Soil Not Oil 2019: A Peer Review

“Are you speaking?” asked most people, upon contact, at my first conference event. It was a dinner party at the home of John Roulac, CEO of RE Botanicals. Situated on the tip of Point Richmond, the house was crafted of wood by boat-makers. Sweeping views of San Francisco, and every bridge. Tiered decks, twinkling lights, the seductive scent of Indian food. Wind-blown attendees chatting, perky and passionate.

It took me awhile to figure out how to answer this question sincerely. I sensed a great love for this motley crew of visionaries and farmers, and I wanted the first word out of my mouth to reflect the Yes reverberating in my body. My first few attempts failed successfully. Soon, I had my answer.

“I’m listening.”

I don’t run a large organization. My published works are not in the field of permaculture, or even food. I am a mother of three, bravely and boldly navigating toward Regenerative Living, which in Buddhist terms could be defined as the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right concentration, and right mindfulness.

Thus I consider myself a peer, and signed up to volunteer at the conference in order to learn more about who is doing what, where, and how, and to see about being of service. In addition to clarity and connection, I came away with a mixture of dread, determination, and pure excitement—like a bird might feel, flying in formation through a storm.

Soil Not Oil was a melting pot of molten energy; we might still be processing information from the left to the right sides of our brains. With an eye to decolonizing conference culture, I’ve consolidated some of my notes into bite-sized pieces.
 
The Spotlights:

• When disaster strikes, install permaculture demonstration sites. For a great example, check out the Camp Fire Restoration Project, spearheaded by Matthew Trumm. Matthew was the only speaker to utilize a hand puppet.

 

• Two speakers received standing ovations. One was Robert F Kennedy, Jr. The other was a young woman of fierce grace by the name of Minkah Taharkah, who voiced a cold fact: that the people most impacted by economic crisis were not in the room. She represented an urban agroecology collective named Black Earth Farms. They share stewardship of the UC Gill Tract community plot while searching for land to call home.

 

• John Jeavons is the face of Biointensive farming, the way Colonel Sanders is the face of Kentucky Fried Chicken (they also look reasonably alike). According to John’s estimations, human beings are on the actual brink of running out of food. Our priorities change from a million other things to one: find something good to eat.

 

• A nod to veteran activists working to amend the constitution so that corporations can’t ruin our lives without permission. Though I wonder: Will constitutional amendment take too long to be useful, since corporations own the government? If the constitution has fallen, is there anything left to amend? We're asking these corporations to self-correct, and if we learn anything through observation, we know the corporations are but hungry ghosts. However, veteran activists are essential allies for groups like Black Earth Farms, who are prepared to feed good food to as many people as possible, and just need help connecting to resources, because the system is designed to demote African and Indigenous heritage.

 

• Nature is a mother, in favor of life, so assumptions like how fast soil can be grown become wholly relative. I heard vastly different numbers, all reported as fact. 

 

• David Montgomery and Anne Biklé were the only speakers to discuss the connection between soil health and the human microbiome. (*I recognize that memory is subjective. If any of these statements seem incorrect, please contact me immediately, that I may revise.) 

 

• Kanyon CoyoteWoman, who sang Grandmother songs and shook rattles, nodded appreciatively in a breakout session when native fire-lighter Elizabeth Azzuz said, “I don’t have the science, but I know the land.” 

 

• Your name, your destiny. Alicia Utter, veganic farmer. Jorgen Hempel, hemp builder. Rachel Parent, youth activist.

 

• The last event of the conference was a mind-blowing and body-restoring performance by Olox. I’ve included a clip at the end of this post, for those who missed it.

 

• A written ovation to each presenter for whom “public speaking” isn’t a “thing,” but got up to share a message, compelled by the heat of sincerity.

It truly seems that the way forward is together, merging knowledge across movements, traditions, sciences, and technologies, while utilizing every craft at our disposal. Regenerative activism looks at what we share in common, and embodies the paradigm shift from “Me” to “We.”
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We are the microcosm of the macrocosm. Let’s tap our roots.
 
The High Five:

Finally, here are five of my personal “spark” notes, received while sitting alone on the floor in the middle of the empty Masonic Hall, under the enormous light-bulb star on the ceiling.

1. Go Direct. Don’t rely entirely on technology to spread your message. Connect with people where they are; put the movement on the ground, in our hands, and our hearts. Not just a concept on a screen, but an actual lived experience.

 

1. I’m here to play my (p)art. To express the creative potency swirling within me to its fullest capacity. In doing--or rather, being--so, I produce and distribute Soular Energy (the ultimate regenerative resource).

 

1. Find fertile soil, plant my family. Put the children to work in a garden, teach them to read and write. Demonstrate social-emotional skill-building. Create videos, blogs, books, articles, speeches, poems, and general propaganda. Live for my vision of healthy motherhood while healing generational trauma at the same time.

 

1. Trust the present moment enough to slow down, breathe deeply, drop in, and feel what I’m feeling. The present is a gift, indeed, and the only place to water seeds.

 

1. Unite the voices working for change. This is our last revolution.