Latest / Beyond Labels Premium / Episode 18: Good News in Food & Health!

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Episode 18: Good News in Food & Health! · Beyond Labels Premium

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: The awkwardness of 2021 in so many spheres has created a brand new um interest and opportunity in solidifying old and new relationships that would not have happened without 2021.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Beyond Labels podcast with yours truly, Joel Salatin Farmer and Cena McCullough, uh PhD uh researcher and overall amazing lady.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um this is this is our first podcast of 2022.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Happy New Year, everyone.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the new year.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: We've been through one, haven't we?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and so Cena and I thought that it would be a great idea to start this one uh with 2021 in our in our rear view mirror now, and and just look back and look at trends that have been positive, things that have come out of 2021 that are making us think differently, act differently, that are all that are positive things coming into 2022.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: I I hear a lot of uh uh despair uh out there, you know, coming into this new year.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that's uh yeah, that's uh I think both Cena and I are kind of wired for optimism and encouragement and and and you know, kind of uh get after it kind of uh spirit.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh so we're gonna devote a few minutes here to looking at some positive things uh that have happened and have set the stage, I think, for some real uh positive things coming into 2022.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Cena, uh what what leads your list?
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm very excited to announce that you and I have decided to host a second summit, and it's gonna be at Polyface Farm on June 24th and 25th.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: At least that's our tentative date.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to let everybody know to save the date because we're gonna have something very special planned for everybody, and it's gonna be filled with positivity, hope, and encouragement.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: So that that leads the top of my list for what I'm looking forward to this year.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: How about you?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um uh one of my, I mean, I have I have listed or I have a list that's kind of broad cultural and then also you know very personal for us here at the at the farm.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And uh certainly for us here at the farm, the thing that has led the list for us was in 2021, we launched this kind of idea of having a farm as a um uh as a as a gathering point for people who want to you know learn things, fellowship, get together.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And because uh what we saw was the the basic you know regular institutional gathering point, you know, the Marriott, the Hilton, the Sheraton, the Conference Center, um uh kind of fell into disrepute.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: You know, nobody wanted to go there, no one wanted to breathe the you know air conditioning air or or get met at the door by you know mask uh uh masked police, uh things like that.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh we just we just felt like uh we just sensed that out there in the land there were groups, there were there were people who wanted to get together, but didn't want to do it in the you know the typical fashion.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so last year, uh I mean winter of of 2019, 20 or 2020, 2020, uh last winter, a year ago, we kind of we cast our bread on the waters, we kind of we kind of let the word out there that hey, you know, if you if you have a group and you want to get together, uh we'll host you and um and and do it at a farm.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: And boy, the the uh the response was just uh was just incredible.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so we did six last year, and um including uh the first I call it two days of truth, um with with with you and and me, and um and and a group of uh extremely uh well-spoken, well-researched people who were all expressing you know alternative ideas for uh maintaining physical, spiritual, and mental health.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and so uh as a result of that, we uh here at the farm uh were able to build some amazing bridges and alliances, develop some new friendships.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um uh so as we came into the fall this year, I mean in 2021, um, we kind of you know let the word out there again.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we've already got six uh books for for this year, with a couple more maybe in in the wings looking at it.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And um probably probably the the well what what happened from it was that um we had a lot of people here who came to the farm for the first time, and um, and so there were a lot of linkages, not only personal you know, friendships developed, but with us um uh you know things that are now having continued repercussions, uh like like um Tom Cowan, uh Dr.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Tom Cowan, who came, uh he has now he has a kind of an online uh what would you say, uh supplement, good food called uh Cowan's Garden.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And um and he had never, I mean, we knew of each other, we had met, but we'd never met here, you know, at the farm.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so by him coming here, we met, he saw the farm, got all excited, and and and has now, just in the last two weeks, launched um our farm as the as the meat component of his cowards garden.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's going fantastic uh to his you know constituency.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: So um uh a lot long answer to just say that that I think that the whole awkwardness, the awkwardness of 2021 in so many spheres has created a brand new um interest and and opportunity in um in solidifying old and new relationships that would not have happened without 2021.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so we're we're we're very excited about um about trying to create another uh yet another whatever um enterprise here on a farm besides just cows and chickens and tomatoes and and and peppers, um, another enterprise where if farms could actually be a nexus of fellowship, information, um, and in addition to physical food, um that would be a great uh uh a great position for farmers that are ready to jump on this opportunity.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: It'd be a great position for farmers to be in.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh so that that's that's real good news.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And like you say, uh in June, we'll be hosting this two-day uh um gathering here.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're calling them gatherings.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: We don't call them events.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Event is like is like somebody else does everything and I go to this event.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: We want it to be a gathering where we want everyone who comes to feel ownership as a as a fellow stakeholder in this um, you know, in what's going on.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, our farm is is eight, eight hours drive from half of the U.S.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: population.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: So uh, you know, this might not be an option if you're in, you know, the middle of if you're out in Idaho or Montana or something like that.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: But uh but for farms that are near, you know, uh near to population access, especially ground access, uh, not flight access, that I I think that these are some, you know, these are some pretty exciting uh uh developments.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And and if I may end the thing with this, what we did not have any uh idea about, the thing that was the biggest surprise to us was that um you know many times when groups when groups who care about food and truth want to get together in a conventional conference center, one of the biggest uh uh problems is the food.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, the the the the chef at the Marriott, well, I don't know, I I can't I can't let raw milk come in here.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: I you know, I can't do this and that and the other.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and uh you know, well, what what's my insurance underwriter gonna say when these you know uh tomatoes with dirt on them, you know, come into the dining service.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so the those of you who are who are you know listening to the this uh podcast, if you have ever organized an event at a conventional conference center and tried to do local uh um you know authentic food, you know what a hassle that is to get that through the dining services, whatever bureaucracy.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Here, everybody knows it's gonna be the best food in the world.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: We source it right here locally.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we produce a lot of it ourselves, and so we don't have any of that that that labyrinth to go through.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so, so hosts, so organizations that were that were the hosts of these gatherings said, Oh my goodness, you know, I I didn't have anything to do.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: We just had to put it out there and take tickets, you know, uh, because the food was taken care of and they could trust us to offer the best food in the world.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: That was that was something that we learned that was completely um new and brand new to us, and um, and something that obviously we're uh we're we're selling, you know, as as we as we uh offer this, uh we can sell this, you know, to folks that want to get together.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love your vision of what the farm, what you can create on the farm, you know, beyond just here, come and purchase, you know, these tangible goods.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: You're creating something that's not actually, for most of us, tangible.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're creating this place where tribes can get together and celebrate and feel welcomed and loved and accepted.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's it kind of reminds me of, you know, back in the day when, like when I was growing up, we all watched Friends and Fraser, right?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you would get around the water cooler at at school or you know, at work, and you would all bond over these um TV shows, right?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody watched them, must, you know, must watch TV.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so everyone had this commonality that they can bond over.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I find that we don't have that necessarily anymore.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we have multiple channels to watch.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: We have, you know, we have Netflix and Amazon Prime and all these streamings, lots of options, which is not a bad thing, but what it's done in part is that we don't have all like this commonality that we all hang around the water cooler and chat, uh chat about like on Monday mornings, right?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: So what I love about your vision is it reminds me of that water cooler situation where is instead of but instead of surrounding ourselves by the water cooler, we're surrounding ourselves by the farm, right?
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: With all with great microbiomes and you know, this great um energetic imprint on it.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_01: And it is a way to come together with something in common, right?
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: It's gonna help us find our tribal community, our other tribal members and bond with them.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: So um, especially nowadays when so many of us aren't going back into the office, we're remote, or people are, you know, kind of isolated again, churches are starting to shut down where I'm at.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: So this gives us an avenue where we can still go in person and feel comfortable and supported and actually forge these new friendships.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll add that you you mentioned um Dr.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: Cowan.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so that was obviously a new friendship that was forged through our last summit.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we're gonna have him coming up on the show um, you know, as one of our as one of our guests, you know, talking about a whole plethora of things, um, including some things that I think might surprise people, like about Watson and Crick and how they never actually fully um isolated DNA.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, this is one of these myths in science.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're gonna be talking about things like that, some really cool things to kind of stretch our mind and you know, maybe step out of the box a little bit more.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so we have a lot of these cool things that are coming up, and a lot of them are stemming from all these connections that we made on the farm.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um now, I want to, well, I want to just add something really quickly before, because we haven't even really touched on our list, you know, so of all these good things, and we're already, what are we, like 10 minutes in maybe?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I want I just want to say this to all the listeners.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: So back in December, when I mentioned to Joel, I said, you know, I think we need more positivity out there.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much negative news and just negative inputs.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Let's start doing some shows on good news, right?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I challenge you to come up with something good.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_01: And do you remember your response, Joel?
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: No, I can't remember.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: Joel's response was, well, that's gonna be a short episode.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: Which I think it's funny because we haven't even really touched our list yet.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: It's been like 10 minutes, but because it really is, it's one of those infectious things, right?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: You don't see the positive when you're inundated with all this negative.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_01: Once you start looking for it, right, it just reveals itself.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_01: So, okay, so do you want to do your next item on the list or do you want me to throw something out there?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, go ahead.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: You go, you go ahead, Sina.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: Go ahead.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so one thing that I thought was really cool, uh, because this is right in line with Joel, your and my philosophy of speaking with your dollars, is that um organic food sales, according to some resources, the sale of organic foods were actually up in 2021, showing that consumers are actually moving the market.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: And um, I have this quote here from an executive at General Mills, and she says, um, it's amazing to me to see that 92% of households have natural and organic products in them.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is huge.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're saying, based on their data, that 92% of all households have some kind of natural or organic product in them.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: She says that um, uh, or the General Mills executive says that General Mills is seeing mass consumer uptake of its natural and organic portfolio.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the sales for 2021 were projected to be up 6.6% to$271 billion.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_01: By 2023, they're expecting them to surpass$300 billion and to outpace the total food and beverage growth.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: So they're saying that their organic segment, the natural and organic segment, is growing faster than the total food and beverage growth at General Mills.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: There's and they're attributing this to brands like Annie's, Cascadian Farms, Muir Glenn.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: And they're saying that the sales of these natural and organic products are even more elevated when they look at the pre-pandemic levels.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_01: So indicating that during the pandemic, people have started to you know shift their priorities, right?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: That and I'm alluding to this, right?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm implying this.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: They've started to shift the priorities and realizing that you know health is very important.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and they're starting to make these changes in the marketplace by speaking with their dollars.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they said that the the to be specific, the total food and beverage um increased 7.5% versus the natural and organic food, which has grown 9.3%.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and a couple of things I thought were pretty neat is that this is another example of how a company really does listen to consumers.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when you speak with your dollars, they listen to you because it is about the bottom dollar, right, for these companies.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: So they said that um this says we we hear from consumers that they want more products that deliver on sustainability.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_01: So this is a quote from the executive at General Mills.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_01: They want products that deliver on sustainability.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: So what they're starting to do is um they're gonna convert their micro cups from plastic to 100% recyclable paper.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: They said they've already begun rolling out the more sustainable packaging to some retailers.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: And then another example is uh the executive said, quote, there were a lot of consumers walking away from the granola and cereal categories because they didn't want to eat grains.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: So what they've done is they've launched um a grain-free granola line in partnership with Costco called Autumn's Gold.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not endorsing these products and I'm not endorsing, you know, General Mills, of course, but um what I am saying is that it these are examples of how number one, it really does work when you speak with your dollars, right?
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: The companies really do listen and they shift the products accordingly.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: And number two, it appears as though people are shifting priorities and they're starting to buy more organic produce.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: They are speaking with their dollars.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, this is a positive thing that has come out of the pandemic.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: And like we said, like we just demonstrated in our book, we're hoping they don't stop there, right?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: We're hoping they go from conventional to organic and then to the farm.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: But this is a great first step.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I applaud um people, the consumers, for prioritizing their health and for helping us move the market.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh that that that's great.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: See, and I I, you know, to to uh appreciate those kind of that kind of language coming out of General Mills, um, that's pretty neat, which is a segue exactly to uh one of the things on my list, which which was um uh a uh a kind of epiphany for us when back in it was back a month or so ago, uh back in early December, um we found out that sirloin steak at Costco was like 16 bucks a pound.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: And here at Polyface, ours is only$9 a pound.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it got me to think for the for the first time in history, here it looked like like our uh our food was actually cheaper priced than um you know than a lot of the food out in the in the uh in the institution, supermarket.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And and so that got me to thinking, well, what you know, what's going on here?
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because you you and I were you know we're both hearing about supply chain issues, that sort of thing.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um and and so so meanwhile, I'm trying to get two uh books re reprinted, uh Polyface Designs and Polyface Micro.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: They both came out in the last two years, and um and and we need to reprint them.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and the printing companies, you know, it used to be that this was a 30, a 30-day process told me I I need this title reprinted.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we'll have it to you in 30 days.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: That was just standard, you know, standard thing, 30-day turnaround.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now it's out six months, and they tell me the reason is because there's no paper.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: The reason there's no paper is because all of the fiber in the country, the fiber production, the pulp, the pulp wood pulp fiber production in the country is being eaten up by cardboard for cardboard boxes for Amazon Prime, FedEx, UPS shipping, because the stuff that you and I used to pick off a grocery store shelf and put in a bag now has to go in a cardboard box to go to your front door.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: What I'm getting at in this whole thing is that these supply chain issues and the whole the whole glitch of of um, oh, somebody got quote COVID, so we have to shut down that that part of the of the the pulp mill or that part of the warehouse.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um what we're seeing is that the large companies are are are being um are being inefficient because of these supply chains, covid, uh all of these HR protocols, different things, it's slowing down everything.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so little bit little businesses like ours in the food space, whether it's a a CSA, a backyard garden, a roadside stand, a you know, uh uh anything that's relatively small is is a speedboat compared to these big aircraft carriers.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: The aircraft carriers are being buffeted by all this HR uh litigation.
• 21:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, they they they wake up every morning wonder, oh my, who's gonna sue?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Who's gonna sue?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, these these big CEOs, who's gonna sue me for not having the right, you know, mass policy?
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, uh and they got COVID and now they're gonna sue me.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, little businesses like ours, I don't I don't wake up in the morning wonder who on my team is gonna sue me for not having a uh a proper quarantine you know protocol in place.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so we're a little speedboat, and we can navigate these these shoals and stuff that are the these disruptions that are occurring in the system.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: We can navigate them much easier than these massive aircraft carriers.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it it it it's it it's quite amazing to me to think that this whole uh disruptive thing could actually.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, could actually create amazing, I mean, you know, added up billions of dollars of market opportunity for those of us who have been accused of being you know elitist and overpriced and da-da-da.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and suddenly here we are, we're able to navigate this disruptive um uh disruptive waters, if you will, um more efficiently, cheaper, easier than the great, big, you know, uh, we've always done it this way.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right, these big uh uh massive aircraft carrier businesses.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and so that that's a very, very exciting development that we're actually seeing, you know, within the marketplace.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: So that goes right along with your, yes, it's great to see General Mills moving, but don't forget about your your neighborhood.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, like we have a we have a gal coming back to the farm that's uh that's sprouting grains.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: She's she's making flour from sprouted grains for all the people that are gluten intolerant to go back to the historical ancestral thing.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: And so so as the marketplace moves, we want our people in beyond labels.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, congratulate General Mills, but let's go on beyond and find that local craft artisan who's even who's even doing this stuff um you know artisanally and and and as craft in our area, and even get in your own kitchen and do it yourself.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that that that that's sort of that sort of thing.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, um those are those are wonder those are uh amazing trends that I don't I don't think any of us saw coming just in the last three years.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty amazing.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I love that.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so Joel, my husband has said for a long time that you and I are two piece in a pod.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I have to agree because guess what?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_01: My next list, my item, my next item on my happy list is uh conventional food prices rise faster than organic, which is pretty, which is what you're talking about.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yes, absolutely.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: We pick the same story.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's so amazing.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: So this is what's really cool about our partnership is that you pick the story based on what you're seeing at the farm, right?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because you're a food producer, and I pick the story based on what I'm seeing as a consumer.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: So this is great.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_01: This this is the loop that we're talking about, um, the full loop.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_01: So let me let me piggyback on yours and share what I found about this that backs up your claim.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_01: So there's this um, there's this article that came out, um, and it's called it's it's basically a group that looked at data from the USDA.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: So the USDA tracks changes in food pricing, right?
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_01: They look at snapshots of data um at different time periods.
• 24:56
  SPEAKER_01: And this group called Magnify Money, uh, they analyzed prices for organic um and conventional meats, dairies, uh meat dairy items, fruits, and vegetables.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_01: They compared it from 2019 and 2021.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: And all I will of course include the link in the show description.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: So if anyone wants to look at this in great detail, but in essence, they analyzed prices for 29 um cuts of chicken, you know, dairy items, fruits and vegetables, um, 46 cuts of beef, 46 cuts of pork, 37 um in total, different types of chicken cuts.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_01: So uh what they found, what they found was quite interesting.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: They found that the conventional food prices are rising at a much faster rate than the organic.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you and I did a podcast about this um, about will small farms be able to save us from the food inflation?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: And so this is actually alluding to that.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: So they're saying that um conventional prices on average um have risen since 2019.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: They've risen 13.9%, which was 12 percentage points more than organic.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_01: The organic growth was only about 1.6 percent.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now, before we go go into this any further, obviously every study has its limitations, it's whatever samples, sample size, and they had to pick foods that the USDA compared the conventional versus the organic, right?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: So they're limited by that.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: But um, and then of course it depends on where you live.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: But the point is that these conventional food prices are rising faster than the organic prices.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's prices, it's closing that price gap.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: And they go on to give some examples.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: They have this nice chart in here where they listed out.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, interestingly, the fastest growing conventional price was broccoli.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_01: So, broccoli, for instance, increased 141% in price, versus organic broccoli only increased 24%.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, milk also had a huge discrepancy between the increase in price between conventional and organic.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_01: Conventional milk on average rose um almost 35%, where organic milk rose um uh just under 8%.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: And in some categories, the organic price actually dropped.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, for instance, on average, baby spinach that's organic dropped 27%, while the conventional increased almost 13%.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, same thing for cream, cream dropped about 15%, conventional increased about 24%.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if if you go price um item by item, that's the point, is that not all of the prices are increasing, right?
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're hearing a lot about food inflation and it's getting harder, you know, to keep our budgets.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_01: But if you're selective and you're tracking what happens, um you can you can dampen that that increase to a certain extent.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_01: So um the but the good news is that that gap is closing.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: And um, like I said, you can help your budget by paying attention to the prices and choosing different foods that haven't gone up as much, or like I just demonstrated, how some of these organic food prices have actually gone down.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, they found that sweet onions, the if for sweet onions, the conventional price was actually higher than the organic price.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: It was higher by almost 10%.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_01: So another thing, like you just demonstrated um, that your steak was actually less expensive than the steak at Costco, right?
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Even though yours is obviously much better quality, they're also supporting that claim that not every time that you buy something that's organic or organically grown that doesn't have a label, it's not always going to be more expensive than the conventional.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_01: And in fact, the conventional prices are catching up to the organic prices.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: So I thought that was pretty cool for all of us who want to choose organic, but it might not be in our budget.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there are ways to navigate it and to pick the organic products that have not risen as much in price or that have gone down, like some I just demonstrated.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_00: So Cena, does the art does the article give uh give a like a bullet point reason why, or it just it just is analyzing the difference in price in prices?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_01: So they're just analyzing the differences in prices.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, that's the bulk of this.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's just the help you with your budget.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so so if if if we if we ask why, why is this happening um on a trend line?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think that what what I suggested is certain is definitely one thing that just that that the that the the inefficiency of big the inefficiency of that big has entered a place of inefficiency that it didn't have you know a couple of years ago.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_00: That that's one.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um the the second thing is to realize that the conventional food is grown with chemical fertilizer.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're watching chemical fertilizer at all, uh with because it's mainly petroleum-based, uh, it's it's ammonia for nitrogen, it's it's uh you know potassium, phosphorus, these are mined and uh and take you know a lot of machinery to mine them.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: The point is that the difference between running your fertility program from uh in- situ compost, for example, and in situ animals with with uh tight uh carbon with tight carbon economy management in situ, that is now uh running circles in efficiency around the conventional you know, mining uh uh, you know, whatever, pot potash in Morocco and shipping it to Idaho to grow potatoes.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um that that system is really breaking down with the price of energy, petroleum, and things like that.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so those of us who are on the biological, the the biological food production spectrum, we are enjoying some really cute uh cool uh price savings that the conventional people can't, as all these uh chemicals continue to escalate, including including the um the price of all those chemicals that the that the companies have to add on uh litigation.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, look at look at Bayer, you know, trying to they're still trying to settle the the um you know the glyphosate uh court case, you know, billions and billions and billions of dollars will ultimately uh you know to protect themselves from this litigation, uh liability, product liability underwriters are increasing their rates, their premiums for these big companies, as as these kinds of uh uh you know, court decisions create a climate of fear, you know, a climate of fear within the corporate structure.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, you know, we better, we better, as an insurance under I we better protect ourselves from this, you know, nameless um, you know, uh chemical over here.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: And as the producer company, well, we'd better get a you know, get a war chest ready, you know, when somebody sues us for you know creating um you know Parkinson's disease.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh we better have a war chest ready to fight.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, on on many of these fronts, um, you know, look, nature, nature bats last.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Nature's always batted last.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't cheat but so long until things start to start to uh come in.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so the the the happy news, the good news is that we're seeing numerous of these trend lines uh start to uh uh just point to the the authenticity, the credibility, and the um and the desirability of of um you know uh integrity food as opposed to uh fraudulent food.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_01: I like that.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_01: Fraudulent food.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_01: I've never heard that.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: I think you just coined a new phrase.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think so.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: I think so.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: Great.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so what's next on your list?
• 33:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my the the at the top of my list is the was the it is the ongoing um, I'm call it, I'm calling it uh urban flight or or uh rural embracing the the homestead movement.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um I I mean the what uh uh in in 2021, I think, or no, 2022, um we saw one million new backyard flocks of chickens started in this country.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if if the average, if the average flock is let's just say, you know, let's just say six six chickens, that's six million chickens.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um six million chickens, and if they're if they're averaging uh 50% production, that's three million eggs a day.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's it's huge, okay?
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's you know, it's it's it's massive.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and so uh um we're I'm just seeing a a tsunami of um of you know homesteading, back to the land, everyone that's in this space as a as a book, as an instructor, as a podcast, um they're all just off the charts enjoying amazing um uh interest as people are are you know come to well, how do you how do you can green beans?
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_00: How do you um you know how do you whatever install a wood stove?
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: How do you put in a solarium, a hoop house, how do you have a raised bed garden?
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, all of that stuff.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, so that's on the top of my list.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's that's a wonderful place to see the entire uh to see a trend line in which this is now not considered just fringe, hippie, uh tree hugger.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's considered actually um a it's it's actually seen as a very um considered uh um reasonable and in and and necessary response to to jitters.
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when a culture gets jitters, people head for the hills.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's what this is.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, heading for the hills, heading for the homestead, you know, uh uh that and and so I I think that's just a wonderful trend as people begin to embrace you know their own do-it-yourself resilience um where wherever they are or wherever they can get to.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that it's beautiful what you're saying because homesteaders and you know, and us who have wanted to go on the natural, kind of more the the natural path, you know, following more of what our ancient ancestors did and whatnot, be self-sufficient.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: We've kind of been looked at as almost conspiracy theorists.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_01: You know, why would you do that?
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_01: Why would you want to sit out there on the fringe?
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: Like there's no need for that, given you know the industrial society that we live in.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I feel like now we have received a certain degree of validation.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_01: That they're saying, yes, um, now we understand.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_01: We may not all be over there yet and trying to create our own homestead, but at least people have a glimpse now of the practicality of it, the of the real benefit of learning to rely on yourself, right?
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_01: To be self-reliant, to have that freedom, because they have their freedom taken away, right?
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: When the grocery store systems, for instance, failed us and there were food shortages.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: So people have now experienced it firsthand.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_01: And while you don't want people to go through anything, you know, that involves like agony, you know, desperation or want, you know, you want people to be fed.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: But on the positive side, it has shown them just how fragile the system is, and perhaps will has given people an opportunity to reevaluate where they put their trust and which freedoms they readily hand over.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think it's a great time to be introspective, you know, to be reflective.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: And and I also think it's wonderful to not only see people, you know, creating their own gardens, you know, like you said, raising their own chickens, starting to try out um herbal remedies, for instance, like trying some more natural things.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's wonderful on a multitude of reasons.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_01: And one is it really is starting to connect people with their food, and it's starting to connect people with their bodies, with nature.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_01: And as you well know, all of these types of connections are healing for the body, mind, and the spirit.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_01: And so what we have stumbled upon is these paths that are actually going to make us more resilient, right?
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_01: Build that robust microbiome and build that resiliency within our bodies, our mind, and our spirits.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: And some of us maybe wouldn't have stumbled upon that path at all or as as early as we have, had we had not just experienced what we all went through.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think I think you're exactly right.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_00: This this uh kind of imposed, I call it an imposed um an imposed comma, an imposed pause in life.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, too often we we just we just get caught up right in in busyness.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_00: We get caught up in busyness.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: When the treadmill, exactly, like a mouse on a treadmill.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: And and when that happens, you don't have time to think.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um in my background, it's been interesting that um that in in the deep south, if you track the number of like workshops, seminars, things that I've done over my career, travels, if you will, um I go, I go north probably five times more than I go south.
• 39:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was asking my mentor, Alan Nation, one time, why do you think that is?
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_00: And without batting an eye, he's from Mississippi, he said, well, in the South, you know, uh you never quit.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you you don't have snow, you know, you don't have to come in.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so so in in the in the sustainable ag movement, the the ecological ag movement, it is dominated by people in the north, not people in the south, because in the south you you you just you just keep planting, you know, uh you just move from one thing to another to another.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: Whereas in the north, you have this self-imposed winter exile to have to come in, sit around the fire and read and pause and think.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that COVID has has literally given us a global uh push pause, if you will.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: And in that pause, people, guess what?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_00: They find out what their kids are being taught in school.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so you have this whole you know school choice movement uh accelerated.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: They they find out uh, you know, uh, you know, the the number one, um, the number one Googled thing in 2020, I think, was um was uh sourdough bread starter.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um that was that was the number one Googled item in 2020 was how to do sourdough bread starter.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good thing, Cena, don't you think?
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's a great thing that people were taking this pause button and for the first time they felt like they could slow down long enough to learn something new, to to um to get connected a little more, either with their family, with with with their with their food, with their bodies, with whatever.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh so I I think that there's been a little bit of a of a shift uh in trust to where people are now more willing to trust themselves and trust their own whatever, their own stuff than trust the expert.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh um if there's a great, you know, you and I are both kind of we tend toward the the libertarian spectrum.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I and I think that this this general cultural um um um mistrust now of expert uh of the you know whatever the bureaucracy, the the the expert of the orthodox narrative um is a good thing because it has ramifications on you know on so many avenues of life.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm glad to see people's you know trust shifting.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I you know I'm excited when people trust you and I as mavericks.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um they they trust our narrative and and are dubious about, for example, the Fauci narrative.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um and look at the look at the ascendancy of like you know um Robert F.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_00: Kennedy Jr., you know, and and and I mean that that's just that's like a breath of fresh air to have a guy that's that unorthodox um get as big a podium as he's been given now.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_00: And and I just I I I I pray that he can stay safe and stay strong.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and uh so I think I think this whole kind of um mistrust uh during this this time of of dubious narrative has been healthy, as you said, to break along these tribal lines.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: And is it divisive?
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's divisive, but it also the divisiveness helps to to clarify and put a uh what a precipitate in the bottom of the beaker, you know.
• 43:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I would like to think that you and I are a precipitate.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_00: We're we're a concentrate, okay?
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: We're a concentrate in that in that beaker, all right?
• 43:18
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and and that's a that that clarification uh is a good thing.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_01: So I've never been called a concentrate in a beaker, but I'm taking that as a positive thing.
• 43:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, completely positive.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that'll be my new claim to fame.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: A concentrate, I'm gonna put that on my resume.
• 43:39
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a concentrate in a beaker.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love it.
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I I definitely agree a hundred percent with what you're saying.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's interesting because I had this conversation with my husband the other day.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_01: I said, you know, we're forming these tribes, like this is giving us an ability to um find.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: Tribes, right?
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like these beacons of light that have been sent out, and we're gravitating toward them and creating our own tribes.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_01: And then I thought, well, wait a minute, that's promoting divisiveness.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: Isn't divisiveness bad?
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_01: So we had this conversation about it.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_01: And um the bottom line is we don't think it's always bad, you know, to have these divisions.
• 44:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and for instance, like you said, we are now instead of feeling alone and isolated and even, you know, like an outcast, um, we're now finding each other.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, it's like we have these beacons of light shining, and tribal members are coming together and find each other.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_01: And as we know, I mean, hands down, the vast majority of the scientific literature on health, longevity, and wellness indicate that one of the top predictors of those things of health, longevity, and wellness is community.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_01: It's connectedness, right?
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: You have to have that.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, even um Deepak talks about how community is on the same basic level of need as food and shelter, right?
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_01: You need these things.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, once you have all these things, that's when you can move out of fight or flight, right?
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_01: But until you have those, you are in the state of fight or flight because it's like an essential nutrient, right?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_01: Community is like an essential nutrient.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_01: And um, it's easy when you're on the treadmill to kind of dismiss that or to have what we call sunshine communities.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like sunshine patriots.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_01: Donnie and I call them sunshine communities, right?
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_01: There's not, they're not really a tribe.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_01: They're you're just hanging with them, right?
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_01: You're in the same space with them.
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_01: And so this has actually given us this fabulous opportunity to form these true tribes, to get real community, you know, where you are having these individuals that come together.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_01: We can have different opinions, but we come together and we support each other no matter what.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think um, oh, and we're actually gonna have somebody, I didn't tell you this yet, someone's gonna come on the show at some point soon with us, that um it has started this up in New York, right?
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_01: They decided they didn't want to leave, they have farms, and so they've actually created this community together, um, filling in the different needs of the community, you know, like one, like so some are great in homeschooling, some are great in farming food um, you know, produce, some farm herbs, some do yoga, like they're all having this network together so that if and when the time comes, then they can all bond together and form this like neighborhood of individuals that help each other.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: And I just think that's just beautiful.
• 46:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that would not have happened.
• 46:56
  SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't think that would have happened, certainly not this fast had we not have just experienced, you know, the last couple of years.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 47:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Cena, we're about out of time.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'll just I'll just uh mention that that um that my big writing project for the for this winter, right now, I'm working on it.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm part way through.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm ghostwriting a book for Ty Lopez, the uh millennial, uh millennial entrepreneurial guru.
• 47:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um he was also our first very first apprentice.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I just did a chapter uh on him.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: He's done all these uh podcasts 67 steps to health, wealth, happiness, and love.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: And uh and so I just did this one, it was really, really interesting.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it talked about um anthropologically and sociologically, we know that relationships don't become strong, friendships don't become stable and strong until they've been through adversity.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh so what you're describing here is exactly that, that that can that um you you don't you don't build you don't build stable, sturdy relationships uh at the bar or at the or at the you know the video arcade, right?
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh at the hangout place.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_00: You build it by adversity, going through life together, dealing with issues, dealing with problems, solving problems together.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's why, you know, that's why military people uh develop such strong bonds.
• 48:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's why uh uh uh team players, you know, that play sports and are on team and go through losses and and and whatever, you know, aches and pains develop such strong because it's this adversity.
• 48:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so, and so it's this it's this adversity that creates the depth and stability of community, community obviously being an outreach, uh, an outgrowth of relationships.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you know, it's it's relationships on steroids, right?
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_00: Is community.
• 48:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so and so what you've got here is it if if I love this idea.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: I I've never heard you say community is a nutrient, but you know, that's exactly what our last speaker at our summit last year was talking about, wasn't it?
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so and so uh how so to if we want com if we want community that's deep enough to provide nutrient for us, we need adversity to create the depth and stability in the relationships to have that level of community.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so the adversity that we're going through is actually creating a platform for that level of relational community, which is a wonderful, wonderful thing coming into 2022, and we can take those new adversity-derived relationships to a new level of and be grateful and be appreciative of those of that adversity of 2021 and carry it into 2022 as as a as a nutrient.
• 50:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty cool.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, I think that's a shining light here is that we are creating resilient, robust relationships.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's just beautiful.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_01: And before we sign off, how many more items are on your list?
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_01: How many more did you have?
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh that pretty much that that pretty much got everything on my list.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it you know, in in some way, shape, or form.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, I had several more on my list.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_01: So you know what I think?
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is a sign that we should do more positive episodes, like just spreading the good cheer.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think that's a good thing.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think I think uh we could definitely use more of that.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:53
  SPEAKER_01: Wonderful.
• 50:55
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_01: So that's um that's a wrap for our first podcast.
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_01: Happy New Year to everybody.
• 51:01
  SPEAKER_01: We hope we um projected out some positive um energetic imprints there uh amongst all the negativity.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll see you next week.
• 51:11
  SPEAKER_01: Bye bye.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_00: Bye, everybody.