In this episode - the series premiere of Soil to Soul - producer Elizabeth Archer interviews show host Jess Baum, Senior Director of Regenerative Impact at Bonterra Organic Estates. The second segment is an interview between Jess and first-ever guest Joseph Brinkley, Director of Regenerative Organic Development at Bonterra Organic Estates. Background vocals provided by the many birds on Joseph's homestead.
This is the series premiere of Soil to Soul: Farming, Food, Wine, and our Collective Future. This podcast is brought to you by Bonterra Organic Estates, dedicated to exploring diverse voices and perspectives as they relate to farming, food, wine, memory, and the connections we all share. Soil to Soul is hosted by Jess Baum, Bonterra’s Senior Director of Regenerative Impact.
For our very first episode, we start with an interview between host Jess Baum and me, Elizabeth Archer, the producer of Soil to Soul.
Jess is the Senior Director of Regenerative Impact at Bonterra Organic Estates, where she steers the company’s overarching sustainability strategy and planning with a holistic eye. In addition to leading the winery’s efforts to reduce energy, waste, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, she also works to advance the social aspects of sustainability, and engage employees and consumers in the regenerative revolution through creative storytelling and empowered connection.
Under Jess’s guidance, Bonterra Organic Estates has achieved Regenerative Organic Certification, been recertified as a B Corp, and has secured Climate Neutral certification for the Bonterra brand. Jess spearheaded the company’s formal commitment to the Science-Based Targets initiative, and helped to launch an employee engagement group called the B Squad.
Jess chose to join the wine industry because of its enormous potential to positively impact our environment, saying, “Wine is a beautiful and perfect vehicle to change the world.”
After the segment with Jess, we interview our first-ever guest, Joseph Brinkley. Joseph is the Director of Regenerative Organic Development at Bonterra Organic Estates, where he is instrumental in shaping and driving policy positions on climate-smart farming and business practices. Joseph is also a recognized speaker and panelist, and frequently advocates for climate action and healthy soils legislation in California and Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Ceres Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy Network’s Healthy Soils Working Group, and in 2023 was awarded the Ceres BICEP Climate Smart Agriculture Groundbreaker Award.
Listen in as Jess and Joseph discuss his path to biodynamic and regenerative viticulture, the interdependence of all living things and the systems we have created, and the importance of advocating for change to those systems to benefit us all. If you listen closely, you’ll hear the birds outside Joseph’s window on his homestead farm in Virginia.
To learn more about us and what we do, visit bonterra.com.
Jess Baum (00:00):
Sharing in an authentic and vulnerable way is the path forward. That is the path to progress.
[[MUSIC]]
Elizabeth Archer (00:21):
You're listening to the series premiere of Soil to Soul: Farming, Food, Wine, and our Collective Future. This podcast is brought to you by Bonterra Organic Estates, dedicated to exploring diverse voices and perspectives as they relate to farming, food, wine, memory, and the connections we all share. Soil to Soul is hosted by Jess Baum, Bonterra's Senior Director of Regenerative Impact. For our very first episode, we start with an interview between host Jess Baum and me, Elizabeth Archer, the producer of Soil to Soul.
(00:55):
Jess is the Senior Director of Regenerative Impact at Bonterra Organic Estates, where she steers the company's overarching sustainability strategy and planning with a holistic eye. In addition to leading the winery's efforts to reduce energy, waste, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions, she also works to advance the social aspects of sustainability and engage employees and consumers in the Regenerative Revolution through creative storytelling and empowered connection.
(01:23):
Under Jess's guidance, Bonterra Organic Estates has achieved Regenerative Organic certification, been re-certified as a B Corporation, and has secured Climate Neutral certification for the Bonterra brand. Jess spearheaded the company's formal commitment to the Science Based Targets Initiative, and helped to launch an employee engagement group called the B Squad. Jess chose to join the wine industry because of its enormous potential to positively impact our environment, saying wine is a beautiful and perfect vehicle to change the world.
[[MUSIC]]
Elizabeth Archer:
Hi, Jess, and welcome to your podcast!
Jess Baum (02:04):
Hi Elizabeth, and welcome to OUR podcast.
Elizabeth Archer (02:08):
Really welcome everybody to the Bonterra Organic Estates Podcast. We're so excited to kick this off and start this journey from Soil to Soul. This is the first episode that we'll be airing, but we've actually recorded all of the episodes already and are super excited to share them with the world and are already planning season two. What better way to start the podcast than to get to know its host, which is you, Jess Baum.
Jess Baum (02:36):
It's like we're time traveling.
Elizabeth Archer (02:38):
Before people get a chance to listen to the excellent episodes we have ahead, I think it's always helpful for folks to get to know the host or the interviewer. In this little segment, the interviewer becomes the interviewee and I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions.
Jess Baum (02:55):
Ooh, it's my turn in the hot seat.
Elizabeth Archer (02:57):
Are you ready?
Jess Baum (02:58):
I am so ready.
Elizabeth Archer (03:00):
What was your path to Bonterra Organic Estates?
Jess Baum (03:04):
My path was definitely a rambling one, a bush whacking journey through the woods, if you will, but I think through it all is the common thread of love of and connection to nature. I have always had deep respect and love for living things and spent my childhood in the woods of New Jersey digging for redback salamanders, flipping over logs. For my sixth birthday, my grandma got me a microscope, and I would look at the pond water in the glacial lake right next to our house. I just always had this inherent curiosity for the magic and beauty that is nature.
(03:47):
And between that and this intrinsic interest in community and social impact and how we pursue justice in community, I kind of have rambled through different career paths. I have spent years teaching environmental education to middle schoolers in the woods of New England, teaching hands-on science classes and ecology with the trees, with the frogs. I have spent time farming in Hawaii and California and connecting more deeply with the natural world. In my spare time, I am a certified herbalist and used to teach a lot of classes about food as medicine and did a lot of foraging.
(04:33):
After 10 years just rambling and exploring and teaching in the woods and farming on the land, I decided to go to grad school, because I wanted to pursue my understanding of the connection between soil and climate and really learn how to utilize my voice for good. The B Corp movement was really coming alive at that time in 2013, and I was super passionate about this idea of using the machine of capitalism as a force for good and as a way to solve some of the problems that it had generated in the last 250 years.
(05:11):
I went to grad school and from there started working in corporate sustainability. I've been working formally in the field of corporate impact for going on nine years, and I've spent three of those at Bonterra Organic Estates.
Elizabeth Archer (05:30):
There are so many places to do the work that you do and so many important places for us to be making those kinds of impacts and changes in the world. Why Bonterra Organic Estates?
Jess Baum (05:44):
When I came here, it felt like there was nowhere else that was such a perfect fit, which feels really ironic because I don't drink alcohol. I originally wondered, is this even a place for me? After conversations with friends and mentors, I realized that it is the perfect place for me. Wine in general is such an interesting platform for impact and for connection. It lives in a bottle that has where it came from and when on the bottle, right?
(06:23):
It's a time capsule connecting to place and time and climate, and we've talked about soil and climate in the wine world long before we talked about it in coffee or chocolate or food of any kind. There's that. The other piece is that in other industries there are much more complicated inputs. There might be 100 different plant ingredients that we're using or 500 different plant ingredients that we're using or food ingredients that we're using. In wine, we're using grapes and a few other things and have a simplicity of packaging that allows us to go deeper.
(07:09):
There was something about that for me, that there was a depth here. There was an opportunity to go a mile deep and an inch wide rather than the opposite. And also the connection to soil. Soil is a passion of mine. Regenerative Organic agriculture is a passion of mine. That's why wine, but why Bonterra Organic Estates specifically is that we have this long and storied history of being leaders in impact.
(07:39):
It feels really exciting to essentially inherit and get to build on this incredible lineage of people who have used this business as a force for good and for change both in the vineyards, in the winery, and in the world at large. Bonterra Organic Estates was just the perfect fit for me for all those reasons. Through some of the work that I've gotten to do, I know that I 100% made the right choice.
Elizabeth Archer (08:09):
Can you share a little bit about the work that you have been able to do at Bonterra in the last three years?
Jess Baum (08:15):
One of the things that I'm most proud of is achieving Regenerative Organic certification for 100% of our vineyards, which really excitingly led to the launch of our estate collection in January 2023. Additionally, making the Bonterra brand 100% climate neutral really spoke to the power of measuring our impact and making commitments for reductions over time. The thing with some of these certifications, B Corp, Climate Neutral, and Regenerative Organic Certified included, they're so much more than certifications.
(08:52):
They are really each a movement in their own right. They are a voluntary self-accounting to a neutral third party who is auditing us and holding us to a higher standard. Those are rigorous audits that happen with the help and support of so many members of our organization.
Elizabeth Archer (09:15):
One of the many interesting things you get to work on is this podcast. Can you talk about why Bonterra Organic Estates is choosing to start this podcast and what some of the hopes and dreams are that we'll be able to accomplish with it?
Jess Baum (09:30):
I never expected to become a podcast host. That was not on my bingo card, but I'm nonetheless so excited at this opportunity. We are living in such a unique time where our climate is in crisis and we are working as hard and as fast as we can to turn it around and to make a difference. And that can be a really daunting thing. The podcast is an opportunity to have meaningful conversations with other change makers and to allow for the magic that comes when people who care come together and speak about what matters.
(10:12):
I also think that sharing in an authentic and vulnerable way is the path forward. That is the path to progress, and that's why in our quick questions this season, we are asking our guests what their eco confession is, because none of us are perfect and we don't have to be perfect to make a difference. As far as why start this podcast now, we're in an interesting moment in the world of corporate impact. For many years, we all were trying so hard to move forward in ways that made meaningful difference.
(10:49):
I think a great example of this was the Net Zero 2030 commitment that came out from B Corp. The 800 B Corp signed on at first and then a bunch more later. We had 13 or 14 years to get there and we kind of said, we're going to make this commitment and we'll figure the rest out later. Well, now in 2023 is later and today impact accounting and ESG or environmental social governance requirements are getting so much bigger and more credible and important.
(11:25):
Now is a really interesting moment to be having these conversations as we all strive to codify and commit to and measure what we're doing and how we do it. More than the figuring out how to measure is talking about what matters and addressing the human piece beneath all of that. Because ultimately, we are doing our best to save Earth in order to save us.
Elizabeth Archer (11:54):
We mentioned at the top of this interview that we're recording this segment after we've recorded all of the other episodes. What listeners don't know is that we started this season with a totally different podcast name and a different direction that we were planning to take. The new title that we settled on with our team after recording season one and after really identifying where we were all feeling the energy is Soil to Soul: Farming, Food, Wine, and our Collective Future.
(12:31):
For folks listening, if some of our episodes don't feel like they perfectly match that, there's a reason for that. I think most of the episodes do fit in really well, and I think they're all great episodes and really interesting conversations. I certainly learned a ton through producing season one of this podcast. Can you explain the impetus behind the power of farming, food, and wine and why that has become a focus for us?
Jess Baum (13:00):
Food and wine bring us together as humans. They bring us together around a table and connect us to the places we care most about. All of us have these meaningful memories going all the way back to childhood about the smells and the tastes and the feelings that we experienced sitting together around a table for Thanksgiving or for a Tuesday night dinner, whatever it was. As we explored the subject matter, we realized that that's where the magic was. It was in how we could build connection through food and wine to each other and to the planet.
Elizabeth Archer (13:45):
Well, Jess, it's time for the quick questions segment. And for season two, we're going to be changing these quick questions. I will probably ask them to you again next season. But for now, let's have you answer season one's quick questions. Are you ready?
Jess Baum (14:05):
No, but let's do it anyway.
Elizabeth Archer (14:09):
Here we go. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Jess Baum (14:13):
A veterinarian.
Elizabeth Archer (14:15):
What's your eco confession?
Jess Baum (14:19):
My plug-in hybrid has been in the shop for a month now and I've had a rental car and it is a behemoth. I never have had the opportunity to drive a car that isn't sensible. I was curious what it would feel like to walk on the dark side or drive on the dark side.
Elizabeth Archer (14:37):
What has it felt like?
Jess Baum (14:39):
Bad!!
Elizabeth Archer (14:41):
What a great opportunity, then, to validate your life choices. What's the most impactful thing you have read in the last year?
Jess Baum (14:51):
I know that this is where I'm supposed to talk about some deep meaningful transcendent book, but that wouldn't be honest for me. I love novels. They are my escape, and they have been since I was a child. I probably read about two a week every week. It's what I do at night instead of watching TV. I've read a lot of great novels in the last year.
Elizabeth Archer (15:22):
Could you choose one that was your favorite?
Jess Baum (15:25):
I really liked Happy Place by Emily Henry that came out a little while ago because it really talks about connection to place in a way that is really beautiful.
Elizabeth Archer (15:36):
What place brings you joy?
Jess Baum (15:39):
Iceland. It's just magical there.
Elizabeth Archer (15:43):
Last but not least, what's your life motto?
Jess Baum (15:47):
My yearbook quote in 2002 when I graduated high school was, "Be the change you want to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi. It's gotten really cheesy, but it still is my life motto.
[[MUSIC]]
Elizabeth Archer (16:08):
Our first ever guest is Joseph Brinkley, the Director of Regenerative Organic Development at Bonterra Organic Estates, where he is instrumental in shaping and driving policy positions on climate smart farming and business practices. Joseph is also a recognized speaker and panelist and frequently advocates for Climate Action and Healthy Soils legislation in California and Washington, DC.
(16:31):
He's a member of the Ceres Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy Network's Healthy Soils Working Group and in 2023 was awarded the Ceres BICEP Climate Smart Agriculture Groundbreaker Award. Listen in as Jess and Joseph discuss his path to biodynamic and regenerative viticulture, the interdependence of all living things and the systems we have created, and the importance of advocating for change to those systems to benefit us all. If you listen closely, you'll hear the birds outside Joseph's window on his homestead farm in Virginia.
[[MUSIC]]
Jess Baum (17:12):
Hi, Joseph, and welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited to have a conversation here with you today.
Joseph Brinkley (17:18):
Hi, Jess, glad to be here.
Jess Baum (17:20):
We get to do a lot of really exciting work together on behalf of Bonterra Organic Estates, and I want to talk to you a little bit more about what that means and how that's changed for you. Going back to your superhero origin story, you majored in economics in college and then you pivoted to biodynamic and Regenerative Organic viticulture. Can you tell us a bit about this evolution and what inspired it?
Joseph Brinkley (17:51):
The econ degree came to be because I thought in those days that I should have some sort of marketable degree, decided the business route would make sense. I learned a ton and I appreciate the lens, the worldview that the econ training lend itself. But then on the practical side, I was working at the Fed, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond there for a bit. And though the work we were doing was incredibly important, we were looking at lending disparities based on neighborhoods and such, that was really impactful work and really quite important I thought.
(18:25):
However, as a intern type person, my role in that was data entry. I was sitting in a makeshift cubicle behind a screen just typing in numbers. And for me, that was the last thing I ever wanted to be doing with my life. At that point I thought, if this is what an econ degree gets me, I need to run far and fast from that. I had always done landscaping with my mom during summers and such. She had a little business doing landscaping work for people. I really enjoyed being outdoors and having my hands in the dirt or soil.
(19:03):
The opportunity came to return to college and I did. I got a horticulture degree from Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech at the time was not at all interested in Organic. Definitely not biodynamic. But I was lucky enough to be close to this farm called Josephine Porter Institute and met Hugh Courtney. Hugh Courtney has since passed, but he was really instrumental, I would say, in the United States as far as the making of the biodynamic preparations, which are really foundational part of the biodynamic agricultural piece.
(19:33):
That really resonated with me. I thought I have found my calling now. Whatever it is, it's going to be related to biodynamics in some form or fashion. We hosted a winemaker get together, mini conference. A biodynamic consultant brought a bunch of his people out, his consultees, which is where I met some wine folks. That meeting of wine folks included Ivo Jeramaz from Grgich Hills. A few years later, he brought me out to Napa to run his biodynamic program. I didn't know wine or vineyards or viticulture at the time.
(20:06):
I knew compost and preparations and plants and such. And that was really my entry point into biodynamic viticulture and now Regenerative Organic viticulture, really agriculture on the whole. It's been kind of a meandering journey, but yeah, here we are.
Jess Baum (20:27):
How long have you worked at Bonterra Organic Estates, and can you tell us a little bit about what that journey has been like?
Joseph Brinkley (20:34):
Yes. I started in 2013 as an assistant vineyard manager. I was in charge of running a handful of our ranches, mostly the biodynamic ones and a couple others. Then I left. I went to another producer on the East Coast trying to get closer to family and quickly realized that whatever was promised in the interview was maybe more of a wish and a dream than anything near in reality. I was blessed enough to have an opportunity to come back to Bonterra Organic Estates as director of vineyard operations, then in charge of all of our vineyard operations.
(21:08):
That was quite the step up and really a lot of responsibility. I really appreciate that opportunity to return and to take on the role of the director. And then life as it does had some changes, I guess, we could say, domestic realignment, if you will. I, again, returned to Virginia. And at that point, I ran the vineyards remotely for a short time. We did the best we could in that situation. It was during COVID and such. Everything was kind of upside down and sideways all at the same time.
(21:39):
And then the role, I really thought that for the best of the company, we should have someone on site really at that director level. We needed someone on site or at least quite close and basically pitched my replacement, which is a little scary. Hey, you guys should replace me and keep me. But luckily that is what happened. Now the role has shifted really quite dramatically out of the ag side and more to outreach and education and advocacy.
(22:07):
It's really been a transition from day-to-day operations to more outward facing to the world, whether it's consumers or customers or distributors or now in the last few years, even politicians about how we farm, why it's different, and why it matters.
Jess Baum (22:22):
It's so interesting, because in our modern society, we're so separate from the soil, from the food that we eat. And in many ways, getting our hands in the soil and connecting to where our nourishment comes from is a revolutionary act and an act of advocating for more connection and more purpose. How do you see that bridge? Do you see farming as a form of advocacy and how does your experience in a farmer support your advocacy work specifically when you go to DC, for example, and lobby for healthy soils legislation and advocate for the farm bill and what should be in that?
Joseph Brinkley (23:06):
I totally agree. I mean, as we cultivate land or steward land, we really are essentially advocating in that way for the populations that we're cultivating. We become the decision makers as to which plants and animals live and hopefully thrive and which ones we determine maybe we need to eliminate. In that way, whether maybe we see it or not, we are certainly making these decisions to say, yes, we are promoting, advocating for this approach and this population set and also how we determine we're going to interact with that population set, if you will, those creatures, those beans.
(23:48):
The background of being a horticulturalist or agriculturalist is really understanding that we are limited in our sphere of influence over the farm system. Though we may appreciate the illusion of control, there is very little we're controlling. So much is really dependent on weather and weather system, soil and moisture and temperature and on and on. In that way, it really sets one up to participate in the political sphere because the political sphere is perhaps even more complex and challenging and less controllable, at least from my perspective.
Jess Baum (24:28):
The idea of the farm as an organism I think is so interesting because what it acknowledges is that this system is interconnected, but it's one thing. When we pan out of that farm organism and look at, for instance, the company of Bonterra Organic Estates as an organism, as a system where there's all of these living parts that are interconnected, and then when we pan out farther and look at Mendocino as an organism and California and the United States and the world as an organism of sorts, we can start to take this more holistic approach where we see that there are systems in place that are problematic.
(25:09):
Something that I find so inspiring working in wine, we are on the front lines of the climate crisis. We all as humans are facing this existential threat, but grapes perhaps are facing a threat to their existence before other crops because of changing weather patterns, because of heat waves, and now these atmospheric rivers that we're experiencing in California because of wildfires and earthquakes.
(25:36):
While we farm the land in a way that respects the earth, that respects our people, that respects animals and that fights the climate crisis from the ground up, I wish that was enough, but it's not. We must also shift and change systems. I think that's where your work and my work integrates so beautifully because we're working to do things in the way that we know because of science, because of rigorous studies, because of best in class practices will make a difference.
(26:06):
We want to use our practices and our values as a megaphone to shift that Mendocino organism and that California and US organism and essentially the global organism. I think a great example is one of the biggest pieces of our carbon footprint is transportation, and we can't single-handedly change our transportation system because it's a part of something bigger than ourselves.
(26:33):
It's a part of a whole system. But what we can do is advocate for green transportation in the state of California and more broadly in the country and speak with legislators about how critical these changes are for our business.
Joseph Brinkley (26:49):
I definitely think the lens is such that we can appreciate the individuality, but also the dependence on one another, the interdependence. Likewise, these greater entities, as you're mentioning, are also all interdependent, and I think that was highlighted quite severely the last few years. All of a sudden when the pandemic really hit and lockdown, all of a sudden you're like, oh, wow, we are so interconnected. We think we're so independent, but all of a sudden, we can't get this or that.
(27:22):
There was a lot of uncertainty there. I think it really highlighted this fundamental need not only to be somehow in community together, but also that life doesn't function, the systems don't work at all without everyone doing their part. One of the things I find quite heartening in many ways in these collective advocacy type meetings and Hill visits and such is that the messaging and the positioning, I guess, has shifted dramatically in that in the past, the rhetoric or maybe the accepted messaging was business doesn't want regulation.
(27:57):
Business is anti-regulation, anti-increased regulation, anti all these things, when in fact that's not actually the case, though I'm sure you could find a handful that perhaps will continue to support that message. For the most part, most of us from the business side are actually saying, no, that's not what we're asking for at all. Because not only do we see the need for the current system, but also for the future.
(28:23):
The future becomes less possible if we don't at some point really shift those systematic infrastructure pieces, which we can't do as any individual or even group of companies. That takes policy from policymakers.
Jess Baum (28:42):
That is in part why we believe so fully and wholly at Bonterra Organic Estates in certifications. We are essentially signing up to be regulated by rigorous third parties to ensure that we are doing what we say we're doing. There's something about the pandemic that shifted so much for us both because what we thought was science fiction became science fact, but also because just as it is on a farm, when you put stress on a system, then you see more clearly the health of the system as a whole.
(29:17):
If you apply pests or weeded stress to a healthy, thriving farm, it's going to be more resilient than a monocrop farm that doesn't have the same level of resiliency and health. You live on a homestead in Virginia. And while you might not be in the vineyards in Mendocino all day every day anymore, you are connecting to and farming the land. As a longtime biodynamic farmer living on a homestead, what do you believe changes in us when we connect more directly to the origin of our food?
Joseph Brinkley (30:05):
Our little plot here is about 13 and a half acres or so within an intentional community of a couple hundred. We have access to river and swimming ponds and really beautiful landscape. In addition to a community of people, there's a lot of shared labor and shared fun. I think that's really impactful as far as the richness of life is those interactions with people in a setting that is so beautiful.
(30:30):
The things that we learn with this approach to farming and gardening from this biodynamic type lens is, again, this interconnectedness and this realization that we are really, I guess, small in the big picture, but instrumental in how the land that we are touching shifts through time. We run cows and pigs rotationally through our pastures and our forest and such and just seeing how that shifts what's growing in the pasture.
(31:03):
The more we are I'd say on it as far as how we run animals and let the land rest, within a relatively short time, we can see the shifting of the population on that piece of land. For example, we've got this really challenging thistle. You can mow it, whatever, but it just keeps coming back and coming back and coming back. We have a fenced in plot down by the river here where we've thrown in the goats at a time and the cows for a time and the pigs for a time. And now I can't find that thistle anywhere in that plot.
(31:36):
Across the fence, on the other side of the fence line, it's still thriving and spreading and growing like crazy. But in that plot where we've run these animals multiple times in succession and with certain timings and such, that plant is essentially eliminated. I can't find it anywhere. It's maybe a small illustration of our impact longer term. I don't know if I want to say lasting exactly, but longer term impact on it's not just what we do today that affects today and tomorrow, but it starts to affect a longer term cycle of life.
(32:07):
I think sometimes it just takes maybe a bit of slowing and a few moments here and there through time to just observe, not just act and move forward all the time without stopping and breathing and watching and listening. One of the more important maybe qualities that biodynamic teaches is this observation, and I think it's incredibly important when working with living systems. But in all aspects of life, I think it really helps to slow down occasionally and take some breaths and just observe like, this is what I did and this is what's happening.
(32:44):
Is there something that I can shift? Or how much of what is happening is because of what I've done in the past? Maybe taking a bit of responsibility for where we find ourselves.
Jess Baum (32:54):
Can you look back on a specific memory or influence from your childhood where you see the spark of inspiration that really influenced your interest to grow food and wine?
Joseph Brinkley (33:06):
My dad and I, we'd always go to this park, Deer Park. We'd always walk around. I think just all that time walking through the woods, flipping over logs, looking for lizards. I had such a love for living things with little creatures, larger creatures. Some of those memories I think were really... Though I didn't understand maybe for many, many years that that was feeding something there until I found this path to reconnect.
Jess Baum (33:35):
Not all of us have the access or the ability to live on a homestead and to cultivate most of the food that we eat. How can our listeners, whether they live on hundreds of acres or in a small city apartment, embrace and apply the values of connecting to the land in their own lives?
Joseph Brinkley (33:56):
I'm incredibly grateful and recognize I'm very blessed. No matter what, I think we learn a lot and it's incredibly satisfying to grow something. You can find a little plot, or not even, maybe a container. Some communities have community gardens that you can get plots in, but I'm a huge fan, quite the advocate for growing something. And then I think outside of that, we can also maybe seek out or be aware of others in our community that are really trying to do the best they can as far as agriculture goes.
(34:27):
The more we can support our local beekeepers, our farmers and growers, it not only feeds us literally, but we're feeding the community at multiple levels. The thing that we maybe don't always recognize is that it's not always easy for these smaller growers. Often they're doing it because of incredible passion and most people are not making the lucrative paycheck that they could if they went out into the world and just got "real jobs." But the work they are doing is incredibly important.
(34:57):
If we don't support these folks, then at some point they go away. Though maybe we take it for granted, it's nice to have all these different growers and producers. I mean, Mendocino County is full of them. When they're gone, they're gone and that is definitely a loss, I would say, not only to that family, but to the whole community. The more we can support our local communities and their agricultural community in that way I think is really quite important.
Jess Baum (35:33):
I am going to move us on to our quick question segment where I'm going to ask you a barrage of questions, and I'm going to ask that you answer in a quick sentence. What did you want to be when you grew up?
Joseph Brinkley (35:45):
Oh, like 100 different things. Anywhere from a fighter jet pilot after watching the original Top Gun to a missionary at some point, to a park ranger, to a physical therapist. I mean, I was all over the ward.
Jess Baum (35:59):
What is your eco confession?
Joseph Brinkley (36:01):
As I mentioned, we raise nearly all of our meat, but the eco confession is definitely bacon. I'm certainly buying organic, but bacon often at the store.
Jess Baum (36:11):
What's the most impactful thing that you've read in the last year?
Joseph Brinkley (36:15):
Small Is Beautiful. It's like an approach to economics that takes into consideration humanity.
Jess Baum (36:23):
What place brings you joy?
Joseph Brinkley (36:26):
Anywhere I am with my wife I find plenty of joy.
Jess Baum (36:30):
What's your life motto?
Joseph Brinkley (36:33):
I really think it's important to have an attitude of gratitude.
Jess Baum (36:37):
Love that. I'm grateful to you for coming on our podcast today.
Joseph Brinkley (36:42):
Thanks for this opportunity.
[[MUSIC]]
Elizabeth Archer (37:04):
Thank you for listening to the Soil to Soul Podcast, hosted by Jess Baum and produced by me, Elizabeth Archer, right here in Mendocino County on behalf of Bonterra Organic Estates, the world's largest Regenerative Organic winery. If you love wine, look for Bonterra's first-ever Regenerative Organic Certified Estate Collection Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay in a store near you. To learn more, visit bonterra.com. Original music composed by Mendocino County musician Julian Sterling. Thanks again to today's guest, Bonterra's Director of Regenerative Organic Development, Joseph Brinkley. If you liked this episode, please rate, review, and share our podcast to help others find it, too. We hope you join us again next week for another compelling conversation about farming, food, wine, and the collective future we’re hoping to build.