In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Will Harris, the owner of White Oak Pastures, a holistically managed regenerative ranch and farm in Bluffton, Georgia.

Will is a fourth-generation cattleman, who tends the same land that his great-grandfather settled in 1866. Born and raised at White Oak Pastures, Will left home to attend the University of Georgia's School of Agriculture, where he was trained in the industrial farming methods that had taken hold after World War II. Will graduated in 1976 and returned to Bluffton, where he and his father continued to raise cattle using pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics. They also fed their herd a high-carbohydrate diet of corn and soy.

These tools did a fantastic job of taking the cost out of the system, but in the mid-1990s, Will became disenchanted with the excesses of these industrialized methods. In 1995, Will made the audacious decision to return to the farming methods his great-grandfather had used 130 years before. Since Will has successfully implemented these changes, he has been recognized all over the world as a leader in humane animal husbandry and environmental sustainability.

Will is the immediate past President of the Board of Directors of Georgia Organics. He is the Beef Director of the American Grassfed Association and was selected 2011 Business Person of the year for Georgia by the Small Business Administration. He is also the author of A Bold Return to Giving A Damn, a memoir-meets-manifesto on betting the farm on a better future for our food, animals, land, local communities and our planet.

Will Shares:

• How his great grandfather and grandfather ran the farm and how his father transitioned to industrial practices
• How he was raised and educated to believe that there was nothing wrong with industrial farming practices
• His observation of the quality of his farm’s dirt versus the untouched soil in the woods
• The reason his daughters have chosen to come back to the farm and work at White Oak Pastures
• The unintended consequences of industrial agriculture and taking cost out of production
• How transferring from industrial to regenerative is a long term process
• The importance of allowing animals to express their instinctive behaviors
• The resiliency of regenerative agriculture versus the efficiency of industrial agriculture
• How label regulations can affect farmer’s profitability
• The pandemic’s role in their creation of White Oak Pasture’s new distribution avenue: online orders
• The right amount of growth for a regenerative farming operation to make sure short term profitability is not the main focus, but rather generational profitability
• White Oak Pasture’s non-profit, which helps educate people on their regenerative practices
• How the government could be instrumental in making a national shift to regenerative agriculture
• Why the shift to regenerative will most likely happen outside of the existing industrial model

You can connect with Will through White Oak Pastures:

Website: www.whiteoakpastures.com

Instagram: @whiteoakpastures

Facebook: @whiteoakpastures

Intro/Outro music by Ken Belcher

Sound Mixing by Andrew Pals

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Cole Mannix, the president and co-founder of Old Salt Co-op. As fifth generation of the Mannix family, his love for people, ranching, and land stewardship is deep rooted in Montana. Though his schooling and professional life have taken him many places beyond the ranch, his heart remains devoted to the cause of bringing people together around a love for life and all of its beautiful diversity.

He founded the Old Salt Festival, a food & music celebration of Montana land stewardship hosted on the Mannix Family Ranch in Helmville, MT, bringing together wood-fired cooking, Americana musicians, Montana ranchers, and Western makers to celebrate in high Montana style.

Cole Shares:

• The deep history the Mannix Family shares with their Ranch in Helmville, Montana
• How his time away from the ranch got him interested in the distribution side of the operation
• How the Salt of the Earth Rancher’s Cooperative was started and why it evolved
• The problem with food labels
• The issues with policy change when it comes to agriculture
• How the Old Salt Co-op came to be
• The necessity of making an entirely new system versus just trying to change production of meat
• The importance of broadening our idea of success and wealth
• Why and how producers should have ownership in distribution avenues
• The fallacy of failure when it comes to regenerative ranching and truly healing the soil
• Having an organic mindset even when you have to rely on conventional methods
• How familiarity with the process can build trust for a product
• How labels and certifications can be true but not meaningful

You can connect with Cole through Old Salt:

Website: www.oldsaltco-op.com

Instagram: @oldsaltcoop

Instagram: @oldsaltfestival

Intro/Outro music by Ken Belcher

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews eco fashion designer and filmmaker Jeff Garner. He and his sustainable label Prophetik are on a path of transformation, leading the evolution of fashion and changing our perception of luxury by creating sustainable, plant-based fashion.

Born in the Civil War town of Franklin, Tennessee, and raised on a horse farm, Garner grew with a connectedness to nature and a peaceful understanding of the world. His ultimate vision is to bring awareness to the toxins found in commercial synthetic fashion and the health implications to the human body to allow everyone the power of choice.

His documentary, Let Them Be Naked, exposes the hidden dangers of toxic chemicals found in everyday clothing and reveals the devastating health impacts of these unregulated substances, shedding light on their role in chronic diseases such as cancer. The film advocates for a radical reimagining of garment production, highlighting how the choices we make as consumers affect both our health and the planet.

Jeff Shares:

• How he got his start in fashion dressing his musician friends for their bands
• The importance of practical education through learning on the job
• The dichotomy of growing up wearing handmade clothing with natural materials versus the synthetic materials he had to work with in his early career interning for mainstream fashion brands
• How natural fibers used to be the norm and his mission to convert us back to that so price points go down
• How synthetic fibers are made to look and feel like natural fibers
• The factors playing in to why more people aren’t buying natural, from economic to educational
• The policy change necessary to regulate the fashion industry and make materials more transparent
• The lack of accountability for fashion conglomerates versus small designers actually creating their clothing
• How fashion conglomerates can start phasing in non-toxic, natural clothing without sacrificing the rest of their inventory
• The hidden products used on what would otherwise be organic clothing
• How the end clothing products need to be tested before reaching consumers
• A participatory model of fashion where people buy undyed clothing and dye it naturally, throughout the years changing its color to reinvigorate it
• The best way to get rid of plastic-based clothing
• The component of consumer education that is needed to bridge the gap between what is seen as a quality product versus natural
• The issues with certifications supposedly regulating materials and manufacturing processes

You can connect with Jeff through Prophetik and Let Them Be Naked:

Website: www.prophetik.com

Website: www.letthembenaked.com

Instagram: @prophetik

Instagram: @letthembenaked

Facebook: @prophetik

Sound Mix by Andrew Pals

Intro/Outro by Ken Belcher

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Brian Gorman, a regenerative rancher and co-owner of Blarney Ranch. He and his wife Karla raise grass-finished Dexter beef on a historic ranch in Trego, Montana. The ranch has been in continuous operation since 1894.

Brian was born and raised in Monterey Country, California, an area extremely well known for agriculture. The events of September 11th, 2001 led him to join the US Army for 10 years, where he was shocked to discover the poor quality of food provided to soldiers. While in Afghanistan, he visited the dining facility of a German-controlled base to find real, high quality food being served.

He and his wife were always conscious of health and what they consumed, which led them to raise and grow a lot of their own food, including meat. In 2015, they decided to move to Montana and start a ranch of heritage breed cattle. An homage to their engagement in Ireland and the Blarney Castle, they chose the name for their ranch, which is derived from the gaelic “an bhlarna,” meaning “small green field.”

Brian Shares:

• His experience in the US Army and the quality of food provided versus what he was used to growing up at home
• The industrial trajectory our food systems have been on since World War II
• How he and his wife chose to settle in Montana and how they began their first regenerative ranch in Arlee
• The demand that led them to move to their current operation in Trego, Montana
• Why cattle breed matters and how he chose the heritage breed Blarney Ranch raises
• Why Angus became the popular choice for beef in America
• How cross breeding has affected animal instincts and ancestry
• How regenerative agriculture is just a new term for an old way of farming and ranching
• How being in tune with the environment and observing what the land needs can broaden the climates in which agriculture can be practiced
• How regenerative ranching practices have brought native species of plant life back to Blarney Ranch’s land
• A look inside Blarney Ranch’s regenerative operation
• How regenerative ag affects irrigation
• How stockpile foraging works in Winter
• The scalability of regenerative agriculture
• The “value added” products that are possible when ranching regeneratively
• The ethics of raising meat in a society that is disconnected from the realities of agriculture
• The greenwashing of the industry that makes it hard for consumers to truly know the quality of food they’re purchasing

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You can connect with Brian through Blarney Ranch:

Website: www.blarneyranch.com

Instagram: @blarneyranch

Facebook: @blarneyranchmt

Intro/Outro Music by Ken Belcher

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Chuck Duke, a seasoned stop-motion and CGI animator with over 40 years experience. At age 22 Chuck found himself working claymation for Will Vinton Studios sculpting and animating the California Raisins. Between 1985 and 1995 Chuck animated on several Emmy winning Television Productions for Will Vinton. He left Vinton Studio to work on his first feature film, Henry Selick's James and the Giant Peach. In 1997, Chuck began working at George Lucas's ILM, animating on films such as Small Soldiers and Star Wars Phantom Menace. Since then, he has animated on notable stop-motion films such as Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs, Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Chuck Shares:

• The Ray Harryhausen film that sparked his interest in learning how stop-motion was done
• How he made his early stop-motion films as a teenager
• His dad’s support for his interest in the arts and animation
• The lack of schooling available for stop-motion and animation in general during his college experience and how he garnered an informal education
• His first job in stop-motion for Will Vinton Studios and how he got it
• How technological progress has changed everything from getting an education to breaking into the industry.
• An overview of how stop-motion technology and software has changed since he started
• The capabilities of the industry standard Dragonframe stop-motion software
• How he got hired on Henry Selick’s James and the Giant Peach
• Why the Mars Attacks! animation switched from stop-motion to CGI
• Why he and other stop-motion animators transitioned to doing 3D animation
• The differences between the various stop-motion directors he’s worked with
• His experience animating at The Sisters Bloom

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Mariah Gannessa, the founder of Four Visions, a global leader, educator, and advocate for the study, benefits, and uses of plant medicine. Born and raised in Northern California, Mariah now lives in Colombia, working directly with the Indigenous tribes. She’s spent the last decade immersed in the healing cultures of the Amazon and has dedicated her life’s work to the plants and the peoples of the Amazon Rainforest. Four Visions supports these communities through direct commerce partnerships, donations, and sponsoring charitable initiatives.

Mariah also founded the nonprofit organization, MAGIC Fund, where she spearheads projects to preserve the Amazonian people, their culture, and their lands.

Mariah Shares:

• Her early life as an academic over-achiever and how her first plant medicine ceremony was a catalyst for her healing
• Her travels that led her to Columbia to embark on a 10-year apprenticeship learning about the art of healing, guided by her teacher, Tiata Juanito
• How her desire to find a way to support the ancestral practices and the indigenous tribes who guard them led to the creation of Four Visions
• Choosing her own path despite cultural and familial conditioning
• Keeping a connection to Nature whether immersed in the forest or in the city
• Insight into the Yahe culture of the Columbian Amazon rainforest and all the ways they utilize plant medicine
• Western attachment to the idea of credentials as necessary to being successful or experienced
• The various ways to experience plant medicine in our modern society
• A detailed look into an ayahuasca ceremony, as practiced by the Inga culture, and the experiences one can have
• Four Vision’s offerings and what those four visions of the future are

You can connect with Mariah through Four Visions:

Website: www.fourvisions.com

Instagram: @fourvisionstribe

Intro/outro music by Ken Belcher

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Cory Hillis, a certified EMF specialist and the president of EMF Solutions Inc., a company creating products that are proven to normalize the effects of EMFs on human cells. EMFs, or electromagnetic frequencies, include both ionic radiation such as X-rays and non-ionic radiation such as cell phones, wi-fi, and even power lines. In many human cells, EMFs cause depolarization, free radical damage, nitric oxide issues, and DNA damage. This can lead to a variety of symptoms and health issues.

After healing his own devastating physical condition through dedicated, holistic-related work, Cory became a holistic practitioner to help others. Understanding the harmful effects that EMFs have on human health and unable to find any solutions that addressed them, Cory set out to discover the root cause of the problem. His studies and work produced the first real and complete solutions to help him, his family, and his clients.

In addition to being a Certified EMF Specialist & Trainer, Cory has a number of holistic practitioner-related trainings and certifications including Quantum Reflex Analysis (QRA), Clinical Nutrition & Weight Management Consultant, and being an Advanced Trainer for QRA to doctors, chiropractors, & others.

Cory Shares:

• Discovering that EMFs were a factor in healing his patients and his journey to finding out how to resolve it
• A detailed look at what is happening at a cellular level when EMFs are present, based on Dr. Martin Paul’s research
• How EMFs affect individuals and common symptoms
• An explanation of the different kinds of EMF remediation and what they are actually doing
• How EMF Solutions’ products address the subatomic chaos created from EMFs rather than the EMFs themselves
• How 5G’s short wave affects the human body, despite barely penetrating the surface of the skin
• Grounding vs. EMF remediation
• Why some people are more sensitive to EMFs than others and how your location can have something to do with it
• How 5G satellites send signals to Earth and how that’s affecting us
• How our scientific understanding of EMFs need to become holistic rather than focused on a specific discipline
• The issues with EMF meters
• Mold and EMFs
• Insight into the detox process once you have remediated for EMFs

You can connect with Cory through EMF Solutions:

Website: www.emfsol.com

Instagram: @emfsol

Facebook: @emfsol

Email: info@emfsol.com

Intro/Outro Music by Ken Belcher

Sound Mixing by Andrew Pals

In this episode of Return to Nature, Melissa interviews Todd Ulizio, a farmer who co-owns both Two Bear Farm and The Farmers’ Stand in Whitefish, Montana. Todd grew up on a small vegetable farm in Connecticut and, since a young age, loved to be outdoors in nature. After feeling pressured to get a business degree and working for two years as an accountant, he found the courage to follow his own path and moved to Montana, where he went back to school to study Wildlife Biology at University of Montana. Todd worked for 10 years as a wildlife biologist, studying forest carnivores, before meeting his wife, Rebecca, and starting an organic vegetable farm called Two Bear Farm.

With 17 years of farming experience, Todd strives to promote the importance of local economies, community food systems, and nutritious food. In 2020 he and Rebecca partnered with Wicked Good Produce to open a local food market in Whitefish called The Farmers' Stand.

Todd Shares

• His introduction to farming as a child and his grandfather’s legacy
• His father’s dual life as a farmer and banker
• The evolution of organic farming and how it used to be the way everyone farmed
• How Aldo Leopold’s Teachings influenced him
• The book he read in college that helped him realize he did not want to walk the mainstream path he was on, Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken
• His breaking point working as an accountant that prompted him to changed his career trajectory to wildlife biology.
• The observation that how humans live on the landscape affects the ability of certain wildlife species to thrive
• Learning the nuances of farming in Montana and starting his first farm with his wife, Rebecca in Eureka, MT
• The benefits of having a business background as a farmer
• The truth behind conventional farming’s story of “feeding the world”
• How human disconnection from Nature is at the core of the environmental and agricultural issues we face today
• The difference between organic and regenerative farming
• How corporate influence affects our agricultural system
• How our values and priorities can play a role in restoring our systems to support both human and planetary health
• The fallacy of choice when it comes to the food available for purchase at the grocery store
• The need for more people to return to the land and farm for their local communities
• Insight into The Farmers’ Stand’s origins and operation
• How we can make choices that align with the kind of future we want for ourselves and our children

• 
  

You can connect with Todd through Two Bear Farm:

website: www.twobearfarm.com

instagram: @twobearfarm

instagram @farmersstand

Intro/Outro Music by Ken Belcher