Agroecology and The Great Simplification
The Great Simplification #46 with Vandana Shiva
Today, ecology activist and regenerative agriculture advocate Vandana Shiva joins me to discuss how her lifetime of work has shaped the way she sees the world. From chaining herself to trees to winning against powerful agriculture giants like Monsanto, Vandana shares the many lessons she’s learned in fighting for food systems that are better for the Earth and better for humans.
Vandana Shiva is a well known activist, author of many books, and is a global champion on regenerative local agriculture, biodiversity and nutritious food. She has a PhD in physics and 40 years ago founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, an independent research institute that works on the most significant ecological problems of our times.
On this platform, we’ve talked about industrial agriculture’s impact on Earth’s ecosystems (Jason Bradford, Betsy Taylor) - now we discuss what it does to those who produce and consume it. Can we shift away from fossil input intensive agriculture that produces commodities lacking in full nutrients towards one with more labor, more community, and more nutritious food?
I learned a lot from Vandana Shiva. What an inspiring human. Please watch and share.
In Case You Missed It…
Last weeks episode comes after a an errant missile in Poland nearly started World War III. This reflection takes on a systems vantage, demonstrating that there is much more going on here than the mainstream narrative: using a biophysical lens, we all reside in the liminal space between a unipolar and multipolar world order - a time fraught with risk. Our collective understanding, discourse and response will be vital to livable futures.
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Vandana Shiva is an inspiration. It was good to hear her explain what happened in Sri Lanka and the historical reasons which she understands only too well from her years of activism.