Is Education a Path to Freedom? Or an Instrument of Oppression?

Varied Emotions and Perspectives Make Freedom Difficult to Discuss As regular listeners already know, this podcast aims to rotate topics so that each episode examines aspects of one of the four cornerstones, the environmental issues, the agriculture, the health, and the freedom that set the foundation of healthy food systems.  As the host, I find … Read more

Freedom is Essential for Regenerating Healthy Food Systems

Regenerative Agriculture is a Promising Approach to Building Better Food Systems.  Regenerative agriculture is rapidly becoming a buzzword, largely because it offers great promise for restoring soil and environmental health while building farm profits and improving human health and nutrition.  What is not to love about the concept? Food Systems are Built on Four Interdependent … Read more

Food Security in the Classroom

Food Insecurity is a Barrier to Education Food insecurity is a growing problem in public schools, including college campuses.   In a nation that was once considered the bread basket of the world, even prominent media like the Washington Post are making note of growing food insecurity on campus.  Authors of a recent study out of West … Read more

Finding Freedom Within the Herd

  Most of us claim we want freedom to do as we please.  Yet throughout history we see examples of individuals and civilizations alike fighting for freedom only to gravitate back to states of oppression.  Whether we describe the Hebrews asking Moses to be their king after leading them out of Egypt,  American revolutionaries asking … Read more

Six Traits Keep Angels Standing Tall In New Mexico’s Economic Whirlwinds

  Changing Times are Troubling We often hear about challenges we are facing in modern times.  Real and/or perceived effects of climate change, globalization, big data, and the largest human population ever are undoubtedly stressing contemporary society.  Some of these have been put into perspective with the popular YouTube Video, Did You Know.  I’ve inserted … Read more

Education for Sustainable Living

What is Sustainable Living? Sustainable living refers to the adoption of lifestyles or cultures that support healthy and prosperous communities and healthy ecosystems for present and future generations.  Lifestyles are shaped through education.  Education that allows students to interact with their environment and experience healthy, prosperous living is more likely to produce sustainable cultures.  This essay compares educational trends observed … Read more

Public Education Will Succeed When We Stop Forcing Horses to Drink

Every Horse Lover Knows You Can Bring a Horse to Water, but You Can’t Make Him Drink. Horses will drink when they are thirsty, and students will learn when they have need of knowledge. Public Education is Built on the False Premise that We Can Make Unwilling Students Learn. In 1992, I left public education … Read more

Restoring the Cornerstones of Healthy Food Systems

What is a healthy food system? Food systems are made up of complex webs of interactions that provide access to food. Healthy food systems are economically and nutritionally secure.  Ideally, a healthy food system provides access to safe, healthy, and nutritious food for everyone.  Because healthy food systems are essential to humanity itself, they also … Read more

We Don’t Need Jobs. We Need Entrepreneurs.

As the third child in a family of four, I developed a work ethic at an early age.  My family had always lived from check to check.  So if I wanted anything at all for myself, I had to work for it.   Allowances were unheard of.  Birthdays were acknowledged with hand written promises that when … Read more

How Science, Education, and Government Promote Widespread Chronic Illness

Illness changes the way a person views the world.  I’ve spent much of my life following “scientific principles”  and “medically approved recommendations” for health management and diet.  I always trusted public education to provide information that is helpful to individual citizens.   Remarkably, the only times I’ve reversed any long term illness have been the times … Read more