Regenerative by Design

Our future will be defined by those who deeply understand existing, complex systems but have the ability to take that knowledge, think outside of the box, and move forward to free the system to move toward a new and better model. Few are doing this as well as Claudia Carter, Executive Director of the California What Commission. Claudia will take us on a journey from her hometown of Manta, Ecuador to her current role. We will also better understand how her passion for great food, wheat, and healthy children is changing the way we interface with one of the oldest crops on the planet and adapting to the rapidly changing California climate.

Show Notes

Our future will be defined by those who understand deeply ingrained systems but have the ability to harness that knowledge, think outside of the box, and free the system to move toward a better model.  Few are doing this as well as Claudia Carter. 

Claudia will take us on a journey from her hometown of Manta, Ecuador to her current role as Executive Director of the California Wheat Commission. In this episode, you will hear how the passion for great food, wheat, and healthy children is changing the way we interface with one of the oldest and most significant crops on the planet. 

This recording takes us through the complex world of commodity wheat, protein levels, quantitative lab evaluation and beyond. You will learn how the conformity in nutrient composition dictates market pull and price. This helps us to see how the industry has problems using wheats grown outside of conventional systems (both organic and regenerative) and why the market has had a hard time adapting to it despite proof that these crops can often perform beautifully in bakery applications. 

We discuss the pressures in California from prolonged drought, irrigation access, and the recently passed legislation that is forcing farmers to make some very serious decisions. SGMA (Sustainable Groundwater Management Act) is changing the future of California’s agricultural sector and we hear about what farmers, advocates, and academics are doing to help prevent the land from becoming fallow.  

Claudia is so passionate about children and we will hear about the Grain to School program she has worked to develop that helps kids connect with grains and grain-based foods from the soil up. 

Claudia’s zeal for life is infectious and on top of all the incredible things she is doing, she is also pursuing her Ph.D. in Nutrition. It is thrilling to see this union of nutrition, cereal sciences, and industry coming together. Claudia embodies the visionary insight that is needed to build a healthier, more resilient food system. 

Learn more below: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiacarter/ 

http://californiawheat.org/ 

https://www.instagram.com/californiawheat/ 

https://twitter.com/CAWheatComm 

https://water.ca.gov/programs/groundwater-management/sgma-groundwater-management 

https://www.plantsciences.ucdavis.edu/people/mark-lundy 

https://civileats.com/2021/09/10/the-next-chapter-for-farm-to-school-milling-whole-grains-in-the-cafeteria/ 

What is Regenerative by Design?

Regenerative by Design Podcast where we get to the root of health, climate, economics and food.  Host, Joni Kindwall-Moore, is an RN, an Ethnobotanist and the founder of Snacktivist Foods. Join us on this journey as we explore the ideas, stories and personalities behind the regenerative food system movement including climate change, human health, economics and food as well as other deeply interconnected topics. 

In this podcast, we will be “going there” and leaning into topics that might make you squirm… just a little.  We want to challenge ourselves to think outside of the box and to discover the deeper side of our world’s problems so that we can better understand how to solve them. 

We aim to unpack some of the most dynamic issues of our day with some of the most inspiring minds who are pushing the boundaries of our current norms and thinking paradigms. 

We have seen incredibly disruptive events in the past few years like pandemics, climate events, disasters and war. These often trigger system changes that are reactionary and have short term gains. When these are practiced over the long term, they often have a degenerative effect on health and the environment.

Regenerative design thinking is the opposite, and is an intentional, premeditated process that involves a high level of observation, analysis, creativity, and looking beyond reductionistic principles while embracing systems thinking and additionality to create regenerative solutions.

Regenerative agriculture has become a powerful force for positive transformation and hope in todays world. And no discussion about agriculture is complete without a conversation about food. 

Food is the connection between people and the planet so grab a cup of coffee or your favorite running shoes and get ready to take a mental and philosophical leap into the future of food and our planet.