E42 Charlie Arnott on reverence, ritual and regenerative everything

Charlie Arnott is an eighth generation Aussie farmer, educator, regenerative ag advocate, podcast host, wellness dude and pretty darn enlightened dad in his spare time.

For all that, there was a time Charlie wasn’t such a conscious operator. His early farming career was characterised by all the conventional stuff; synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, a high input/output model, and a bitter ongoing battle against nature.

Today, he shares the epiphanies that led him to where he is today -- an award-winning biodynamic farmer who lives and breathes regenerative principles -- plus a veritable polyculture of stories, struggles and holistic thinking. A thought-provoking conversation with a visionary fella.

SHOW NOTES

• A blessed country childhood with a high bar for work ethic and a deep appreciation of farming
• Back on the farm from 1997, questioning the congruence of his values with his farming practices
• Interrogating chemical use, increased understanding in human health.
• “Once you’ve learned other ways of doing things, you can’t unlearn them, and I was searching for something to “go towards”. I had a new set of KPIS including ecology, well being, sense of purpose."
• Building a new community of intuitive, curious land managers.
• Changing the paddock between your ears!
• Why people are mean when they are scared.
• If you don’t have a few enemies, you're not having a good go.
• Making decisions through the lens of seven generations.
• Making the legacy attractive enough for the next generation to see it as desirable.
• “My sense of compassion and gratitude for the paddocks in my care is immense.”
• Practices that are ritualistic and foster a sense of reverence for our surroundings
• Engaging with the essence of our biome.
• Why we need to keep our food coming from places that are as close to the natural world as possible.
• Accepting those with different filters and ethics.
• Are plants sentient beings?
• Why using your credit card to abdicate responsibility for your actions isn't enough.
• The joy of not being an expert.
• Why it's OK to judge your former self but never others.
• A day in the life of Charlie Arnott
• Journaling for clarity and gratitude
• “Success is the confluence of preparation and opportunity”.

LINKS YOU'LL LOVE
Charlie Arnott -- Website, Instagram, Podcast
Sacred Cow: The case for (better) meat -- Documentary
The Secret Life of Trees -- Peter Wohlleben

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