We Are Carbon

Join us in this special episode that brings together a range of voices to explore their developing collaborative project; The Power of Food. Together these four guests bring a diverse range experiences and knowledge to unite around the common goal of building social cohesion by harnessing the connective power of food.

Connecting with where our food comes from, and also with community, with health, with nature and with the world around us. Holistic and expansive.

It was a delightful conversation to be engaged with and I'm so excited to announce that during our chat a decision was made to fast forward plans and move forward with a pilot right away!

If you're serious about taking action to connect and enrich the local food system around you I'm sure the team here would love to hear from you. Here's Nick's email - do reach out: [email protected]

The Guests and links out:

Nick Weir - Co-founder, Open Food Network UK https://openfoodnetwork.org.uk/

Kay Johnson - Director, The Larder https://larder.org.uk/

Flora Gathorne-Hardy & Miche Fabre Lewin - Founders, Living Justice https://livingjustice.earth/

With insights from Serenity Hill - Co-founder, Open Food Network [Full episode with Serenity: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/serenity-hill-open-food-network/ ]

For a further breakdown of this discussion see the timestamps below.

See the video version of this episode here: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/power-of-food-collaboration/

-------

More Formats from We Are Carbon:

[Shorter Video Format with Animations] - Can All Food be Regenerative. With Patrick Holden: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/can-all-food-be-regenerative/

[Story Telling Audio Format] - Soil (My Common Sense Take) : https://www.wearecarbon.earth/soil-path-to-whole-systems-thinking/

Explore ways to support this content: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/your-support/

----------------------

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Overview

00:03:12 - Guest intros

00:12:00 - Collaboration - benefits & reasons for coming together

00:28:28 - The Open Food Network; an ambition to connect people with their food

00:34:34 - Insights from Serenity Hill - Co-Founder, The Open Food Network

00:36:30 - Benefits of shorter supply chains

00:41:00 - Connecting through food (self, community, nature)

00:50:20 - Learning to cook - addressing this obstacle to fresh local food

00:58:21 - Coming together to practice change

01:04:18 - An invite; get involved today!

Episode Links:

Think Like A Tree: https://www.thinklikeatree.co.uk/

This Episode on the We Are Carbon Website: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/podcast-episode/nature-connection-wellbeing-success/

-----------------------------------

In this interview I’m joined by Sarah Spencer for a discussion that considers how our connection to nature can have a profound positive impact throughout all areas of our lives.

It’s easy for us to romanticise the idea of listening to the birds or dipping our toes in a glistening stream, as though experiencing nature might be an infrequent luxury to try and carve time out for.

But this talk helps us to recognise that the role of nature in our lives is far more encompassing, and despite our built up environments and scheduled routines, we all are part of nature.

To such a degree that when we introduce aspects that are inspired by nature or even start to think like nature, then we can enjoy much greater success within everything from our health, our relationships and our businesses.

‘Think Like A Tree’ encompasses Sarah’s work as a trainer and author and draws upon the principles of nature to support people and organisations in a tangible way for meeting their unique needs.

It’s ever evolving and adapting through a growing network of facilitators who are each paving their own path for incorporating a more nature connected approach to a diverse range of situations.

It’s beautiful how these principles can have a place in each of our lives, and I hope you enjoy listening through to consider this all through your own personal lens!

Episode Links:

The Harmony Project: https://www.theharmonyproject.org.uk/

This Episode on the We Are Carbon Website: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/podcast-episode/natural-curriculum-harmony-education/

--------------------------

In this interview I’m joined by Richard Dunne to explore how evolving children’s education could not only offer them better engagement with their learning but also help them make better sense of the world that they’re a part of.

Many of the solutions that we discuss on this show require a bit of unlearning or shifting of the mindset from what we’re used to. So I became really interested in the work of the Harmony Project from the basis of integrating a whole system way of seeing things into children’s education from a very early age.

Perhaps our children could soon be showing us the way forward!

As headteacher in a state primary school and inspired by the book titled ‘Harmony’ by the now King Charles third, Richard began developing and implementing a more Natural curriculum within the National Curriculum.

He’s since founded the Harmony Project and is integrating this approach into a variety of school settings in the UK and across the globe.

I’m delighted to have been able to discuss with him the principles of harmony and the inspirations and challenges of this ambitious project.

In this interview I’m joined by John Roulac to consider the big picture of what it means to move forward regeneratively and the challenges of bringing the needs of our financial and natural worlds on to the same page.

There’s so many nuggets of wisdom in this one that it’s difficult to pick a highlight!

From mob grazing to seaweed straws and a follow up to Kiss The Ground, this conversation is tied together through John’s active involvement in a vast range of regenerative initiatives around the globe.

An investor and key player in highly successful companies, John has also been driven by an ecological awareness to discover practical solutions to our environmental challenges and as such has founded six non-profits through his career.

This was a fantastic opportunity therefore to tap into a valuable point of view around why it can be such a challenge for large scale investment to be directed into regenerative solutions.

Is a dying planet enough of a motivation to innovate our financial climate, and are so called green technologies always what they’re cracked up to be?

We learn about some really impactful projects offering healing for people and the environment through the simplicity of allowing nature to take the lead.

--------------

Episode Links:

John's website: https://johnroulac.com/

John's Substack: https://johnroulac.substack.com/

Kiss The Ground Movie: https://kissthegroundmovie.com/

This Episode on the We Are Carbon Website: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/podcast-episode/regenerative-future-todays-sunlight/

Episode Links:

HarvestCare website: https://www.harvestcare.eu/

Coalition of Health Professionals for Regenerative Agriculture: https://www.regenerativehealthcoalition.com/

This Episode on the We Are Carbon website: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/podcast-episode/nutrition-motivation-for-regeneration/

--------------

In this interview I'm joined by Zuzanna Zielinska, founder of HarvestCare to discuss the role of nutrition as a key link between the health of people and planet.

It's difficult to talk about a regenerative future without bringing the focus on to soil, though a topic I feel gets vastly overlooked is the nutrition that that soil can output.

What better motivation do we have for becoming engaged with the health of the world around us, than the impact that it has on our own personal wellbeing?

If we could really get a grasp of the significance that quality nutrition has upon our health and happiness then valuing the biodiversity and food production methods that make it all possible may be a chain reaction.

It's a pretty big topic, so I asked Zuzanna to take us back to basics and offer a break down of what nutrition is and its importance from her perspective as a nutritionist.

Then we dig deeper as she shares her inspirational story and drive to create systems change through the seemingly simple yet powerful role of food access and education as a means to heal disease, communities and ecosystems.

I hope you'll enjoy learning from her valuable knowledge!

This Episode on the We Are Carbon website: https://www.wearecarbon.earth/podcast-episode/nutrition-motivation-for-regeneration/