Lauren Tucker, co-founder of Kiss the Ground, is now leading reNourish studio. She joins us to talk about soil carbon, us as keystone species, and the crucial role of regenerative businesses to allow all living and non-living beings to thrive.
LISTEN TO THE CONVERSATION ON:
Why focusing on soil carbon levels isn’t nearly enough when it comes to the goals we seek? Investing in soil carbon sequestration will not create a healthier world for our grandchildren. It will simply create healthier soils.
Lauren Tucker, after having worked in the soil health space for almost a decade, gets much deeper and asks fundamental questions about us as keystone species, and the role of regenerative businesses in creating the conditions for landscapes, watersheds and all living and non-living beings to thrive.
WE, HUMANS, ARE KEYSTONE SPECIES
Often the thing we are told to do to help stop climate change is to be less of a human. Live less has always been the prevailing message. Recycle, eat less, travel less, enjoy less. But actually, using our natural role as humans as keystones species is how we can help to heal the climate. We are the only species that runs around and can plant trees or graft trees.
‘What really clicked was this sense of hope, that actually by altering my role as a human on the planet and being a human that actually can be what would balance our climate. That’s a very different narrative’. – Lauren Tucker
LOOKING BEYOND SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION
By implementing five soil health principles all over the world, something that has actually been placed in common discourse nowadays, we are probably going to sequester more carbon. But we are not going to change our food system. For that to happen, we need to work on the causes that lead to soil degradation, we have to shift our roles as a human species, we should work on watersheds or on understanding why people have such differing access to food.
‘What would have happened in a decade if we had looked at the conditions that create soil degradation in the first place, and what shifting our role inside businesses could look like? I think that we would be in a very different place right now.’ – Lauren Tucker
RENOURISH STUDIO
ReNourish is a studio that works in collaboration with Farmer’s Footprint to help food businesses to thrive as regenerative enterprises. They are looking to work on root causes and not on the symptoms. They are launching a 3-year program to work on personal thinking, building capabilities with business teams and stakeholders.
‘Success looks like being able to see the present moment and the conditions of how our food system works and our role in it and our role as business people in creating thriving places.’ – Lauren Tucker
‘We have to disrupt the way we are currently thinking to actually see new potential. We are going to learn from living systems and understand how living systems function and what it looks like to pattern our thinking after it’ – Lauren Tucker
THE IMPORTANCE OF REGENERATIVE FOOD BUSINESSES
reNourish Studio works on evolving food business models and on shifting the way businesses are focusing on the financial bottom line. Food companies or businesses include a farmer, a processor, a handler, a retailer, etc: these need to change their models. By shifting to more regenerative thinking all the different sides can really benefit.
From her experience working with farmers, Lauren sees finance as an unmovable thing, like something we can’t shift, and we are always trying to work around it.
‘Let’s shift soil carbon on a farm with sustainability initiatives. Let’s get government funding to do that. But we are not touching the business model’. – Lauren Tucker
‘Our goal is to set a new pattern for the food business model’. – Lauren Tucker
Other points discussed:
- Small groups can bring change and shift culture or a pattern;
- The need for a holistic thinking approach;
- Change the role of investors in a system;
- Investing in infrastructure would unlock the potential for things to happen.
To know more about Lauren Tucker and reNourish Studio, download and listen to this episode.
LINKS:
- ReNourish Studio
- Kiss the Ground
- Documentary Kiss the ground
- Carol Sandford
- White Buffalo Land Trust
- Graeme Sait Ted Talk
- Farmer’s Footprint
LINKED INTERVIEWS:
- Dan Miller on the crucial role of locally owned processing in regenerative agriculture
- Dan Miller on crowdfunding and its key role in regenerative agriculture
- Zach Bush on why all health issues come back to how we treat the soil
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The above references an opinion and is for information and educational purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Seek a duly licensed professional for investment advice.
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