Goddess Nutrient Dense crops – An explanation Carotene in Food – Definition Land to Market Australia - Organisation Joel Salatin – Farmer, lecturer, author Peter Andrews – Regenerative Agriculturalist Christine Jones – Amazing CarbonDr Maarten Staper – BioLogic AgFoodAlison Pouliot – Fungi Workshop, photographer

Charlie’s guest for this episode is Sarah Wilson. Sarah Wilson, the New York Times best selling author, former journo and retired intrepid traveler shares her regenerative journey in a frank, open and honest chat with Charlie.  The setting for the interview is Sarah’s Bondi apartment, her sanctuary and place she now calls home. Sarah recounts her fascinating story and explains what it is to finally put down roots. Charlie and Sarah share an open dialogue which touches on what regenerative agriculture means to Sarah, as she talks about the fragile state of mankind today in terms of diet, mental illness /disease, and the urgent need for realignment - a subject matter close to Sarah’s heart and aptly the focus of her new book: ‘This One Wild and Precious Life: A hopeful path forward in a fractured world’,  which has just hit the shelves. Put aside some time and delve in and listen to this life-changing episode now!  To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways:  Every community needs an esoteric spinster wandering around the street | I interpret odd as not being necessarily bad. I I rebelled against some of the thinking around my upbringing however I maintained many of the sustainable minimalist principles. | I probably did a bunch of things that scared the living daylights of my parents. | It generally takes a slap down for those of us who have done a very big pivot in life, to do that pivot. | I believe when you have a longing in your soul.. Life will join you.  Life will corporate with you to steer you in direction. | (Talking about her auto-immune disease) - Gets your ego and scrapes you through the mud. | I had made a commitment, in the absence of any framework, into how to live life on this planet… If I hear a mention  of something three times in a row, I must act. | Meditation was a big part of my shift. It was being stripped bare, and being left with nothing. | Reduced down to the two suitcases.. And then the rest of my life started| I was aware of how off kilter we were  with our food system.. How much really basic logic we have managed to disrupt. We have created hyper normal problems. | There is a lot of sensible common sense stuff that  really we only have to look at the way our great grandparents to get an indication of what a really good sustainable life on this planet looks like. | I have been able to heal from multiple stress related / autoimmune disease I believe and reverse a lot of the markers because of the way I live - in nature, in dirt, in trees. | I describe a serious anxiety order as like carrying a shallow bowl of water around for the rest of my life. | I am feeling very overwhelmed very scared about what is going on in the world. | (talking about her book) I am reframing my anxiety through a new lens. Links :  www.sarahwilson.com  - Sarah’s website Sarah Wilson website  I Quit Sugar Series - author Sarah Wilson First, We make the Beast Beautiful  - author Sarah Wilson This One Wild and Precious Life: A hopeful path forward in a Fractured World - author Sarah Wilson Nicho Plowman - Vedic meditation teacher  The Conscious Club - Transformational Learning and Lifestyle centre Tim Brown - meditator Hashimoto's disease - information  Dr James Hollis - jungian psychoanalysis.  Food Inc -  Joel Salatin movie Dr. Chris Kresser -   renowned expert, leading clinician, and top educator in the fields of Functional Medicine and ancestral health. Active Farmers  - country farmers/ riding bikes.  Chris Eggert - Norco / dairy farmer Nietzsche thinking -  german philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche   Sils Maria - Town in Switzerland.  Heidi - book and later film William Wordsworth - English poet David Whyte - Irish poet Victor Frankel - Austrian neurologist & psychologist   Man’s Search for Meaning - Victor Frankel author    Fostering in Australia  - resources  Sir Ken Robinson - Ted Talk   Steiner Education - resources

In part 2 of this interview, Charlie and Charles detail the difference between Complex Adaptive Systems and the Industrial Method of farming. Charles’ resonates his free flowing insight into the direct relationship between farming, food systems, human health and its effect on the mental health of ourselves and our children. They summarise the consequences of our increasing divorcement from nature and the job description of a regenerative farmer. Charles Massy is a devotee for regenerative farming and patriarch for land care advocates in Australia. He is a farmer, author and storyteller who has brought life to the ideals of so many scholars and forward thinkers that are fundamental to our human interaction on the ecosystem. He has deep empathy for nature that is in sync with land management. To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways:   Emergent Properties are the name they’ve given to elements within the system that will emerge when it needs to adapt. The solution lies within  |  If you have a healthy environment and you degrade it too far it will go to a stage that it’s almost impossible to get it back  |  In industrial farms you have drug addicted plants waiting for their fertiliser dose  |  Modern industrial food is causing all of these diseases causing havoc on human health  |  Most indigenous women in hunter-gatherer societies can identify at least 500 food or medicinal plant  in their landscape  |  We now find devastating evidence that the world’s most widely used herbicide is in almost all modern foods  |  For every child in Australia under aged under six, only 1 in 4 has ever climbed a tree or a rock  |  The solutions are simple: grow and eat healthy food and get out into nature as much as you can | Episode Links: Holistic Management – Alan Savoury Nourishment - Fred Provenza Last Child In The Woods – Richard Louv Di Haggerty – Cropping Farmers A Thousand Days Program Zach Bush - Holistic Health and Wellbeing Patagonia Provisions – Yvonne Chouinard

The introduction to Season 2 is a long overdue interview with Charles Massy, devotee for regenerative farming and patriarch for land care advocates in Australia. He is a farmer, author and storyteller who has brought life to the ideals of many scholars and forward thinkers that are fundamental to our human interaction on the ecosystem. He has deep empathy for nature that is in sync with land management. In part one of a two part interview, Charles is sat in his Severn Park home, unravelling his journey into farming. A profound love of nature from a young age helped his transition to inherit the family farm that he converted to regenerative agriculture, all while studying a degree in Ecology and a PhD in Human Ecology. He describes his “head cracking” moments into understanding the need to develop better practices to nurture the health of the ancient Australian landscape. His holistic, pragmatic words are like a wise father who the world over should come to hear.   To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.    Episode Takeaways:  Europeans came here under huge misunderstandings of how this land would behave  |  There were probably 15000 to 25000  years of indigenous landscape management before we came  |  If we are going to talk about humans on earth we have to understand how they impact our natural environment  |  The concept of we, humans and sustaining our environment is inseparable  |  Our cognitive function tends to lock in that world view and it takes a lot of disturbing to crack it open  |  There are excellent indigenous thinkers writing in this space. It takes a lot to get your head around but wow, we’re in kindergarten  |   Episode Links:  Aldo Leopold - Ecologist, philosopher (website) Call of the Reed Warbler - Charles Massy  Breaking The Sheep's Back - Charles Massy  The Australian Merino - Charles Massy RCS - Course  Holistic Management - Course Project Drawdown - Paul Kawken  Dark Emu - Bruce Pascoe  Fire Country - Victor Steffensen  Sand Talk - Tyson Yunkaporta   

Charlie's guest for the final episode of Series 1 of the Regenerative Journey is Maree Lowes. In a fascinating and thought provoking interview Maree delves into her Regenerative Journey post 'Dirt Girl'. Maree chats about her current studies and passion for disaster resilience & sustainable development and what she believes can be done to help safe guard the planet & mankind for future generations...Maree and Charlie wrap up their conversation with an exciting announcement about a new collaboration that they are hard at work on! To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways :  You can have all the facts in the world but if people haven't connected with their hearts, with what it is we are trying to protect then it is really hard to sustain any behavioural change and to keep it going | We are as big and as small as the largest thing and the smallest things in the universe | A big principle of regenerative agriculture is learning to listen to the land and respecting the power of biodiversity and systems and the power that nature has | So early on in life, we are having the wrong conversations about what food offers us | (Talking about the Masters Maree is currently studying towards)...My heart is a little calmer as I feel that I am going to the crux of some of the work that needs to be done. Looking at the systems that are in place and why they're not serving and why they're not creating a resilient regenerative future for us | The fires on the back of the long drought…has brought it home to Aussies that idea of a drying and warming climate and the outcomes of that…isn't a solely academic thing any more. It's real | When the system is still going in the opposite direction it makes people question why they should make changes | Going forward, we need to learn to listen to ourselves again. This is going to be really important | The importance of staying connected to purpose and community are incredibly valuable | (On Charlie) I had a fan-girl moment when I found you that you were a Landcare Ambassador !  Episode Links : Maree Lowes - Website  Jillamatong - Martin Royds property , Braidwood, NSW  Beyond the Brink - Peter Andrews, Farmer/ educator/ author Tarwyn Park Training - Natural Sequence Farming / Stuart Andrews Dark Emu - Bruce Pascoe  Climate Refugees - Definition  Master of Disaster Resilience and Sustainable Development Program - Information  Radical Hope - Richard Lear author Psychological flexibility - Overview BYO Bottle Campaign - Jack Johnson/ Maree Lowes  Time banking - Definition  Landcare Australia Organisation  Bob Hawke Landcare Award  National Bushfire & Climate  Summit - June 2020 Building Bridges to Boorowa - Landcare Gateway Project Mulloon Creek Institute  The Farm - Tom & Emma Lane / Byron Bay Three Blue Ducks - Restaurant / The Farm  Pocket City Farms - Food Education & Community Clayton Donovan - Chef  Joost Bakker - Activist and founder of Melbourne’s first zero waste restaurant Zach Bush - Physician & educator Carbon8 - Helen McCosker NRAD - 14th Feb annually NRAD & Kelly Jones  The Castle - Film  Rachel Ward - Film director / beef farmer 

This is the second of a two part interview with David Marsh, a stalwart of the Australian regenerative movement and good friend of Charlie's. In what is an enlightening and philosophical dialogue David takes us on his regenerative journey and steps us through the course of events that triggered David's change in approach. In Part 2 David delves deeper into the psychology of change and offers advice to those looking to start the transition.  To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways :  What was growing in the paddocks early 1970? I didn't know...compared to now, when I am absolutely obsessed with it | It was the time of showing that we had mastery over nature...a lot to do with subsidies given after the war...there was a Super Phosphate bounty...you were paid to put Super out | The mantra out West was sell and repent but sell | In Boorowa the mantra was hang on and hope you get lucky | We noticed trees dying. Mary and I went out and did some counts in a few paddocks where there were quite a few trees. We calculated that at the rate they were dying that in 70 years there wouldn't be many alive. That was the embryo and the awakening of an ecological conscience | We had no idea what we were doing to be honest and thought we were forming a group because there were a lot of trees dying in Boorowa…but the trees were actually an indication of a whole lot of other things that were going on...we were ecologically blind | Corona 19 has made people reconsider how they have been living and how dependent they are on so many things that are high energy products | I used to see myself as an agent responsible for healing the land...there is nothing wrong with this but now I see myself as someone who is observing the landscape that is healing itself.  Episode #8 Links  The Cattle Crash  - 1974 Ian Armstrong - Rural Action Movement  1982 drought NSW  Joan Kirner - Conservation Minister (1985 - 88) instrumental in formation of first Landcare Groups. Andrew Campbell - Formerly manager of the Potter Farm Plan initiative, first Landcare Coordinator and now CEO of the ACIAR ( Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research)  ACF - Australian Conservation Foundation  NFF - National Farmers Federation  Bob Hawke - Landcare involvement  Boorowa Community Landcare Group - History  Bertigan ( QLD)  Catchment Landcare Group / Gympie Landcare - History  An Agricultural Testament - Author Arthur Howard A Silent Spring - Author Rachel Carsons

This is the first of a two part interview with David Marsh, a stalwart of the Australian regenerative movement and good friend of Charlie's. In what is an enlightening and philosophical dialogue David takes us on his regenerative journey and steps us through the course of events that triggered David's change in approach. In Part 1 we learn about how Landcare Australia came to be and David provides a valuable insight into Australian agriculture over the last 50 years.   To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways :  What was growing in the paddocks early 1970? I didn't know...compared to now, when I am absolutely obsessed with it | It was the time of showing that we had mastery over nature...a lot to do with subsidies given after the war...there was a Super Phosphate bounty...you were paid to put Super out | The mantra out West was sell and repent but sell | In Boorowa the mantra was hang on and hope you get lucky | We noticed trees dying. Mary and I went out and did some counts in a few paddocks where there were quite a few trees. We calculated that at the rate they were dying that in 70 years there wouldn't be many alive. That was the embryo and the awakening of an ecological conscience | We had no idea what we were doing to be honest and thought we were forming a group because there were a lot of trees dying in Boorowa…but the trees were actually an indication of a whole lot of other things that were going on...we were ecologically blind | Corona 19 has made people reconsider how they have been living and how dependent they are on so many things that are high energy products | I used to see myself as an agent responsible for healing the land...there is nothing wrong with this but now I see myself as someone who is observing the landscape that is healing itself.  Episode #8 Links  The Cattle Crash  - 1974 Ian Armstrong -  Rural Action Movement  1982 drought NSW  Joan Kirner  - Conservation Minister ( 1985 - 88 ) instrumental in formation of first Landcare Groups. Andrew Campbell - Formerly manager of the Potter Farm Plan initiative, first Landcare Coordinator and now CEO of the ACIAR ( Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research)  ACF - Australian Conservation Foundation  NFF - National Farmers Federation  Bob Hawke - Landcare involvement  Boorowa Community Landcare Group -  History  Bertigan ( QLD)  Catchment Landcare Group / Gympie Landcare - History  An Agricultural Testament  - Author Arthur Howard A Silent Spring - Author Rachel Carsons

In this episode Charlie chats to Lorraine Gordon. Lorraine takes us back to her early twenty's when she first stepped onto the land, and her formidable journey from this point on. We cover off on some of her most important career milestones including her recent project the launch of the world's first Regenerative Agricultural degree course at SCU. We talk Australia's positioning on the world stage and also the regen. ag definition debate.  To start a dialogue and converse more about topics raised in this podcast, please visit The Regenerative Journey Podcast Facebook Group.  Episode Takeaways:  The power of collaborating and working together. Farmers are always going to be stronger when they pull resources and work together | RCS and Terry McCosker have done more for farming and grazing in this country than anyone else that I know | Regenerative Ag. is a whole way of thinking, it’s holistic thinking, it's questioning and it's a different journey for everybody who takes it. It’s not a prescriptive journey | Nobody owns the term regenerative, regenerate or regen. It’s not something you can own | There is no point giving money to farmers for a hay shed, if there’s no hay to put in the shed! | We’ve had drought, horrendously hot fires, now floods… and now we’re just waiting for the locust plague! |Our soils are the oldest soils in the world...we shouldn't farm the way Europe farms. We need to farm the Australian way | The world is watching us. The world watched Australia burn | As a consumer, don't sit there and say that I will become a vegan / vegetarian because livestock production is bad...that is coming from a point of ignorance because not all livestock production is bad | Farmers are the ultimate in action research! Links : Lorraine Gordon - 2020 NSW Australian of the Year nominee Ebor Beef Inc - Lorraine is the co-founder Regenerative Agriculture Alliance - Lorraine is the founder Yaraando Eco Lodge - Lorraine is the director Moffart Falls Pty Ltd - Lorraine is the director  Regenerative Agriculture Course - Southern Cross University / Lorraine is the Strategic director of projects at SCU Wayne Upton - cattle stalwart RCS - Resource Consultancy Services / Founder Terry McCosker  Farming Together -  pilot program for farming resources run by Southern Cross University 2016 - 2018 National Marine Science Centre - SCU  Maia Grazing - Online grazing management software