Regenerate America Van Tour - Introduction
I was standing in tall grass in the rolling hills of northern California on a beautiful summer day, while an overly-friendly black Angus steer enthusiastically licked my leg, repeatedly. The rest of the small herd kept their distance, watching these new visitors with timid interest. Another day at the office.
After living my whole life in suburbs and spending ten years working in software and technology, I would not have expected my career to progress this way. I've always had a passion for computers, but regenerative farming came more recently.
Upon discovering the magical healing powers of whole, unprocessed animal foods from regenerative farms, I healed myself and my loved ones. The message of Weston Price bounced in my mind, that healthy societies are made of healthy people. I looked at the sickness in America today with a new and bold hope, that this regenerative movement offers a unique and incredible opportunity to heal our nation. I became convicted that I must help this movement any way I can using my God-given talents.
Without a clue what that would be, I set out to talk with folks who intensively graze livestock to understand their problems and pain points. One problem surfaced immediately, and with great frequency: It's difficult to find livestock that work well in a management intensive pasture-based operation. Bullseye. That's a problem technology can solve.
The regenerative movement, especially the livestock grazers, are too fragmented and lack the necessary infrastructure to effectively do commerce with live animals, which their business needs. My solution was two-fold: create a market for these grazers, and meet as many of them as possible. So, I did what any rational person would do. I sold my house in Ohio, bought a sprinter van, converted it into a camper, packed my wife and laptop, and set out on a farm tour of the United States.
That afternoon in California, we were visiting True Grass Farms, a multi-species regenerative operation, and Sam Mickey, one of the livestock stewards, said something that summarized our mission better than I ever had.
"I think the great work of our time is carrying out a transition from a period where humans were a destructive presence on the planet to a period when humans have a mutually enhancing relationship with the rest of the Earth community, and that's what we're doing here. That's what regenerative agriculture is all about." - Sam Mickey
This is the first of a series, logging our journey meeting and interviewing regenerative livestock producers. The people doing the most valuable work of our age. The work that heals the land, ourselves, and our society. We're happy to be on this ride, and glad to have the opportunity to bring you along with us as we all work together to Regenerate America.
Cory Eft is the founder of Astoria Livestock, an online marketplace exclusively for pasture raised, regenerative livestock. He and his wife Amber are spending this year on the road full-time, visiting with grass farmers across the country. Learn more at AstoriaLivestock.com or call him at (307)-207-0507, as he'd love to meet you too.