MEND Season 1 - Episode 24

The Last Word (for now...)  SEASON 1 Finale

with Part 2 with Jentri Anders, Ph.D.

We live in a doomsday era.  So much of our existence is in question and we wake each morning to a new tragedy in the world.  Around us people are allowing hate to be their motivation and justification for atrocities many thought we had outgrown. What is there that should give us hope?

In our own corner of the world the changes are happening so rapidly most are unsure of what the future will bring.  Skeptics worry about encroaching outsiders from larger, less committed and cohesive communities.  Once again the battle is being waged on our environment, and once again the land needs people to step forward and defend Her.  Our livelihoods are at stake…but perhaps this is a good thing.   Perhaps now is the time to grab the reins so passionately and confidently held by the cultural refugees of the 70’s; those lovers of freedom, equality and sustainability, the revivers of voluntary simplicity and builders of our community.  Now is the time to take control of our future before the outsiders and big companies have their way.  I say this knowing that most of us were outsiders at some point, and that should bring us humility, but if we move forward with the same intentions and values of the back-to-the-landers then I believe we will be moving forward justly and in accordance with the general rules of good stewardship.

This episode is the second part to an interview we did back in the spring, with Jentri Anders…a back-to-the-lander who went on to finish her degree in Anthropology, and then wrote an enthnography about the very community and people she was a part of.  We played the first half of her interview in Episode 2, as part of the foundation of our stories.  In this episode we get to hear more of her story on the founding of Southern Humboldt culture as many know it today…but mostly we talk ethics, responsibility, offing the pig in you, and finding where our strength comes from.    

May these words of advice echo from our modern origins and guide us as we move forward with integrity and a deeper awareness of what is at stake.

To find out more about Jentri Anders and her work, visit:

https://shumjentri.wordpress.com

MEND Season 1 - Episode 21

A Family Affair...

We are closing down the shop here soon on this first season of MEND and so it is with great pleasure that we bring you one of the final installments of this romp through the history, fields & families & glimpse into the future of this, our beloved culture & county.

In this episode, we sat down with Joshua & Sadie - She - a second-generation cannabis grower - who started down the same path as her urban-dwelling parents back in the day - even using their ballasts and scale when she first got started on her path in Humboldt’s indoor scene over 17 years ago.  And he - an East-coast transplant brought to this life by his love of cannabis, the land on which he lives and cultivates &, well, the love of a good woman, as well.

You’ll hear the story of their own relationship to the plant unfolding.  

From moving to the smaller, more secretive world of indoor into the free-range world of sun-grown, small-scale outdoor.

The beautiful life they’ve been able to carve out for themselves and their three children working with this plant and the abundance it’s provided them.

On what it means to finally step out of the shadows after all these years and claim cannabis cultivation as a legitimate path & profession.

On raising their children in a no-bullshit zone & how cannabis has actually sewn the seeds to start the conversation around Morality, Civic Involvement & Civil Disobedience - good & early.  

And how they’re equipping themselves for the fight they know they have ahead to survive.  To compete.  To stay afloat, relevant & maintain the beautiful way of life they’ve cultivated through the years.

And the magic 5th element inside all of this - they see as crucial to every small farmer’s survival in this swiftly-shifting landscape we are in.

At the end of the day, it comes back to this.

The families.

The freedom.

The community.

The rich way of life that is unique this region - and to the caretakers of this plant.

We are reminded, one again, that this privilege - is THAT.

A gift.

And if we are to see it continue…

We must all be willing to do what we can to maintain what we’ve been given.

At the end of the day, may these stories remind us… of what exactly we are fighting for.

Help us to keep the faith.

And to do the painstaking work of paving the way forward… for us all.  

MEND Season 1 - Episode 19

Re-Building the American Dream...

Welcome back.  

This week we are excited to share with you the story and wisdom of Casey O’Neill - a second generation farmer residing in Northern Mendocino.

Casey lives on a multi-generational, family farm where he they cultivate roughly an acre of land.  Much of that - terraced fruit and vegetable gardens for their CSA, interspersed with the cannabis he, his wife & his parents grow within their 5000-sq ft permitted medicinal cultivation area they tend as well.  

He talks to us about what he sees as the two dominant perspectives within the current culture of cannabis - namely - Resource Extraction & the Homestead model - and which one he’s doing the hard work of fighting for right now.  

He tells us about his own journey….. From a degree in sociology… to the work of farming… and now onto policy…  and how that’s shaped him over time.  

We talk about the pivotal moment inside his own life that shifted him from a self-identified mono-cropper, laboring inside the outlaw farmer/prohibition model to his present-day work as an advocate and staunch activist on behalf of the small-scale/bio-diversified farm he sees as key to restoring the health, viability & sovereignty not only of this small, north coast region - but also to the larger world of farming, agriculture & humanity as well.

How he does not expect to see the rewards of his efforts any time soon - but what keeps him moving forward with them nonetheless.

He shares his hard-earned advice on what it takes to set up a truly functional farmers’ cooperative and collective - and what practical steps need be taken to make it work.  

And what he sees as our pivotal moment - - and our last hope - and what shall determine whether we are consumed by the industrial-corporate-agricultural model that has failed us in so many ways - or if we - the counter-cannabis culture shall rise above - and shift the Conversation - to the betterment of all.

This is capstone conversation for us here at MEND - and if we were to break down the entire ethos and drive of what we want you to walk away with inside this season - We would hand you this.  

Enjoy.  

To read some more of Casey’s words & wisdom (including the full article we read from @ the end) visit: http://www.theganjier.com/author/casey-oneill/

Or find out more about the California Center for Cooperative Development here : http://www.cccd.coop

MEND Season 1 - Episode 15

Looking Back to Find What's Next..

As I was sitting down to draft an introduction to this week’s chat, these words from Dante  Alighieri went flashing through my mind:

“In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself, in a dark wood, where the direct way was lost. …...I cannot rightly say how I entered it. I was so full of sleep, at that point where I abandoned the true way. But when I reached the foot of a hill, where the valley, that had pierced my heart with fear, came to an end, I looked up and saw its shoulders brightened with the rays of that sun that leads men rightly on every road. …...It is a hard thing to speak of, how wild, harsh and impenetrable that wood was,.....but, in order to tell of the good that I found there, I must tell of the other things I saw there.”

Anne & myself have chosen to take this week to re-group to some degree.  

A moment to step back and look at where this shifting narrative has taken us thus far, but also to try to regain the larger thematic thread toward which we’re aiming overall.  

To that end, we sat down, on opposite sides of the country and asked each other some questions.

*Stuff like -

What is the larger story we are trying to tell?

Have we succeeded thus far?

What are some of the voices we have yet to hear from and that we feel, are needing to be heard inside this story?

And... After all is said and done… is this really about Pot at all??

We re-cap some of our favorite episodes to date.

And talk about the process of trying to share a larger, Universal story with a message and a deep, pulsing heart - using the syntax of the humble everyday.  

Can the personal truly reveal the Universal, as they say?

We talk about Commercialization - both in this industry and beyond - and the effects it has.  

About what we’ve lost.  And hopefully what we are un-earthing still.

We talk about the underbelly of this story.  The dark, shadowy bits we had hoped to move away from - and how they’re part and parcel to this whole tale.  

And ultimately - we come back to: Who is this For?  

And begin to shift our focus from the past - of what has been - and invite in Voices that are beginning to pave the way toward our collective Future - whatever that may hold.  

Enjoy.  

MEND Season 1 - Episode 11

Outlaw Farming - A New Twist on Things

This past week we had the great pleasure of sitting down with Carl Stanley.

Carl is the former pastor of a cannabis-friendly All Faith church in Eureka, CA, an educator in sustainability and self-sufficiency, founder of Manabu Farms, and an advocate for “outlaw farming”, which is perhaps not what you may think it is.

We spoke with him via phone from Flint, Michigan where he resides in an effort to help the local community with the water crisis before heading back to his beloved Humboldt County.

He speaks about the many services the church provided for the community here, the why’s and how’s of becoming Producers rather than Consumers, outlaw farming, his work in Flint, and offers his thoughts on how cannabis can help Humboldt County become a self-sustaining community.

Some of what we loved about speaking with Carl was his passion for the work that he does, but also what his origin story of Humboldt implies.  He came here as a ‘traveler’, what many might describe in not too polite terms as a transient.  The stereotype of the Humboldt transient juxtaposed with the amazing work that Carl has done here in this community and elsewhere is an interesting and important part of this story; and one could argue yet another stitch to further mend the way we relate to ourselves and to each other.

To find out more about Carl, or the work that he does, or how you can become more energy-independent and reduce your monthly bills, check out his work on Facebook.  

Become a part of the Bill Free Group @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/155362171643501/

Or find out more about the work and mission of Manabu Farms @ https://www.facebook.com/manabufarms2/

There’s also a website with links to his 300+ instructional YouTube videos on living the Outlaw Farmer lifestyle @ http://manabufarms.blogspot.com/

So much inspiration and food for thought here.  

We hope you enjoy.  

MEND Season 1 - Episode 8

Seed-Smuggling, Lawsuits & Humboldt's Brand.  

Woods, a longtime Southern Humboldt resident, environmental activist & one of the founding members of HUMMAP (Humboldt Mendocino Marijuana Advocacy Project), shares with us some of the stories of the evolution of Humboldt County's Marijuana Culture.  

He laments the presence of greed in our overall culture, and it's rise in the subculture.  He stresses the need for balance, and offers a vision of how we can move forward sustainably, on the cultivation path.  

Here, we share a portion of the original Vision Statement put forth by the organization (that we also share at the end of the show).

WE SEE a continuing bright future for the marijuana industry of Humboldt County.

We are the origins of much of the marijuana awareness, use, and cultivation in the Western World. This vision was born of a lifestyle devoted to self-realization and environmental and social respect and reverence. This lifeway is an essential to the preservation of the Earth and the reverence for the healing, sacramental, and caring social roles that marijuana gives us. Our vision is to honor and extol those roles. To this end we honor the righteous cultivation and sharing of this sacred herb.

Humboldt herbal cannabis is world famous, we are proud to say, but this has not come without problems. There are many who do not sanctify the herb or partake of its glory, but they grow money. Our revolution was accomplished in part with money, for which we all find some necessary and reasonable value. But when weed becomes primarily a money crop it loses its sacred value, its healing properties are compromised, and the social world it propagates is ruled by greed. It is against what the Earth is crying for.

If you're interested in learning more about HUMMAP, or getting involved in their work and mission, visit their website.  

We hope you enjoy.