MEND Season 2 (Episode #26)

What is it Worth...   Re-Claiming & Affirming our Value in a Dollars-driven World.

Welcome back to season 2 of MEND.

As you can see, we're shifting things around here a bit.  

Moving from the local landscape of a dwindling & tumultuous underground industry into the bright light of the larger world around us.  

At a certain point, this local cannabis industry shifted it's values to re-align with those of the dominant culture.  Rather than the former objective of utilizing the money gained from cannabis to bring other forms of value into the world - things like schools, art, music, community outreach and such.... Eventually, we settled into the good ole, black-and-white, cut-and-dry margins of the almighty profit margins.  

At some point we seem to have forgotten that this was just ONE way to bring value to the world. That money was but one way to move our ideas, values & dreams out into this Life.

And so that is where our sights are headed next.

We are thrilled to explore this topic of the different ways we can and do create wealth and value in our lives and our communities.

To start this season, we sat down with each other to dig deeper into the 8 Forms of Capital as we are coming to understand them, offering a general overview for each so that we have a shared starting point of how our guests are working and creating wealth in these realms.  

This is going to be an inspiring, (hopefully) perspective-shifting season.  We’re going beyond the stories to the “practice” and application of these ideas, this wisdom, and the many ways in which we can all bring something to the table.     

In many ways, perhaps the current cannabis industry has failed to live up to the initial values it was instigated on.  But we want to acknowledge that we can do better.

We can shift the conversation.

We can tip the scales.

And here are some stories, diatribes & ideas on where to start.

Enjoy! 

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Big Thanks to Ethan Roland and the visionary team of Appleseed Permaculture who first put words to this framework, and mapped out these ideas for us all to drop into and explore.

And an equally open-hearted shout-out to Sam Sycamore of the Good Life Revival Podcast - who first hipped us to these ideas - and shared them in a way both eloquent but inspiring us to ACT.  Deep bows.

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 14

The Politics of Pot (round I)

As we narrow in on the halfway point here, we want to begin to open up the conversation.

About what’s coming next.

What to be watchful for and how we, as residents of this community, can play an active part in shaping the future of not only the ganga world - but the larger one we all inhabit , as well.  

To that end, we spoke this week with Jesse - a northern Humboldt resident who is currently on the front lines up in Del Norte county, working with the Board of Supervisors, city council and local government there to try and shape a sustainable cannabis policy and regulatory guidelines for cultivation in that neck of the woods.  

With that work in mind, he has co-founded the Del Norte Grower’s Association.  

He talks to us about what it’s like to be the forerunner on this issue - and why, rather than try to jump into the already over-crowded ring of Oregon and Humboldt County growers, he’s elected to shift his focus to the small-scale, rural region of this state.  

The cautionary tales he sees being played out in areas: like Humboldt, or Calaveras, or Yolo County; where, to his view of things, there has been far too much growth far too soon.  And the policies in place within these regions - though claiming to work for the small family farm - may actually signal their undoing instead.  

We speak about the problems with imposing the same stringent codes and regulations upon a large-scale, industrial operation as one would put upon a small, artisanal family farm.  And the need for variance, discretion and huge allowances for the latter if the small, boutique end of this industry is to survive.  

How our current policies here in Humboldt, to his view, only serve the biggest players in the industry.  And how the small-scale growers and operations may very well be, in his words, “thrown under the bus” with the current mode in which we are operating and moving forward.  

And he puts forth a rallying cry to action for us all.  Because the old rules of operation - that worked so well during the years of Prohibition - will no longer serve us in this coming age. And we all get to step forth and be vocal - if we want to play a part in how this Conversation plays out.  

There was so much wisdom, insight and education to be had in this talk.  

We hope you leave feeling enlightened, empowered and ready to engage in this next phase of our collective Evolution.  

This is a moment in our history that needs every single one of us bringing what we have to the Table.  

To find out more about the organizations we mention, or to get involved with their mission and work visit:

The Del Norte Growers Association FB page: https://www.facebook.com/delnortegrowers/

The CA Growers Association: http://www.calgrowersassociation.org

The Humboldt County Growers' Alliance: https://www.hcga.co 

MEND Season 1 -Episode 9

The Work of the Healer...

Welcome Back to MEND - Episode 9!

We’re continuing to seek out stories from the Elders, the Wise Ones, and the Healers of our tribe.  

In this interview, we’re delighted to sit down with Jane Bothwell, owner of the Dandelion Herbal Center - a local school for Herbal Studies in Kneeland, where she has been training, educating and empowering people from all walks of life to learn the ways of Plant Medicine and Holistic Healing for over 30 years now.  

Jane brings the great perspective of the Healer into this Conversation and provides some wonderful points of reference on how we can cultivate a more sustainable, relational & reverent working relationship with the Cannabis plant.  

We talk about the power of Naming things and how this alters our perceptions.

About the increasing legitimacy of Marijuana as a recognized medicine within the Herbalism world & some of the wonderful uses she’s found for it’s curative powers within her own life and practice.

There’s some important information in regards to THC vs. CBD formulations and strains within here. As well as some great references for those who wish to know more about the Healing Properties and possibilities inherent to Marijuana. Plus, the inherent differences between what it means to ingest a plant recreationally vs as part of a larger ceremony.

Most significantly, Jane speaks to us of the importance of continuing to work organically, sustainably, and with great Reverence as we move forward cultivating this plant.  And how one person, working honorably, humbly, & well - can seed an impact for great, societal & cultural shifts.  

To find out more about the resources Jane mentions in our time together, check out the following links:::

The Dandelion Herbal Center  - www.dandelionherb.com

The Medicinal Cannabis Conference - medicinalcannabisconference.com

United Plant Savers - unitedplantsavers.org

Humboldt Apothecary - humboldt-apothecary.com