In this fast-paced and information-packed interview, Dr. Zach Bush lays out the reasons why making the shift to regenerative agriculture is essential to human health but also life on earth as we know it. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/regenerative-agriculture-podcast/id1372359995?i=1000478215696 Just in case you don't have time or energy to wade in, here's a brief synopsis of the major facts he shares about why glyphosate is a problem. -Patented as an antibiotic. Kills beneficial bacteria in the gut that produce amino acids necessary to build proteins that make all sorts of human cells and neurotransmitters. -Interferes with mitochondria, the structures that produce energy in human cells -Damages tight junction between cells that make up the intestinal wall, allowing macromolecules to pass through. Immune cells just outside the intestinal lining react, creating chronic inflammation and food sensitivities.* -Glyphosate is water soluble. As it travels through the body it damages all tight junctions that it encounters including cells that act as filtering barriers in all internal organs—most notably the liver, kidneys and blood brain barrier. This leaves the body open and more vulnerable to all sorts of environmental pathogens. *Recent research shows autism, asthma, allergies, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and cancer—our chronic diseases that are epidemic and rising precipitously since the 1990s—all map back to disruption of the gut and chronic inflammation. Do I need to be concerned about my potential exposure? At what concentrations does glyphosate begin to have an impact as an antibiotic? -At 2-5 parts per billion—typical in a lot of municipal water systems. Because it is water soluble and we use literally tons of it now, it is present in the water we drink, the rain, and the air we breathe. Because runoff from midwest farms flows south to the Mississippi, it is most concentrated at the mouth of the Mississippi River, an area called “cancer alley” that has the highest cancer rates in the developed world. -Glyphosate levels have been measured at 2-20 parts per million on conventional root vegetables — at this level it damages the protein structures causing leakage of cell membranes. -Glyphosate is present at 400-1000 parts per million in livestock feed and pet food. 100,000 times the lowest threshold for biological damage.

Real hope for human health and reversing global warming lies in our ability to change the way we grow our food over the next 20-30 years. The movement to heal our soils is gaining momentum. This documentary on Netflix and online explains how regenerative agriculture puts greenhouse gasses back in the ground, creates rainfall, moderates temperatures, increases fertility, makes farming profitable and provides a more abundant and nourishing food supply. https://kissthegroundmovie.com/#watchonnetflix

Please share a personal reflection, image, quote, etc!

There is a connection between the way I eat, whether or not I make time for silence and personal reflection in my day; and whether or not I feel at ease with myself and my physical body. If I am in pain or discomfort (conscious or unconscious, especially unconscious), I will invariably project that onto others and it colors the way I see the world. I have found that indigestion or anxiety at night correlates with disturbing dreams that show me a "reality" that supports that. My perception of what is going on around me and my dreaming are not so different. They are both directed by a mind that is making a connection, and if it's not an internal one, it's an external one or both. For example, if I have a headache, I find it more difficult to be patient with people and projects. Being angry creates fatigue and can even create a headache if I'm already tired and feeling tense. The vague feelings of discomfort are potentially the most harmful to others. At least, when I'm suffering pain I can see the connection to my unhappiness and correct it. If I just "wake up on the wrong side of the bed" one day, I'm much more likely to see my problems as someone else's fault and act accordingly. When I'm relaxed and rested, the sky is bluer, everything seems much more alright with the world, and I'm ready to show up in a helpful frame of mind. Choices I make about my health are not just to benefit me, but for the benefit of my family and those around me. When I'm rested, relaxed and balanced, I'm much more able to give and support and make a positive impact.

"I must be willing to circle back around, to keep gathering up all that is lost and broken within myself and others . . . because I cannot authentically move into spiritual healing and leave any part of myself behind . . . I cannot authentically move into spiritual healing and leave anyone else behind . . . we go through the gate together or we don't go through the gate. My job is to work on my consciousness so that I am not trapped in any place but I am present so that the person can do what they need to do...that's very different from saying that I know what's best for you, that you should awaken...What I can do is create an environment where if you want to get rid of your suffering there's nothing in me that's going to keep you stuck. What that leads to is that the work I do out of compassion for other beings is the work I do on myself to extricate my awareness from being trapped in a way that traps others or that reinforces the entrapment...so that I am listening more deeply into the universe. The listener is even gone, there is just listening. I do that out of compassion for other beings. I work on myself as an offering for other beings and I use my work with other beings as a way to work on myself.