Advertise on podcast: Kiss the Ground w/ Ryland Engelhart

Welcome everyone to another episode of Kiss the Ground. Today’s guest is a very fun guy, Dr. Michael Amaranthus, a USDA forest service soil ecologist who retired from the USFS to start his own biotech company called Mycorrhizal Applications. Mycorrhizal is a relationship between fungi and plants to increase water and nutrients to the plant while providing carbohydrates to the fungi. Today, Michael is here to chat about his journey to discovering the benefits of fungi, what this process looks like, and how it can affect climate change.

Randall Poster is an American music supervisor and a longtime collaborator with film director Wes Anderson. For anyone not familiar with what a music supervisor does, he’s the person who selects the songs to play during a movie, television show, or commercial. Some of Randall’s credits include “Skyfall,” The Wolf of Wallstreet, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Randall recently collaborated with Kiss the Ground on a new project called “Home in This World: Woody Guthrie’s Dust Bowl Ballads.” It’s a track-by-track recreation of Guthrie’s 1940 “Dust Bowl Ballads” album, a collection of songs about the economical hardships of the Great Depression. Randall recruited a diverse group of artists to revamp the tracks on the record while maintaining the same message: Take care of the earth before it’s too late.

Today’s guest is Autumn Smith, a mother, co-founder of Paleovalley, certified eating psychology coach, former fitness trainer, yogi, and all-around wellness warrior. She started Paleovalley with her husband Chas, his brother Matt and their good friend Matthew after suffering from acute digestive issues since she was a kid. Together, they discovered that good food is truly the key to thriving health, a revelation they were determined to share with the world. Paleovalley creates products free from problematic ingredients and only includes ingredients to help you feel your best. Today, Autumn is here to discuss her dietary journey, the vital role food plays in our mental health, and how regenerative agriculture is imperative to gain the nutrients needed to stay tuned. Eat well. And live vibrantly. Interested in grabbing some Paleovalley’s superfood products? Get 15% off your next order using the code: KTG 

Today Ryland chats with Stephen Brooks, a self-trained ethnobotanist and an eco-community creator. Alongside his father Norman, Stephen has created several ecological communities in Costa Rica like Punta Mona, Alegria Village, and La Ecovilla, just to name a few. Stephen’s communities have touched the lives of thousands of visitors and students, and even made an appearance in the Netflix show “Down to Earth” with Zac Efron.

Onda is a regenerative hemp and herb company dedicated to using regenerative agriculture to create the cleanest possible plant medicine. Onda's CEO, Stephen explains the diverse uses of the hemp crop, how he kickstarted his company, and how he keeps their farming values a top priority while running his business.  You can find our collaboration product here: https://ondawellness.com/content-mint/

Alice Waters is the chef and founder of Chez Panisse, a restaurant in Berkley, California famous for creating the farm-to-table experience, and her work with the Edible Schoolyard Initiative and her own School Lunch Initiative has served as an inspiration to many. She even inspired Michelle Obama’s White House organic vegetable garden program. Today, Alice is here to chat about her trip to France that sparked her love for food, how that led her to open a restaurant that serves organically and regeneratively grown produce, and her life-long efforts to inspire others to rethink their relationship with food. You can find a list of her books here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/75571/alice-waters/

Today we chat with Joseph Brinkley, the director of vineyard operations and regenerative farming at Fetzer vineyards. We’ve been serving Bonterra Wine at our events for the past 8 years. Joseph joins us to talk about the process, benefits, and environmental impacts of biodynamic farming.

Ray Archuleta is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist with the Soil Science Society of America and has over 30 years of experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conservation Agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). During his tenure with the NRCS Ray served in New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, and North Carolina. He is often referred to as the "Minister of Soil" and was the star of our feature-length documentary film. Please enjoy this episode.

John Kempf is an entrepreneur, speaker, podcast host, and teacher. He is passionate about the potential of well managed agriculture ecosystems to reverse ecological degradation. It is John’s mission to have these regenerative models of agriculture management become mainstream globally by 2040. In addition to being a grower, John is the founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture, Crop Health Labs, Ozadia, and the Regenerative Agriculture Academy. He hosts the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, where he interviews top growers and scientists about the principles and practices of implementing regenerative agriculture on a large scale.

Darren J. Doherty, CPAg (AIA) is a farm planner who is the founder of Regrarians Ltd. and the Regrarians Platform®—the world's most comprehensive agroecological landscape, enterprise, and training framework. Since 1993, Darren has worked with ten's of thousands of people around the world and since 2004 has been a key figure in introducing regenerative agriculture to many continents, most notably with his 'Soil, Water & Carbon for Every Farm' (2007), 'Carbon Farming and Economy' (2008/9), RegenAG® (2010/11) and REX® (2016-19) world tours. •BUY the Regrarians eHandbook Chapter by Chapter •BECOME a Discovery, Foundation, Planner Member

Josh Whiton is an eco-tech entrepreneur and social innovator helping to repair the Earth. His work has been designated by Fast Company as being among the most innovative companies in the world. Josh was also awarded a Global Impact Visa by the government of New Zealand and was named Champion of Change by the Obama administration. His latest planetary intervention is MakeSoil.org.

Tiffany Persons founded Tiffany Company Casting in 2005. She and her team provide commercial casting for some of the largest brands in the world: American Express, Google, AT&T, Nike, Apple, Washington Mutual, Facebook, Disneyland, Starbucks to name a few... Known for bringing joy, passion, and vulnerability to the advertising world, Tiffany is a champion for the beautiful communities of Sierra Leone. With unabashed enthusiasm and the collective generosity of so many, Shine On Sierra Leone has created groundbreaking education, healthcare, micro-loans, sustainability, and agriculture programs. Most recently, she has joined the ranks of David & Goliath Ad Agency to recruit new and more diverse talent, as well as lead trainings on Black culture in media to change the conversation about minority groups in marketing at its root. Tiffany is currently based in Topanga Canyon in the Los Angeles area where she lives with her daughter and partner-in-joy, November. You can find more information on Tiffany here: http://www.suburbanoutlawproductions.com/reppins1/2019/11/3/reppin-15-tiffany-persons https://www.shootonline.com/node/85727 http://www.tiffanycompanycasting.com/about