The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens

Daniel Zetah: "Regenerative Agriculture and Personal Sovereignty"

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Jun 21, 2023

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Daniel Zetah

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ADVICE

Start Small And Learn By Shadowing Experts

Start where you can: grow a few pots if renting, stop unnecessary purchases, and shadow local practitioners to learn skills.
Zetah recommends hands-on apprenticeships and trading labor for skills if you lack capital.

INSIGHT

Regenerative Farming Can Rapidly Rebuild Soil Carbon

Regenerative practices can rapidly rebuild soil organic matter, sometimes adding ~0.75–1% soil carbon per year.
Zetah reports his farm rose from ~4–5% to ~6–7% organic matter after a decade using grazing and restoration.

ADVICE

Accept Paying More For Ecological Food

Expect higher food prices for ecologically sound production and consider removing agricultural subsidies to let true-cost farming compete.
Zetah argues modestly higher consumer spending on food and subsidy removal would make regenerative farms viable.

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On this episode, Nate is joined by Daniel Zetah, who practices regenerative agriculture on his family farm in Minnesota. Daniel shares his experiences in becoming aware of the global challenges we face and his journey back to his family farm, where he has been instrumental in naturally cultivating the land back to life again. While much of The Great Simplification covers the intricacies of the metacrisis we face, Daniel brings the perspective of someone who has stepped outside of the system and into what he calls 'personal sovereignty'. What are the time, energy, and labor requirements of being in tune with the land in this way? Where do animals - especially cows - fit into this story? Can deep, healthy topsoil be sexy? Is Daniel creating a blueprint for what many more happy, fulfilling lives could look like in a simplified future?

About Daniel Zetah:

Daniel grew up on a farm in Minnesota where he learned to fix all manner of things driven from an insatiable curiosity about how things worked. He studied economics and business at university and lived abroad for 15 years where he bought and sold classic cars, worked as a snake relocator and scatologist, and the chemical spraying auditor for Tasmania. After waking to our planetary predicament, he became a full time environmental activist, then moved to an off grid community in the mountains where he studied permaculture and built straw bale houses. He moved back to America to help steer culture in a more sane direction, where he realized as long as the majority of people are incapable of meeting most of their fundamental human needs, even committed activists are feeding the dragon they're trying to slay. He and his wife Stephanie moved back to the family farm in Minnesota where they are growing 80% of their calories, rebuilding the local ecology, and educating and empowering people to wrest back control of their sovereignty as human beings.

Daniel and Stephanie's Farm - www.newstoryfarm.com

For Show Notes and More visit: https://www.thegreatsimplification.com/episode/76-daniel-zetah

To watch this video episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PtW_Fh9fViw