Regenerative Agriculture Explained: Soil, Climate, and "Common Ground" ft. Rebecca Tickell (filmmaker)

Today, we are honored to welcome award-winning filmmaker and environmental activist Rebecca Tickell. Alongside her husband, Josh Tickell, Rebecca has spent decades telling stories that have sparked global movements—from FUEL and The Big Fix, to The Earthing Movie and, of course, the breakout hit Kiss the Ground.

Now, she’s back with a powerful follow-up: Common Ground—a Tribeca award-winning documentary featuring voices like Jason Momoa, Laura Dern, Rosario Dawson, and Donald Glover. The film peels back the layers of our broken food system and shines a light on the farmers—Black, Indigenous, and White—who are leading a new agricultural revolution.

In this conversation, Rebecca shares what regenerative agriculture really means, why storytelling is her vehicle for change, and how we can all make more conscious choices without losing heart in the process.

This might very well be one of the most important conversations we have had on The Resilience Report since launching over two years ago. As Rebecca shares: "Each one of us can help restore our local ecosystem. Or we could help restore an entire province or state or an entire region or country. I mean, that's the power that these conversations have and that each one of us has. That’s why it’s so exciting — because we are on the forefront of this movement, and those who step in right now are going to see tremendous change."

Learn more about Common Ground: https://commongroundfilm.org/

Transcript

Back in 2020, when we were all largely stuck at home, streaming services suddenly held the power to connect us around the world. While some of this meant buzz tied to Netflix storylines like Tiger King or Love is Blind, others, like The Last Dance, inspired us. The sustainability space was no exception: suddenly, I had not only my immediate community reach out to tell me about an amazing documentary they saw, but even contacts who might fall more into the “eco-curious” category. 

“Kiss the Ground”, which helped introduce regenerative agriculture to millions around the world.

Today, we are honored to welcome award-winning filmmaker and environmental activist Rebecca Tickell to the show. Alongside her husband, Josh Tickell, Rebecca has spent decades telling stories that have sparked global movements—from FUEL and The Big Fix, to The Earthing Movie and, of course, the breakout hit Kiss the Ground.

Now, she’s back with a powerful follow-up: Common Ground—a Tribeca award-winning documentary featuring voices like Jason Momoa, Laura Dern, Rosario Dawson, and Donald Glover. The film peels back the layers of our broken food system and shines a light on the farmers—Black, Indigenous, and White—who are leading a new agricultural revolution.

In this conversation, Rebecca shares what regenerative agriculture really means, why storytelling is her vehicle for change, and how we can all make more conscious choices without losing heart in the process.

[Host: Lauren Scott] Welcome back to another episode of the Resilience Report. Today is going to be a really important episode because in past episodes, we've often talked about the importance of storytelling when it comes to making a positive change towards more sustainable solutions. We've talked to experts who are focused on storytelling in the marketing space. We recently had a company talking about it in the Indigenous textile space. And today I really feel like we have one of this generation's best storytellers, especially when it comes to a topic that is near to and dear to many of our hearts, which is that of regenerative agriculture. So with that, I would like to welcome Rebecca to The Resilience Report.

[Guest: Rebecca Tickell] Thank you, Lauren. I'm so excited to be here. 

So I think a lot of our listeners do know the term regenerative agriculture. In fact, I've had a number of our listeners reach out and say, "Please cover this topic. It's what's kind of giving us hope in all of this news turmoil going on.” It seems like a really exciting topic. But for those who are maybe less familiar with it, could we start off with just like an overview high-level description as to what regenerative agriculture really is?

Yes, this is so exciting. Regenerative agriculture is a way that we can manage our land to stabilize the climate. It's as simple as that. Regenerative agriculture is building soil, creating resiliency, and stabilizing microclimates. So, and it's happening around the globe right now. We're making a transition away from conventional industrialized agriculture and towards regenerative agriculture. And the difference is huge. One of them, we are destroying our local environment. It's extractive. It's linear. It uses chemicals and tillage. It's a method of farming that we stole techniques from war such as the use of chemicals that were used to kill people. There was this great money-making machine that was invented through war through these giant machines and poisons. And so when war ended, they decided to keep the money flowing by taking those machines and taking those chemicals and using them on our farms to kill bugs.

And in doing so, we began spraying poisons on our food and into our environment. We've ripped up the life that was in the soil through these giant tilling machines. And in doing so, we destroyed the life that was in our soil that is so critical to being able to grow nutrient-dense food, to be able to have microclimates that are resilient to fires and droughts and floods and other natural disasters that are becoming more and more unnatural because of the way that we're managing the land.

And regenerative agriculture, it's really simple. So, it's using six principles and practices to keep the land covered at all times so that the moisture stays in. It allows nature to do what it does best, which is to move nutrition and to move life around to where it needs to be so that it can withstand these unnatural and natural disasters.

And ultimately, it's farming the way that indigenous people did before we came in and messed up everything. It's farming in nature's image. It's growing food that's good for our bodies, that's good for the environment, that's good for our communities. And it's not extractive. It's the opposite. It actually incredibly abundant and it creates a tremendous amount of wealth for the farmers who are practicing it.

In fact, within one year, over 80% of farmers who transitioned away from conventional agriculture and to regenerative agriculture saw a profit. So The Resilience Report talking about regeneration that is a natural fit because that is how we create resiliency for life on earth is through how we manage our land specifically using regenerative agriculture.

I forgot to mention the biggest benefit, actually the biggest benefit at least from my view. You know, we're in such a state of paralysis around climate anxiety and we have a carbon problem and we talk about carbon as the enemy. We have too much carbon in the atmosphere and we flooded our oceans with carbon. It can't absorb anymore. We have ocean acidification as a result. There's only one place for that carbon to go. And the majority of that legacy load of carbon that's in the atmosphere came from — over 25% of it came from tilling up that soil and ripping that carbon up out of the ground. So there's one place for it to go. Only one place. And that's back into the soil.

And the only way the soil can do that is if we take care of that soil and we build that soil and we allow it to draw down and biosequester that legacy load of carbon we've emitted. And in doing so, within 10 years, even less, we could begin to see the reversal of climate change and the stabilizing of our climate.

And at this very top of our recording as well — are there any misconceptions that you would like to already dispel right from the get-go from our listeners when it might come to the topic of regenerative agriculture?

There are a lot of misconceptions. You know, right off the bat, people call regenerative agriculture like hopeism or the idea that like it's this delusional thought that somehow we can stabilize the climate through biosequestration. Like we're adding hope to a place where there really is none. But based on what I've seen and based on people that I've interviewed, based on going out and seeing the soil that can be built on these farms, the soil organic matter — like inches and inches and feet and feet of organic soil organic matter that can sequester and jog down carbon — I know that it's true.

There's enough studies that have been done now. There's enough farmers that have seen it happen. And you know, maybe you can't talk to farmers about climate change, but you can certainly talk to them about the weather. And that is something that is directly affected by their farming practices. So maybe for some people climate change isn't the way into the conversation.

But another misnomer is that a farmer is taking a huge risk and will go broke if he makes that transition. Here in the United States, we have a lot of subsidies for farming and bank loans that force them to be locked into those subsidies and into those chemical sprays. And so it's really scary for a farmer to get out of that system because they don't have that crop insurance anymore that guarantees them money. And then what if a bug or a flood or a drought comes through or a fire? I mean, that could totally wipe out the farm.

And I'm speaking from experience. I come from a legacy farming family. My dad was a conventional farmer who grew corn and soy. And so I've seen and witnessed within my own family firsthand the impacts of exposure to those chemicals. And so the cost really does outweigh the benefit of the quote unquote green revolution simply in the health and well-being of the families of those who are managing that land.

Yes, farmers can make that transition, and yes, it can be profitable for them. And yes, it is scary. But that’s the way forward.

What most people don’t realize is that, at least in the United States, we have a suicide epidemic in farming. Farmers are five times more likely to commit suicide than any other profession in the U.S., and that’s because of this long-term degradation—of the land, of their well-being, of their mental health—that’s a result of the way these farms are being managed: with chemicals, with tillage, with constant stress and fear of not being able to make bank payments.

There are also misunderstandings, like the idea that cows are bad. A lot of what I do is educate people around this. It’s not the cow—it’s the how.

If you have a cow and it's in confinement and it's being fed corn—yeah, that’s not going to work. That’s not how a cow is meant to be managed. Cows are ruminants. They’re meant to be in huge herds. They're supposed to be densely packed. They're supposed to be constantly on the move, like they would be with wolves chasing them.

That’s how Indigenous people worked with the bison. The bison followed the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota people, because that’s where the life was. They followed them as they managed the land. And literally, those people created such regenerative, abundant environments that life would come to them.

That’s how we should be managing the land—not trying to extract everything we can out of it, spraying it with deadly chemicals, and growing only one thing that then becomes completely susceptible to anything that might come through and knock it out.

And then ultimately, people ask: Can the carbon stay in the ground once it’s been put there? That’s another big question. Or, what about being vegan—eating less meat—maybe that’s the answer?

All of these are really important conversations, and they’re all answered and talked about in our films Kiss the Ground and Common Ground. I could sit here and talk to you about it for hours, because I’ve learned so much through this process. But ultimately, every time there’s been a really big concern that’s been raised, nature has the answer—and it’s called regeneration.

Regenerative agriculture is what was done for centuries—millennia—before human beings came in with all of our tools and extractive techniques. And we didn’t have a carbon problem. There were way more ruminants then than we have now, and we didn’t have a greenhouse gas problem. It’s about how we’ve been managing those cows.

Through your films, you’ve had the opportunity to speak to and highlight the incredible work of all these different farmers—who are certainly the backbone and the unsung heroes of our economy. In speaking to them—you spoke to farmers from all different backgrounds, whether Black, White, or Indigenous—were there any common themes you saw across these stories in terms of both the risks and challenges they’re facing?

But especially, I’d love to talk about the opportunities they’re seeing as they begin to step into regenerative practices. For some, it’s new—but for others, it’s what their culture has been doing for generations. Are there any common themes you’ve seen across those different farmers?

Well, I mean, I think we all have a lot more in common than we realize. But when you’re in it—when you’re fighting for survival—it feels like those differences will tear us apart.

And certainly, in the United States, there has been discrimination against Black, Indigenous, and people of color when it comes to farming. Land has been taken away. Land grants haven’t been given. Loans haven’t been given. Insurance hasn’t been given. So certainly, BIPOC farmers have struggled more than their white counterparts, who have been supported by the USDA in an unfair way.

However, once you get into that system—that industrialized farming system—it is a system of degradation. So everyone across the board has been affected by the so-called “green revolution” and the indoctrination of these chemicals and farming practices.

Speaking with my Indigenous friends, I think it's really just another form of colonization. The colonization of seeds—and the control and patenting of seeds—is another way for big business to win and for people to lose. If you can control how people grow their food, that can be very destabilizing for large corporations and governments. But ultimately, that’s how we win.

We win when we empower BIPOC farmers. We win when we empower white farmers. We win when we empower women farmers. We win when we manage land in a way that mimics nature. That’s how we win. And we have to recognize that we are all in this together. There is no one among us that’s going to get out of this unscathed if we don’t look at the bigger picture.

And the way that each one of us can affect the bigger picture is by looking at what’s directly around us and asking: How can we affect that?

So, no matter where you are, no matter who you are, no matter where you come from—find ways to directly influence the way the land in your immediate environment is managed. I think that’s why we ended up settling on calling the film and focusing on Common Ground.

Because it really does take all of us. It doesn’t matter if you’re blue or red or purple or rainbow-colored—this isn’t something isolated to one country, one state, or one group of people. We have a small window of time to course-correct our climate crisis. And the only way we can do that is through coming together and managing our land in a way that’s regenerative. That means overcoming a lot of the issues that divide us.

And in terms of finding that common ground—but also going back to your earlier point—in 2020, you and your husband released Kiss the Ground. It was interesting because, working in the sustainability space, a lot of my professional contacts—who are deep into sustainability—will often reach out with all kinds of ideas. “Have you read this book?” “Have you seen this film?”

And it felt like with Kiss the Ground, all of a sudden, even the people who were just a little bit eco-curious were coming out of the woodwork saying, “Have you seen this movie? You have to see it!”

It is changing the way they thought about sustainability.

Clearly, they weren’t alone. I was reading some of the numbers around the viewership of the film. Why do you think it struck such a chord with a broader audience? 

It was an interesting moment when Kiss the Ground came out. It was September of 2020. So, we were all on lockdown. We'd all watched Tiger King and were bored. You know, we were sick of washing down our groceries. We were feeling stir crazy at that moment in time. And through just a series of miracles, we managed to get Kiss the Ground on Netflix at that moment. I mean, that was the dream. The dream was to take the message of regeneration and take it out to the mainstream.

And it took us, well, 7 years at that moment. And now it's been over a decade of us working on these two films. And I think the reason it hit was because it had been 14 years since An Inconvenient Truth had come out. I think the conversation around the climate had hit an all-time low with young people — apathy. I think with older people, with parents — for me, it was like as a mom, deep distress around what the future would be for my children. So that paralysis was very real.

And when people learned for the first time, that was how Kiss the Ground really affected people — it was their first time learning about regenerative agriculture. For most people, it was watching Kiss the Ground. And they didn't know that there was a pathway forward to stabilize the climate. That was an introduction for the mainstream around a possible solution to fix the planet. And that had not been a part of our conversation at that point.

Basically, we had been talking about, you know, paper straws and reducing emissions. And no amount of paper straws and reducing emissions was going to do a single thing about the legacy load of carbon that we have in our atmosphere and the havoc that that's wreaking around the planet — or the fact that that number continues to rise.

So, there's only one way that we can fix that problem. And that's through taking that carbon out of the atmosphere, putting it into healthy soil — with the added benefit of helping farmers make a profit, creating resiliency within microclimates, creating abundance and a profit for those farmers, health for the farmers and the people who eat that food, and ultimately stabilizing the climate.

So there's not really a downside. And so I think that's why the film became such a success. That's why it made such an impact.

It didn’t hurt that we had Woody Harrelson in the film. That definitely was a fun creative process. But you know, for some farmers, it didn’t help that Woody Harrelson was in the film. For some farmers, they were like, “I don’t know what Woody Harrelson is doing in this movie about farming or what he knows about farming except for maybe hemp.” Haha. No. But then the same farmer would go on to say, “But actually, I learned a lot and I’m trying out some of these things and it’s working. And I’m starting to see biodiversity. And I’m starting to see bugs again in my fields.”

You know, like remember when you used to drive down the road and your windshield would get covered in insects? Since we’ve started farming monocropping and spraying with chemicals in this way, those insects have disappeared. And that is a sign of the loss of life that's happening. And so when you start to see butterflies and pollinators and insects coming back, that’s a sign of regeneration. That’s a good thing.

And I think that’s what people are seeing. They’re seeing a possibility for hope and a pathway for how we can fix the planet. And that’s exciting. And people want to share that message because we’ve been stuck in doom and gloom for too long and I think we’re ready to take action.

Which then, you know, fast forward a few years later, you made the decision to come out with Common Ground, as you mentioned. What was it that was missing in that narrative, that you had released Kiss the Ground and had such remarkable success? What made you want to develop the second film and kind of continue that conversation?

We were so elated that Kiss the Ground was the success that it was and we wanted it to be, you know, an educational tool for everyone. And we realized that it fell short of telling the whole story — that it was kind of an introduction to the carbon cycle and it introduced the idea of regeneration as a method for stabilizing the climate, but it didn't get very nitty-gritty into how. And also it didn't really show what was holding us back because we kind of took it easy on some of the bad players in Kiss the Ground.

We kind of danced around some of the bad stuff and we skirted around some of... you know, we just kind of — we were trying to make a film that everybody could appreciate, that wouldn't be too polarizing. Because a lot of the — you know, here we are in California, in Hollywood, on the left coast, and we wanted our message to reach farmers in America's heartland. So we had to be very careful about our messaging.

But then we got a little bit bolder, and we talked to farmers who had been stuck in that cycle of degradation, and we realized that it was okay to call out some of the bad players. And so with Common Ground, some of my favorite parts of the movie are some of the whistleblowers in the film who talk about what it's like to work at some of these large regulatory agencies. What's keeping those regulatory agencies from actually doing their job to protect us?

And so it's exciting — it kind of becomes like a bit of a whodunit thriller for a minute because you get to pull back the curtain and see what's not working in our system. And also, some of our beloved characters — you learn more about them, and it's heartbreaking. Yeah. I think it just reveals a larger, more fuller picture of the movement, where it's at.

And then also it tells the story that we wanted to tell in Kiss the Ground and couldn’t — which is the story of regenerative agriculture based on Indigenous wisdom. And so we talk to Lyla June Johnston about Indigenous wisdom and how these principles are based on that. And we talk to Black farmers who are out there actually creating regenerative farming in the face of racism and discrimination from the USDA.

And so I feel like it just does a better job of truly representing what regenerative agriculture really is, which is inclusive of everyone and based on these Indigenous principles.

We're so grateful that you're telling that story, and so much of this is really creating awareness. And I love that you've made this decision to make this information accessible to educators, and you've seen really great success in terms of sharing this across different schools. So, can you talk about that program and why it was an important step?

From moment one, we knew that the people who are going to most benefit from this movie would be young people, because they're the ones growing up in the world with all this doom and gloom. And so, and they're the ones who are going to be alive, you know, 80 years from now, 100 years from now, to see what it looks like as a result of our actions today.

So without a doubt, we fought pretty hard to make sure that we could retain educational rights so that we could make the film free to educators and students and nonprofits and governmental entities. And we also developed a curriculum that was standardized by the National Science Teaching Association. And then we made it all free for everyone.

And we're doing the same thing with Common Ground, where the educational curriculum is almost done. And, you know, it's just been remarkable. You know, hundreds of thousands of kids have watched it for free in their classrooms. We found out it was actually being shown at our school, and we didn't even have anything to do with that.

I think teachers and educators, they don't want to give kids bad news around climate change without giving them some kind of call to action. And so this helps them to do that, because you're not going to be able to tell a kid that a paper straw is going to fix the planet — because they're smarter than that. They know that. And this is something that they can actually sink their teeth into, take action around, go home immediately, talk to their parents about, and begin the process of regenerating their local community.

Young people, this is their calling. This is their movement. And when they find out about it, they get lit up. So we had to make it free for them.

And part of this education and awareness is also — again, we talked about at the beginning — kind of debunking some of these myths. I think sustainability overall, it's one that I've come across time and time again over the past decade in the space. "Well, it's either good for business or it's sustainable." But as you mentioned, bringing in regenerative agriculture, within one year farmers often see this positive impact. So can you speak to that a little bit more about how it doesn’t have to be one or the other?

I think that the "it's either going to be good for business or good for the environment" — that's part of the extractive, industrialized model. That's not a model that works for business, and it's not a model that works for the environment. So it actually doesn't work for either of them.

The only model that works is a regenerative one — one that includes the well-being of the planet and therefore has built into it natural abundance and resiliency. And, you know, it's not just a triple bottom line. It's like the win-win-win-win-win. It's a trophic cascade of abundance.

And so I think when businesses start to think more about "how can we thrive?" instead of "how can I put money in my pocket right this minute" — not to say that you won't — but that's part of the old paradigm. That’s part of the myth. The myth is that you can continue to do the same thing that you've always done and you're going to continue to make a profit, and somehow that's going to work for everybody. That model actually never worked.

So the model that works is one that's abundant, one that's regenerative, one that's diverse, one that includes your natural environment. Because how are you going to have a business if you don't have a natural environment? It exists inside of that environment. And you — if you don't take care of that environment, then you see that degradation all around.

I mean, it's just common sense. So farmers — and my dad included — when they start to step outside of that thinking, that you need to extract to make a profit and that that's the only way because that's the way it's always been done, and you start to look at, well, how has it actually always been done in a way that's been resilient? And that's one that's biodiverse, that's one that's inclusive, that's one that, you know, considers your neighbors and the well-being of everybody that's involved.

And in fact, taking care of people is part of regeneration. I mean, that's one of the principles of regenerative agriculture — is inclusivity and taking care of everyone whose hands touch that soil. And to think that you could have it be any other way — that extractive model — that ultimately leads to decay and death of that business and environment.

So it's all together, just like we are. We're all connected. We're like that mycorrhizal fungi that connects us all to each other. And we start to look at it from the "high tide raises all ships" perspective versus the "gimme gimme I need" perspective. And we start to see an environment and a world and a business model that can work for everybody.

And sometimes with that lens, I think we see extreme one way or the other. And so that was maybe more the corporate America side of thinking — it has to be, you know, make money or be sustainable. But sometimes too, I've definitely seen in the sustainability space that it also has a little black-or-white thinking.

And I was reading some feedback with regards to the film — so you mentioned it was distributed via Netflix in 2020, and then this most recent film just was put on Amazon Prime — and I was seeing some comments of, "Well, they're the bad guys. Should we really be distributing it this way?"

How do you balance it? Because I'm with you on this — that there is a balance between activism and also outreach. So how do you strike that balance? And when you're thinking about maximizing impact?

You know, we're environmental documentary filmmakers, and so we're kind of the lowest rung on the totem pole here in Hollywood. And we don't have the kind of budgets that they have in Hollywood. We don't have the kind of distribution that they have in Hollywood. So even getting Kiss the Ground originally onto Netflix was a huge deal.

However, in doing so, we had to cut a scene from it, which was very unfortunate. It was the Indigenous people’s section of that film. And so with Amazon — when Amazon Prime — when we met with them, they wanted not just Kiss the Ground with the director’s cut version that included the Indigenous people’s section. They also wanted Common Ground. They also wanted to make it their front and center messaging for The Climate Pledge. And they wanted to work with us on Groundswell, which is the next film that we're making.

And they wanted to make it available to the world. They wanted to give us our educational rights so that we could continue to do our impact work. And our ultimate goal and our promise was that we were going to take this message and bring it out to the mainstream. So, you know, there was no other offer like that. There was no other pathway for us to take this message out to the world.

And in fact, when Amazon Prime showed up and made that offer, it was kind of a miracle for the movement. So I understand the concern. I understand the issue — the irony of the consumption model that isn’t the regenerative one and then having these films about regeneration be on that platform.

But from our view, getting this message out to the world would create so much transformation and healing that it wasn’t a choice. It was a "Oh yes, pardon my French, but thank goodness we have this platform to be able to take these films and to be able to reach the world with them," and that they’re allowing us to continue to do our education work and hold on to those education rights.

So, it’s a “can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” And we’re very grateful to Amazon for taking this on and fusing this into their message. And they’re very excited about it.

And so I think everybody loves a good redemption story. And so I think there’s an opportunity for all of the players to come to the table — even the ones that maybe haven’t been doing that in the past. It’s never too late for people to step up and to make a promise to regenerate the Earth, no matter who you are, no matter what your company is.

And so we're — that's why it's Common Ground. We're inclusive. We're welcoming to all. And then we want to hold people's feet to the fire and say, "Okay, you've made this promise. Now let's roll up our sleeves and do this together."

It's so important too, as we're making these more conscious decisions, to understand how we can best support the movement. And while there is for sure a big piece of educating ourselves, if we have listeners who are thinking, either I as an individual or — we have a lot of business leaders who are tuning in — is regenerative agriculture something that we can integrate into our decision-making patterns? For example, we know organic has a label. We've had people talking about fair trade on this podcast. Is that something that we're starting to see, that there's a label or a message that we can look for? Or is that maybe too future state?

100%. There are labels right now. There's the Regenified label. There's the ROC — Regenerative Organic Certification — label. It's a Regenerative Organic Certified. There's another one, that's the Biodynamic label.

There are — if you go to any health food store and you start to look at the labels, you'll begin to see that soil health and regeneration is becoming part of the packaging. And so I think there are a lot of great people out there who are keeping an eye on making sure that companies aren’t greenwashing.

And it's great if a company makes that commitment. Like, if it says on the packaging that they’re taking care of their soil and that it doesn’t have chemicals in it, that’s a product that I would feed to my family. You know, I’m always looking at every label. I’m thinking about what my kids are eating — not just because I want to put money into the pockets of the people who are doing right, but also because when we put chemicals and food that’s devoid of nutrition into our bodies, it has a health impact on us.

So looking for those labels can be the difference between 10, 20 years added onto your life — or the well-being of your child. Whether they have, you know, all kinds of issues that we are now starting to see as a result of kids eating food that has glyphosate and other pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides in it — like mental health, physical health, neurological issues, reproductive issues, attention deficit issues. All of that’s affected by the food that we eat.

Kids who are chronically ill — and it's like, I believe it’s one in two kids in the United States — chronically ill because of the food that we’re eating. And that can be shifted through eating a regenerative diet. So those labels become really important because if you make that choice in the beginning, it can save you trips to the doctor’s office later. And I’m not even sure that the trip to the doctor’s office is going to be the thing that gets you on the path to wellness.

It all starts with your food. Because we are what we eat, and our food is medicine. Medicine is our food. And so when we start to look at our food in that way, then, you know, that's when we want to start making choices that are going to be best for our bodies and for our kids’ bodies. So yeah, look at the labels. And there are more and more labels coming on board. And we’re going to hold people accountable for the promises that they make.

It's — you know, I think the movement's very concerned about greenwashing. And I think that there’s a vested interest in doing it right because of our commitment to longevity. Not just for the business, not just for our own individual bodies, but for humanity on Earth.

And to double-click into that, I was kind of thinking prior to this interview — where do businesses fit into all of this? And then when I was re-watching it recently, I was thinking maybe there's an opportunity too in terms of investments. Just when you're kind of following that money trail that you were saying maybe was less covered in Kiss the Ground but that you dove into in Common Ground — there's a lot of funding that goes into universities that maybe supports more traditional farming methodology.

If we have business leaders who are thinking, "How can I support this next generation of maybe health professionals or agriculture professionals?" — is there any opportunity there in terms of helping balance the scale a bit in terms of investments?

I mean, this is the next trillion dollar industry. So no matter what way you look at it — whether you're coming at it from the health angle, whether you're coming at it from a products perspective, whether you're coming at it from a governmental perspective — no matter which angle you're looking at it, this is the next movement.

We are entering into the age of regeneration. It's a trillions of dollar industry. It's happening faster than we could possibly imagine. Because what will move us there is going to be, largely in part, because of business — because that's where the profit's going to be. Hands down. There’s no question about that.

But it’s also going to be moms like me who are making purchasing choices based on the well-being and health of my kids or my own person, my own body. It’s going to be people within communities who are making decisions — whether they’re in local government or they’re in federal government. You know, all the way up the ladder, people are going to start making decisions based on this.

So there’s not an area of our lives that’s not going to be touched in some shape or form by regeneration. Because this is the way that it’s going. And the people that are doing it now, they’re the “early adopters.” They’re the people who are going to take the biggest risk and who are already proving that the model works. And as that happens, it becomes this avalanche, and there’s no turning back from it. Because that old model doesn’t work. It leads to death and decay.

This new model of regeneration — it’s where it’s at. It’s where the money’s at. It’s where the health is at. It’s where climate resiliency is at. So that’s the movement. That’s where we’re all going. And it’s exciting to be talking about it because eventually everybody’s going to get on board.

Many of our listeners are disruptors in their own respective industries. And it seems like being a documentary filmmaker, you are probably the ultimate disruptor within the film space, which can be exciting and energizing, but I’m sure at the same time it can be a little bit challenging asking those hard questions.

So for our listeners who are trying to create change within their respective industries, have you found any tips for yourself that give you that courage to ask the hard questions to create that change?

You know, it’s part of why we made these films. Because, like, I could sit and talk to somebody — and I have — I’m doing this within my own county. I’m slowly, acre by acre, inch by inch, working to regenerate the land here in Ventura County, which is an epicenter of some of the worst farming practices. An epicenter of some of the worst discriminatory practices against field workers, migratory workers.

So — actually, I’m sorry. I get so passionate about it, I forgot your question.

No, it's an important part of it. It's like, how to find that courage to disrupt your own industries? You know, we have listeners who are in, again, the aviation space or tourism space or energy space or recycled plastic space. And it sometimes feels like you're trying to break something that is so steady. And so it can't always be the easiest thing being that courageous person and kind of asking the hard questions. So are there any tips that you have of just leaning into your beliefs there and your values to make that progress?

Yes. Okay. This is why I kind of black out around this — because it’s so, so sensitive to me within my own community. Because my kids go to school with other kids whose parents are farmers. And I am considered such a disruptor. And I think I’m mostly disruptive within my own community by asking these questions.

I’ve been disruptive within my own family for asking these questions. And in some ways, it’s been harder for me within my family and within my community than it has been for me to be able to go out there as a filmmaker on a global stage and talk about it. Because it’s so personal. And because these are my neighbors. And it’s my own community.

I’ve learned so much. And I’ve been called hysterical — which I actually take as a compliment because I’m a female speaking out and asking questions about the safety of what we’re being exposed to. And Rachel Carson was called hysterical. And she — I mean, she paid the ultimate price at the end for asking questions. But she also started a movement and inspired so many people to become protectors of water and to become protectors of nature and to ask hard questions.

So one of the things I’ve learned in asking these hard questions is to remember to have so much compassion for the person who I’m sitting across from. Because it’s easy for me to sit on my high horse, having done all these interviews, and to tell a farmer whose family has been doing this for a long time that they should be doing it a different way and that the way they’re doing it is potentially harming them, their family, and their community.

Farmers don’t want to hear that. And I understand why — because they’re working really hard to feed people. And you become a farmer because you care about the land and because you care about people and you care about growing food. I mean, that takes a certain personality type — someone who’s deeply of service and also maybe a bit hard on the outside because you have to be in order to have that job.

So, I think having compassion, asking questions, not coming from the perspective of, “I know more about this than you do,” because that never goes well. And then, you know, because I think we all care about the soil, you know. And a lot of farmers have gone to land grant universities that have indoctrinated them with information that says that they have to use these chemicals or they’re going to go broke, or the soil won’t — the plants won’t grow without it.

They focus on yield. They focus on profit. And I think underneath it all, farmers really want to do right by their communities and by their families and by the land that they’re stewarding. And I think a lot of farmers — there’s a spiritual aspect of it to them as well, like wanting to be good stewards of the land.

And so I think when you approach it from one of curiosity and one of, like, commitment to their well-being, that’s a good place to start. And also, being willing to be a disruptor and be willing to be called a name or two if you’re knowing that — if you know that that’s what’s best for your community.

Like, we know I may have been a disruptor in my community, but I’ve also been attributed with helping to transition a lot of land here in Ventura County into regeneration. So, at the end of the day, I think the commitment is what matters. And if you can get other people on board with that commitment, then, you know, that’s where the magic is.

And if not — you know, I call it the sound of the dinosaurs crying on their way out. It’s not a popular phrase, but that’s the reality. Because things are shifting. And farmers — you know, they’re much older in terms of the average age in a profession. And there’s a huge turnover rate right now. And there’s an opportunity for young people to step into farming and not let these small farms get scooped up by these large corporations and put into conventional agriculture.

I think, you know, those farmers, they want to see their land thrive. And there’s an opportunity with all these young people to step in and to fill that role. And more and more and more, we’re seeing young people watching our films, dropping out of school — or finishing a highly paid curated education — and then becoming a farmer. You know, because that’s where it’s at.

This is where we’re at as a movement. That’s where young people want to be. That’s where the money is going to be made. And that’s where the climate is going to be saved.

And you have such a remarkable level of energy when we're talking to you, which I love. It is so exciting, and it really cascades through your movies. You just feel this excitement and energy. I'm sure it's not always super easy though to give and give and give this energy. How have you found over the years an ability to kind of fill your own cup so that you can pour into others and keep on coming back to something you so deeply believe in?

You know, that's a really good question. And for many, many years, it has been very degenerative for me and for all of us here because, you know, we've been chronically underfunded. We've been chronically racing to a finish line. We've been chronically making promises about these messages being willing to actually reach the world and having no clue if they actually would or not, you know.

So, it's — for us, it's a miracle that these films are really out there and being seen by everyone, because most environmental documentaries, they don't get seen. And so I'm learning to be a regenerative farmer. And so I have chickens. I have a llama that guards the chickens — so I have a guard llama. I was out in the coop the other night until 2:00 a.m. trying to get a raccoon out that was trying to kill my chickens, running around barefoot.

You know, we've got oranges and lemons and mulberries and plums and peaches. And whenever I can, I'm dragging some new perennial in, trying to practice here at Big Picture Ranch — where we make our movies — the very thing that we're talking about in the film. So it's been super exciting to cover our landscape and to put in cover crops and different types of biodiverse species, watching all the butterflies come back and all the insects and the praying mantis and learning the hard way.

You know, when you're a farmer, it's like life and death every day. And so there's nothing more healing or regenerative for my body than standing barefoot on healthy, squishy, moist soil and picking food that I planted and feeding that to my children. That's how I nourish myself.

And I realize I'm really lucky that I have a small piece of land where I can do that. And not everybody can. But I would say — put your feet on the Earth. Find people who are growing food. Eat that food. I share my food with everybody. I don’t sell it. People come with baskets and we pick food.

I think that we all can participate in some way in growing food. That’s very nourishing and healing. But it’s also very nourishing and healing to change laws and to protect people — which I’ve also been a part of. So there’s a lot of different ways through being in this movement that you can nourish your soul and nourish your body.

Whether it’s through changing policies to protect people, growing food, supporting and buying food from local farmers who are taking care of the soil that's around you. You know, if you see that someone’s about to go in and spray a bunch of Roundup somewhere — maybe that’s the time when you should jump in, roll up your sleeves and have a conversation.

And goats can do a much better job at clearing land than Roundup. And they fertilize it, and they put water into it, and they break up that soil, and they help turn that back into life. So I just think we have to get creative. And all of us need to find our role. And that in doing so — so long as we take on these principles for ourselves and we don’t just speak them — then we each can be a model of what it looks like to be regenerative.

It’s so important. Just, you know, offhand, I’m thinking — my mother, when we were kids, kind of had a similar situation where she realized that all of us kids — we were all using allergy medicine. And this entire generation, that was in a nice suburban neighborhood from Montreal — and it was because of all the pesticides that they were spraying all of the parks.

And it just took a group of parents coming together and kind of pressuring the city. And I remember it being such a big win for her and the family and for all of us kids who were medicated for years just because of the spraying at that time.

Yeah. And this — it's the same. I mean, just having to have hard conversations sometimes. Like here where I live, the Ojai Valley Land Conservancy in our town was spraying glyphosate into our watershed to try to remove an invasive species. I mean, the irony in that — you know, like spraying a chemical to try to remove an invasive species. And that invasive species was literally there as a shallow reed to clean the runoff from the farms.

So, as soon as we stop fighting nature and we start getting curious and learning about nature, we learn that, like — we think that we're smarter than nature or that we can control nature, but that's just not true. And really, I think by looking at what did our environment used to look like before we came in here — like where I live, this would have been an oak tree savannah.

So, how can I contribute to that oak tree savannah and help bring that back? Each one of us can help restore our local ecosystem. Or we could help restore an entire province or state or an entire region or country. I mean, that's the power that these conversations have and that each one of us has. That’s why it’s so exciting — because we are on the forefront of this movement, and those who step in right now are going to see tremendous change.

Well, I think at this point our listeners are going to be chomping at the bit to learn more. So where is the best place for them to go learn about your filmmaking and you? Certainly, it sounds like Amazon Prime right now has Common Ground. Where would you recommend they go and turn?

Start with Kiss the Ground on Prime and then watch Common Ground. If you only have, you know, an hour and a half — start with Common Ground. Watch that. You don’t have to see Kiss the Ground to watch Common Ground. Trust me, you’ll learn a lot more watching the films than you will listening to me talking about this stuff.

So, we made these films so that we wouldn’t have to talk for days and days and days and days and weeks and weeks about it — because I could talk for weeks about it, and it wouldn’t get you as far as if you just sat down and watched Common Ground for an hour and a half. Watch Kiss the Ground.

You can check out 100millionacres.org. And that’s where you can make a pledge to join the 100 Million Acres Campaign. Because if in North America we transition 100 million acres into regeneration, that’s 10% of ag land. That’s enough to reach the tipping point. That’s Malcolm Gladwell’s theory of change — that if you reach 10%, then everything starts to move in that direction, and you can’t stop it. So, if we could get 100 million acres into regeneration in North America, we become an unstoppable movement. And we’re already halfway there. We’re already at 50 million acres. So you can go there to join 100millionacres.org. You can also go to commongroundfilm.com, and you can learn more about our educational resources and share the message. Watch the film. Get on social media. Tell people to watch it. Get your kids to show it in their class. Do a screening for your coworkers. Watch the film. And then together figure out what actions are appropriate for your community and for your environment.

You're such an inspiration. I started at the top, and I really do mean it. I think you're one of the most important storytellers within the sustainability space. So, thank you for all of your work. And we do like to end every episode with the same question. I can’t wait to hear your take on this, which is: What do you think it will take for businesses and leaders to be resilient going forward?

I think businesses and leaders going forward need to be willing to be disruptors. Like you said — let’s not just do things the way we’re doing them because that’s the way that they’ve always been done. Let’s be creative. Let’s figure out how to work together. Let’s listen to each other. And let’s figure out how to regenerate each of our communities. Whether that’s even within your own company — every company can participate in this movement. Every business leader can become a leader of regeneration, no matter what your company is doing. And I guarantee you, you’re going to end up making more of a profit that way — because this is the direction that we’re headed.

So, if you want your consumer base to be more interested — learn about regeneration. Because your consumers are interested in regeneration. And if they’re not interested in regeneration, then that’s an opportunity for you to educate them and to get them interested in regeneration.

I think that we have to be willing to embrace the fact that this is a new era. And what may have worked for us 10 years ago — or even 5 years ago — it's not going to work for us anymore. And if we want it to stick around, we’re going to have to start getting inventive and creative and looking at what our role is in this movement. And each one of us has a role to play — especially business leaders.

Thank you so much, Rebecca. This means so much to me, and I know it means so much to our listeners. I really appreciate your time.

Thank you so much. I’m so happy to be speaking with all of you. Thank you for listening, and thank you, Lauren, for this interview.