Feb 4, 20204 min read

Part 67 - John & Molly from The Biggest Little Farm on Feeding the World with Regenerative Practices

Updated: Feb 12, 2020

John & Molly Chester - Peak Human Podcast

Listen on

Apple Podcasts // Spotify // CastBox // Overcast

Hello there beautiful people, I’m just getting back from an extraordinary weekend at the Metabolic Health Summit. I’d highly recommend it next year and I believe they have some super discounted tickets on sale now. I don’t know how much it costs, but it’s worth it! It’s an entire weekend of hanging around all the top researchers and doctors in this space and not only getting to see their latest research in the presentations, but getting to talk to them about it in person. Everyone is walking around and available to talk to - it’s so cool. And of course all the attendees are awesome as well.

I got 7 more interviews for Food Lies and I guess the 2nd film that will no doubt be made. I also did some really cool panel discussions that will go to YouTube. The first one was with crowd-favorite Dr. Ben Bikman, and 2 of my new best pals the lovely Dr. Jaime Seeman and Dr. Aseem Malhotra the renowned British cardiologist. The 2nd panel was with 2-time world champion rower and PhD Brianna Stubbs, 2-time world record holding ultra runner Zach Bitter, and 2-time hanging out with Brian nutrition, metabolism, and exercise physiology expert, Mike Mutzel. These will be out on YouTube soon and maybe as a podcast as well. So many great connections and fun things in the works, I can’t begin to name them all.

So on to the guests today. John and Molly are an amazing couple that own Apricot Lane Farm which is just north of Los Angeles. They spent the last 8 years creating a thriving regenerative certified organic farm growing many kinds of animals and countless fruit, vegetable, and cover crops. They documented this journey for most of the 8 years and made an award winning film called The Biggest Little Farm. You can watch it on iTunes, Amazon, or Hulu and I suggest you do this immediately. Maybe even before listening on any further. I won’t spoil any of the story and leave it for them to highlight in this podcast or for you to watch in the film.

Before we start I’ll just mention a few other things. If you're new to this podcast I’d start at episode 1. It’s best to experience the whole journey and soak up the valuable information from each hand-picked guest. You also should know about http://NoseToTail.org where we deliver grass finished, sustainably raised beef, buffalo, lamb as well as our one-of-a-kind high omega 3 pork and chicken. This is special stuff that is not only beyond organic and humanely raised, but is fed a special diet so that the meat has an extremely high omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. It’s in high demand so we can only sell the bacon 1 package at a time. Our other signature product is the primal ground beef with liver, heart, kidney, and spleen mixed. Very tasty stuff. I’ve seen and heard of so many kids chowing down on this stuff and enjoying it immensely. They don’t mind the organ taste at all and I think have an intuitive sense for the superior nutrition it provides.

That’s my company so you can get your meat there and support me (in a small way) and our ranch in Texas. You can also support the Food Lies film on http://indiegogo.com/projects/food-lies-post by clicking through http://FoodLies.org - we still are taking preorders and have the Eat Meat shirts there. We are in the last steps of getting the film finished but still need your help.

You can also get the private food and exercise videos as well as the extended show notes for this podcast by becoming a Patreon supporter on http://patreon.com/peakhuman

And if you’d like to support in a non-monetary way you can give the podcast a review on iTunes or the Apple podcast app and share any of these things with family and friends! Thanks so much everyone, it wouldn't be possible without you. Please enjoy the really insightful and beautiful words of John & Molly Chester.

BUY THE MEAT NosetoTail.org

Support me on Patreon! http://patreon.com/peakhuman

Preorder the film here: http://indiegogo.com/projects/food-lies-post

SHOW NOTES

John and his wife Molly are the owners of Apricot Lane Farms, a regenerative farm that is certified biodynamic and organic. They focus on a self-contained ecosystem by using wildlife, restoration of wild habitats, and regeneration of soil. They treat their animals humanely and ensure they live on healthy lush pastures in a stress-free and biologically diverse system. They do not use either antibiotics or harmful pesticides on their products. Their use of the unique lens of biomimicry allows them to use sustainable solutions to farming challenges emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and struggles. They study the interconnected relationships between plants, insects, and animals and then use biological and native components in the ecosystem to bring balance. They are the ones behind the documentary, “The Biggest Little Farm''. Go check out their website to learn more! https://www.apricotlanefarms.com/

[6:30] How did they begin to tell this story of their farm?
[11:15] What is the WWOOF (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) Organization?
[16:20] John and Molly stress the importance of observation and understanding the different roles within a farm’s ecosystem.
[20:20] How John and Molly used snails as pests for their advantage.
[23:00] Rather than continuing to band-aid our issues, we must reflect on our problems and figure out a solution that is not so short-sighted.
[24:20] The importance of recognizing grief to truly appreciate the idea of life.
[27:50] We need to have better ethics for our animals and realize that even growing certain agriculture actually can also affect the death of other animals existing in the ecosystem.
[33:50] John explains how it shouldn’t be seen as the circle of life, but rather the 8 of life. [37:05] John approaches his farm with the two goals of how to regenerate soil and biodiversity.
[38:10] How to grow all these plants on their farm without spraying harmful pesticides.
[42:00] The importance of having healthy soil and cover crops in order to retain water.
[45:10] The differences of topsoil and water capacity between their regenerative farm and their neighbors’ monocropping farms.
[53:10] The importance of developing small, local farms and farmers throughout our country.