Latest / Old Ways New Days / Who Decides What's on Your Plate? Food Sovereignty, Global Diets, and the Future of Self-Reliance

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Who Decides What's on Your Plate? Food Sovereignty, Global Diets, and the Future of Self-Reliance · Old Ways New Days

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: A grandmother stands in her garden brushing dirt from a freshly dug potato.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: Nearby, chickens scratch beneath a fruit tree.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: A pot of soup simmers on the stove.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_01: The ingredients came from the garden, the orchard, the hens, and the neighbors down the road.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing traveled thousands of miles.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing required a complex supply chain.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing depended on a distant corporation or international policy.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: For most of human history, this was normal.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Food was local.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: Food was seasonal.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_01: Food was personal.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: But today, conversations about food increasingly take place in conference halls, international organizations, and global forums.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Experts debate sustainability.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_01: Governments discuss climate goals.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Researchers propose new dietary frameworks, intend to improve both human and planetary health.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: Some see these efforts as necessary responses to environmental challenges.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Others worry that centralized food policies risk overlooking local realties, cultural traditions, and individual nutritional needs.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Tonight we're exploring one of the most important questions of our time.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: Who should decide what's on your plate?
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: We'll examine the Eat EAT Lancet Commun The Lancet Commission Global Food System Reform Discussions Concerns about Food Sovereignty and why homesteading, local food production, and responsible animal husbandry may play a critical role in building resilient communities.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome, witches, pagans, heathens, spiritualists, and anyone interested in living sustainably.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is Old Ways, New Days, where the old ways meet the good dirt.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Kayla, and I'm Nel.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: And each week we explore the sacred art of living close to the land.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: From compost to covens, chickens to charms, we're reclaiming self-sufficiency, seasonal living, and ancestral wisdom.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Whether you're stirring your cauldron or your soup pot, this is a space for wild-hearted folk walking the homesteading path with intention, magic, and muddy boots.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: It was a rough weekend.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, long weekend.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well you had your pool tournament, right?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And how did you guys do?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we lost out in the semifinals.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: It was a tough battle.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: I needed to win one more game.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: But I fell short.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Oh no.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: But it's a team effort.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I can't put it all on my shoulders.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because I did have a teammate that didn't win a single game.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you know.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: So but you can't you can't win them all, right?
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: If I would have won one more game, we would have went into the finals.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: And then who knows what would have happened.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Well, but you came close and there's always next year.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I like to give my teammate crap that you know.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Hey.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: You would have pulled your weight and at least won one game.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: So you planted you finally put put some plants in.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: I did.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: I asked you what they were, and you just said stuff.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Stuff.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's n just flowers to hopefully bring in some pollinators and butterflies and hopefully well, they're ones that deer do not like.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: So because I do have a lot of deer over there.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: So the deer would not bother these plants, which is nice.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Well that's good.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: And then I also planted, um, because the last few Sundays we've been raking up the front yard, trying to get that taken care of at least.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: So it's a little more presentable.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: It looks more yardish, but right now it kind of looks more like a pile of dirt.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: But um I planted some wildflower seeds that attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, very nice.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Because I do have a hummingbird feeder out there and they love it.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I also got a raspberry bush that's growing pretty decently.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: A blueberry bush that I had to cover because the deer ate it.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, those pesky deer.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I have a lilac bush growing now.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, nice.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know I have picked two strawberries for my strawberry patch.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the first one was extremely tart.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: Weird.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I know.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's another thing.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: I have a raised garden bed that I had strawberries growing in.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: There were some strawberries on it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then one day they were gone.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Could be squirrels, it could have I mean it could have been deer, I suppose.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure it was deer.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: The way that they were eaten.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Chomped.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: Chomped.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because the plants were still there?
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because squirrels will dig up most of the plant and Yeah.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: It could have been birds.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Birds like to pick the berries apart if it was just the berries that were missing.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but it was a good portion of the stem too.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: You can tell it was a deer.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: So today we are gonna talk about um it's a gonna be a little bit more on the political side of things.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: I know we try to tend to stay away from that.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to talk, because I go down rabbit holes on YouTube all the time.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's my way of relaxing, believe it or not.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: Of course.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I came across uh a YouTuber who I do not remember, unfortunately, uh, who had talked about Eat Lancet or the Eat Lancet Commission, and they were proposing a global dietary change.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, restricting red meat to four ounces a week, one egg per day.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I'm over my limit today.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: I had two.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: I had three.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so while doing you know the research for this, you know, they I'm just we're just gonna touch upon it.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: We're not really gonna go in depth, so I definitely encourage our listeners, if you want to know more, look up the Eat Lancet uh Commission.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: It is capital E, capital A, capital T, hyphen, Lancet, which is spelled L-A-N-C-E-T Commission.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it is um uh so what what they are is it's a group of scientists that established this consortium in 2019.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: They are a mix of nutritional experts and environmental researchers, and they came together um under what has now become known as the Eat Lancet Commission.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Their goal was, of course, ambitious.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: It was to propose a dietary pattern that could both support human health and environmental sustainability, which is awesome.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: But they're already implementing it, or at least they were going to start implementing it in uh public schools in California, uh some schools for like school lunches in a few European countries.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Like they have their hands in too many pockets, in my term.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: In my in my in your perspective.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: In my personal point of view.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, so the result of all of this uh data that they've put together is um the planetary health diet.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: The framework emphasized fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Which there's nothing wrong with that.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it's all very healthy.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they generally recommended lower consumption of red meat than is typical in many industrialized nations.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Supporters argue that food systems contribute significantly to environmental pressures, and that dietary changes may help reduce those impacts.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: However, critics of course raised several concerns.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Some questioned whether a single dietary framework, that's global framework, uh, can adequately account for different cultures, different climates, different agricultural systems, and different nutritional needs.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: After all, what works in a dense urban center may not be appropriate for a rural farming community, and what works in one country may not work in another.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: The current concern is not simply about nutrition, it's about flexibility.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: So history teaches us something important.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Human beings thrive in many different environments.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: Traditional diets vary dramatically around the world.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: So consider Mediterranean communities, Arctic indigenous peoples, pastoral societies, tropical agricultural regions.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, each developed food systems suited to their local environment.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: No single food culture emerged as universally applicable.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: The concern many farmers and homesteaders express is that broad recommendations can sometimes become rigid policies.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: When distant institutions create frameworks for billions of people, important local realities may be overlooked.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: The land itself teaches diversity.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: Perhaps food systems should do the same.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Organizations such as the World Economic Forum and various United Nations agencies frequently discussed food system transformation.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Their concerns often include climate change, food security, resource management, and agricultural sustainability.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: These discussions can generate strong reactions.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: Some people welcome international cooperation, others fear increased centralization.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's important to separate documented proposals from speculation.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Neither the World Economic Forum nor the United Nations has the authority to dictate what individuals eat globally.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: However, their influence can shape conversations, funding priorities, and policy recommendations.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: This raises a legitimate question.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: How much influence should large institutions have over food systems?
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: And how can local voices remain part of that conversation?
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: So food security and food sovereignty are two ideas that are often very confused.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_01: Food security means having reliable access to food, where food sovereignty goes further.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: It asks who controls the food system, who makes the decisions, who owns the seeds, who owns the land, who determines how food is produced.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: A community may technically have food security while remaining dependent on distant systems.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Food sovereignty may focuses on maintaining local control and resilience.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: For many homesteaders, food sovereignty begins with simple acts like growing a garden, saving seeds, learning preservation, supporting local farmers.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: These activities create participation instead of dependence.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: So there are hidden risks of a centralized food system.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: Modern food systems are incredibly efficient, but efficiency and resilience are not always the same thing.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: A highly centralized system can produce enormous amounts of food, yet it may also become vulnerable to transportation disruptions, extreme weather, disease outbreaks, and economic instability.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Just look at gas prices right now.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're so bad.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Recent years have shown how quickly supply chains can be strained.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: When one part of the system experiences stress, effects can ripple outward.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is why many resilience experts emphasize diversification, not just globally, but locally.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: A thousand small gardens may not replace industrial agriculture, but they do create sustain uh but they do create stability.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: A thousand backyard flocks create resilience.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: A thousand community gardens create options.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: So discussions about sustainability food systems often become emotionally charged when animals are involved.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So the role of animal husbandry is like your livestock have played an important role throughout human history.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: So they provide protein, fat, fertility through manure, draft power in traditional systems like the Amish up here.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they still use horses or oxen to plow their fields.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um integration into regenerative agriculture.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_01: Responsible animal husbandry can support ecological cycles.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Chickens convert kitchen scraps into eggs.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Goats browse vegetation unsuitable for human consumption.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Ruminants can utilize grasslands that cannot easily grow crops.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_01: This doesn't mean every system is sustainable.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Large-scale industrial livestock operations present their own challenges, but neither does it mean that animal agriculture is inherently incompatible with sustainability.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: The reality is often more nuisanced.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: Nuanced?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Nuan follow me.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm increasing your vocabulary.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: The reality is often more nuanced.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: When people hear homesteading, they often imagine total self-sufficiency.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Off-grid, solar power, well, septic, yup, you know it.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm leaving this city.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: But resilience doesn't require perfection, it requires participation.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that looks like growing tomatoes on a balcony, keeping a small herb garden, raising backyard chickens where legal, learning food preservation, and joining a community garden.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Every skill learned reduces vulnerability.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Every pound of food grown increases confidence.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Every connection with local growers strengthens community resilience.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Homesteading is not about escaping society.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's about becoming an active participant in your own food system.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Many people today feel overwhelmed by conversations about climate change, food insecurity, economic uncertainty.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: These concerns are real, but fear alone rarely creates solutions.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Action does.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Planting a garden, learning to compost, supporting local agriculture, teaching children practical skills.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: These actions may seem small, yet resilience is built from many small acts repeated consistently over time.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: The antidote to helplessness is participation.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: Our ancestors lived closer to uncertainty than most of us do today.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Harvests failed, weather changed, markets fluctuated, yet communities developed systems that increased resilience.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Seed saving, food preservation, animal husbandry, mutual aid, and shared labor.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: These practices didn't eliminate risk, they reduced dependence.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps that is the lesson worth recovering.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Not fear, not isolation, but capacity.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: So the food of not the food.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: The food of the future.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: The future of food will likely involve difficult conversations about sustainability, about nutrition, about climate, about economics.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Those conversations matter.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: But so does something else.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: The ability of ordinary people to grow food, to learn skills, to build local networks, to understand where their meals come from.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: Food is never just fuel, it is culture, it is community, it is history, it is relationship.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And perhaps the most resilient future is not one where every person follows the same blueprint.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps it is one where communities retain the freedom, knowledge, and responsibility to nourish themselves in ways that fit their land, their traditions, and their needs.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: Because the closer we move toward the source of our food, the closer we often move toward resilience itself.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: And that may be one of the oldest lessons the land still has to teach.