Koanga Institute Kay’s Land Tour Talk 2014

Hunter Gatherer history Been here for some time 250,000 years + 95%+ of that time small groups hunter gatherer Survival depended on being in close touch with environment Well developed ability to read communicate, respond to and adapt

Co evolution This meant: –we ate what we hunted or gathered in bioregion –we ate what was in season –or stored by drying or freezing or fermenting nutrient dense food –Omnivore, unprocessed, mineralized soils closeness to the earth, seasons, rhythms –work with these elements –understood sacredness natural world –understood value of working together for the survival of all COEVOLUTION closed circle…..

Change Change is a slow process… A dance developed, interconnections everything connected, everything affects everything else, we are all one… Where changing 1 thing changes everything Over many generations indigenous peoples understood that there were patterns that worked for them in terms of maintaining their strength and their health and their environment If they made mistakes we paid the price, if we did something right we benefited

Agricultural Revolution Agricultural revolution 10-15,000 years ago Moved from being hunter gatherers to settled groups increased use of grains…through cultural adaption, Just as birds adapted to be able to eat grains so did humans…. Co evolution Sourdough, sprouting etc Grains and slave labour created cities and armies Significant changes in our human DNA have not been frequent and we now know that only happens over 10’s of thousands of years

Agricultural Revolution During this period our bones became less dense, humans became smaller, and more holes in our teeth 10-15,000 years is not time for major evolutionary change and we are still adapting to grains as a significant source of our nutrition

Industrial Revolution Major effect on our food.. Many changes in last 100 years –Refined sugar –Refined grains –Industrial oils –Soya –Pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, –Toxic cleaning products personal body care products –Demineralized soils –Far less access to the commons –Less diversity in food –Stopped traditional fermentation –Industrial methods of bottling preserving instead –Drugs and modern medicine –Pollution

Disconnection No longer eating food from our own gardens or bioregion No longer have our hands in the soil.. Connection with microbes No longer eating in season food Huge changes in local ecologies Mass Extinctions The dance became aerial dropping of 1080 here, applications of roundup all over the landscape

Implications Major disconnection… Implications for human physical health, mental health, emotional health, spiritual health Life on earth is being threatened as we know it right now Change so large we no longer have time for evolutionary change/adaption to keep us safe May be impossible for humans to adapt to such large changes We may continue to have reduced health individually and intergenerationally

Implications Bee story Co evolution no longer happening, we are so disconnected we are unable to adapt Our story... When we eat from the supermarket many implications

Back to my garden 20 years in my garden Strong internal journey Whakapapa… Something began to happen that I did not have words for Feel direct connections with fruit veges and seeds Nourishing me in ways I had no words for.. Mayflower apple

Connection/whakapapa Somehow it was about connection closing the circle, recognizing food plants as part of the family, party of the ecology, part of who we actually are…. Part of a process of co evolution! Old people who passed sacred seeds 30 years ago understood this and… understood the importance of connection of whakapapa

Connection/whakapapa While I was developing this big feeling there was a lot of science beginning to come out that supported what I was feeling –Urenika potatoes –Tomatoes –Apples Change one thing change everything So we knew from the taste, our feelings and from science, that our heritage food plants contained the potential for providing us with far more nutrition than modern industrial food plants could

Connection/whakapapa It is not good enough to be well intentioned, we must be well informed Huge learning journey

Weston Price Who was he What he discovered Found 4x the minerals 10-x the fat soluble vitamins Implications of this

Biological agriculture Stripped soil of minerals over 100 years now, gone to England in the form of sheep meat and bones!! Biological Agriculture…. We’re learning lots about the soil and how to create alive highly mineralised microbially active soils, and we are also learning about the implications and dangers of killing the soil How plants grow… need all 84 minerals.. Any in short supply affects uptake of all others Laws of nature around healthy plant and human and animal growth Refractometer brix implications of low brix food… explain

Round up story Accumulation glyphosate, translocation…to root tips Compromise of plant defence mechanisms Promotion of soil bourne pathogens and biological processes disconnections everywhere Many minerals essential to healthy plants and hiuman growth blocked and or chelated Fast sorption slow degradation, accumulation passed into seeds and continues

Seeds Seeds before industrialization were selected for: –Local soils and environment –Nourishing us –Disease resistance and health in local environment –Taste, and usefulness in the kitchen So we had a collection of genetic material, that nourished us, grow well in our soil and climate area, had the genetic blueprint to survive climate change

Industrial seeds Selected to make money for shareholders of large companies Shelf life, looks, no where disease resistance nutrition etc etc Hybrids enzyme blockers mean plants unable to pick up the full range of minerals needed to grow nutrient dense

Epigenetics Emerging science of epigenetics –a new and critical piece of the puzzle –Science to fully support my feelings –for me this closed the loop Implications are far reaching and super empowering for us right now

Epigenetics So epigenetics works like this… 1.We understand … biological agriculture …. healthy soil makes healthy plants and animals 2.We know how our food communicates with our bodies 3.Ability to change the messages being placed on our DNA which determines how it expresses, change the environment, Food. Beliefs, water, air 4.Direct link between nutrient dense food health, and highly mineralised soils and health 5.Epigenetics also shows us how our mind, our thoughts, our intentions, affect everything around us, our ecology/environment and that there are feed back loops throughout the entire circle of life... Biology of Belief

We can choose We can see the complete circle… our soil health, our plant and animal health, our health, our connection with our ecology/environment. We must be in it if we are to be creating health and life… co evolution only happens where there are functional connections I came to understand that as we chose to step out of this circle of life, of co evolution where everything is connected and acknowledged, and chose separation and personal gain… we choose death of life on earth as we know it Industrial paradigm separates everything.. We must join the dots

DNA DNA recognizes what we eat… when our bodies recognize that we are eating nutrient dense food that our families had been eating for many, many generations, the communication is very strong and very clear….. Example: –Shaked –Peter

Summary Industrial culture has captured science and one result is that models of health are portrayed to suit commercial interests.. And this industrial model is anti life, it will inherently destroy life as we know it.. Well down the track now Science of our health has been misconstrued, and we have ben led to believe models that don’t fit reality or the laws of nature... Basic scientific principles E.g. the Fat thing which has become super-engrained in our minds over many generations and led to widespread universal malnutrition, the root of all disease

Summary Indigenous people… read their environments, to make cultural adaptions and make dietary choices that supported their health, they didn’t have laboratories… They paid attention! The healthier one is the greater one’s ability to be able to pay attention If they made mistakes they paid, if they made good choices they benefited They had clear feed back mechanisms where whole communities learned and adapted for the health of the whole In the past communities were in control of change Now industrial society and the commercial world is blocking that change

Summary Change needs to happen at community level WHAT DO WE CARE ABOUT We need to reclaim control of our health and develop our own models We need to develop ecologies/environments around us that are capable of producing nutrient dense food We need diverse and integrated ecologies, perennials, animals, plants, heritage seeds mineralized soils and super high levels of microbial life We need philanthropic science… E.g. work of Weston Price Foundation… science that supports and comes out of our ethics

Summary We need to reclaim the commons We need to reclaim our communities We need to reclaim ourselves

Koanga All of that it is just what the Koanga Institute is about. We have been –Saving the old food plants and animals for 30 plus years –Actively finding ways to grow soil and regenerative systems that will nurture these sacred seeds and trees and animals –We’ve been finding land ownership models that give every body access to the commons –Developing a new health models based on old patterns that worked

Koanga We feel as though we are on the cusp of huge things that will inspire and support many, many others.. And we have reached a point where we can’t do it any longer without support from a wider group of people For us to continue we must be able to pay for our land by june 16th… We have created many, many ways for all of you to become part of our organization and model for the future… Please ask to us come and see us support us in whatever way you are able… Support us in a way that honors your own journey here

Koanga On all of your seats there is a pack containing a membership form, which also has an option for making a donation box at back to put them in now…we still have a crowd funder up to help us pay back the loan we were given by the angel finance to pay for the remaining money needed our first mortgage Buy your seeds and trees from us, support our book shop… Loads of special deals Our goal by the end of our speaking tour and our workshop tour is to have raised $ Towards our land

Recommended books Nutrition and Physical Degeneration Weston Price Nourishment Home Grown EF Beddoe Change of Heart Kay Baxter, Bob Corker GAPS Natasha Campbell McBride Put Your Heart in Your Mouth Natasha Campbell McBride The Biology of Belief (Epigenetics) Dr Bruce Lipton The Vegetarian Myth Keith Lierre