TRANSFORMING YOUR KITCHEN INTO A PLATFORM FOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE

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Ready to transform your kitchen into a powerhouse for environmental and social change?  In this episode, I read from the INTRODUCTION  for my book in process, THE KITCHEN ACTIVIST. Let me know what you think.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome.
I'm glad you're here.
Together, we will turn ourshared concern about the state
of our environment into a forcefor change.
It will require you toreimagine the role of your home
kitchen as more than a warehouseof food or a room where we cook
and gather to eat.
The time has come to enter yourkitchen with eyes open to the

(00:24):
transformative power itharnesses for the planet and you
.
The home kitchen has alwaysbeen ground zero for positive
environmental and social change.
Waiting for you to take yourposition as a kitchen activist
Now that you arrived, you willchange the world with what you

(00:45):
eat.
Welcome, I'm so glad you'rehere.

(01:12):
Some of you might have noticedthat I did not post anything for
last week, and it was becauseI've been really busy working on
my upcoming book called theKitchen Activist, which will be
out spring of 2025.
It sounds like it's a long timefrom now, but really it's not

(01:34):
when you're writing a book,because so many things that need
to happen before a book ispublished.
This is where you can help me.
I've written the wholemanuscript and now I'm going
back and looking at every singlesentence and every single
chapter to make sure it's thebest that I can produce the

(01:59):
reason I'm doing this is to beof service and it'll land with
people who will take this bookand really just start to
implement a lot of these actionsteps and change how they
approach their kitchen andcooking and food procurement and

(02:21):
truly start to change the worldwith what they eat.
And as more of us do it, wereally can make a difference and
we will make a difference.
Individually, we're doing thiswork, but collectively is where
we make a difference, when wemerge that influence.
So I'm going to read to youwhat I've been working on for

(02:45):
the introduction.
I've been.
This is probably like the sixthat least the sixth version of
this introduction, and so thisone is really pulling from all
of these different versions ofan introduction that I've
written and I'm settling intothis one.
I think this may be the one, butI really could use your

(03:07):
feedback.
Email me at info at EatlessWater or direct message me on
Instagram.
Send me a text message and justlet me know what you think.
If you think I'm on it, if youthink it hooks you right away,
if you feel like there's partsin this where the pace starts to

(03:29):
move too slow, let me know.
So these are, in other words,you're like my virtual writer's
group giving me feedback, andthank goodness I also have a
wonderful writer's group thatgives me great feedback on all
my pages.
I couldn't have written EatlessWater without them, and they're
doing the same with the kitchenactivists.

(03:50):
But in many ways, becausethey've been on this path with
me for so long, they know thisterminology and concepts and I
want somebody with fresh earswho maybe doesn't have as much
background and might be confusedby things that I think Wouldn't

(04:11):
be confusing.
So this would be really helpfulfor me If you would take a
listen and let me know what Ican do to improve this, because
it takes a collective to write abook, just like it takes a
collective to change the worldWith that.
Here it goes we can change theworld with what we eat Well

(04:34):
being served here.
Those simple words, carved inwood above my kitchen sink,
remind me of the transformativepower harnessed in the kitchen.
The home kitchen has come tomean more than a food warehouse
or a place to cook.
It is ground zero forenvironmental and social
activism, working to align foodshopping, storage and

(04:55):
preparation with my vision forpeople and the planet.
The daily journey to the kitchen, which, not too long ago only
served a purpose, now gives mepurpose.
This wasn't always true.
When my three kids were underfive, the thought of making
dinner was overwhelming.
Once I reluctantly made it tomy kitchen, I remember thinking

(05:17):
I have to cook at least 300meals a year for the rest of my
life.
I'd open the refrigerator andlook blankly at the contents.
I'd do the same in the pantry.
What will I make?
I was too tired and uninspiredto come up with the dinner on
the spot.
My husband, michael, felt thesame.
He'd propose we pick up takeoutfrom a local restaurant, until

(05:40):
we realized we ate out twicethat week, and it was only
Wednesday.
Not only does takeout food tendto be heavier in calories, salt
and sugar, but it also takes abig bite out of our food budget.
What ended this exhaustive loopis what I call kitchen activism.

(06:00):
It started to take shape as Iwrote my first book Eat Less
Water in response to my growingunease about the future of water
availability.
When listening to waterconservation campaigns, you
would never know it, but 70% ofall fresh water flows to grow
and produce food Instead.

(06:20):
The messaging during eachdrought which comes more
frequently revolves aroundtaking shorter showers, sweeping
the driveway instead ofspraying it down with the hose
and rethinking the need for thethirsty lawn.
While all these strategies savewater, nothing else in human
history comes close to alteringthe landscapes and bodies of

(06:41):
water on every continent on amass scale than food production.
Deforestation, soil erosion,air and water pollution are all
byproducts of modern foodcultivation.
In addition to being thelargest user of water, the
global food system accounts forone-third of all greenhouse gas
emissions, the leading cause ofclimate change.

(07:03):
As I set out to understand thebest agricultural methods to
save water for food cultivationand production, I learned an
alternate route from visits andinterviews with farmers,
fishermen and food and beverageproducers, one that doesn't lead
us to severe water scarcity andworsening climate fuel
disasters.

(07:23):
Our three-quarters of theworld's population has firsthand
experience of what it means tolive in a world altered by our
collective pasts and presentactions.
United Nations scientists warnus of continued melting ice caps
, severe fires, droughts, sealevel rise and a six-mass

(07:46):
extinction that has alreadywiped away one million species
if we continue to support andpromote practices linked to the
planet's rising temperatures.
For me, the climate crisis cameto my doorstep.
Only weeks after Eatless Waterwas released In December 2017,

(08:06):
the hillsides near my coastalhome in Ventura County,
california, erupted in flames.
The fire traveled up the coastalong the mountain range to
neighboring Santa Barbara.
Within hours, over 1,000 homeswere heaps of ash on concrete
foundations.
Then came the oppressive smokeInside our homes.

(08:28):
We watched billions of embers,fragments of memory that had
once been a tree, favorite toy,a front door, settle onto our
sidewalks, cars and lungs.
Schools closed.
We sheltered in place for daysthat turned into weeks.
When the air cleared, the raincame.

(08:49):
Water dumped all at once,dislodging boulders from the
newly burnt hillside.
The root systems from shrubsand trees that held the soil in
place were gone.
Stone, mud and water floodedhomes in the early morning,
taking more than possessionsthis time.
The water and debris swept away23 lives while they slept,

(09:12):
including four children.
Kitchen activism is how we turnour hope to save the planet into
action to end these harrowingevents caused or worsened by
climate change.
Consider the followingstatistics as potent examples of
how conventional agriculture isbuilt on an unsustainable

(09:34):
business model, exploiting humanand natural resources, and it
leads us away from the climateand water solutions we
desperately need.
This year, 18 million acreswere deforested, as has been the
case for decades.
Forests are the first mostsignificant carbon stores and

(09:55):
can help dial back warmingtemperatures caused by carbon
emissions.
Most of those precious forestsare cleared away for cattle
raising.
In Brazil alone, the globalleader in beef exports, cattle
are responsible for 75% of thedeforestation in the Amazon.
Soil.
With organic matter, som holdswater at 80 to 90% of its weight

(10:19):
and can store carbon.
Two handfuls of SOM can holdmore microbiology than all the
stars in the galaxy, but not insoil treated with chemicals or
petroleum fertilizers.
99% of all cropland in theUnited States is treated with
chemicals.

(10:39):
Chemical sprayed on croplandand excess nitrogen from raw
manure is in massive livestockand dairy operations remains the
largest polluter of rivers andstreams.
40% of America's rivers and 46%of our lakes are too polluted
with nitrates to support aquaticlife.
Groundwater, which tookhundreds to millions of years to

(11:05):
collect, is dropping atalarming rates worldwide.
One of the world's largestaquifers, the Olgala, stretched
under eight states, dropped byover 160 feet in some areas.
95% of this finite water supplyis pumped to irrigate crops.
Worldwide, the food sectoraccounts for 40% of all jobs to

(11:27):
feed 8 billion.
The food industry offers theworld's most deplorable working
conditions.
Modern-day slavery plaguesagricultural workers, fishers
and factory laborers.
In the United States, theaverage lifespan for a farm
worker who harvests food forworldwide export is 57 years old
.
We can do better, but it's madedifficult if we don't have the

(11:54):
information or the vocabulary toask for what we want.
We need a common language forkitchen activists to grow a food
model that builds planetary andhuman health.
For example, one of my favoritewines is made from grapes grown
biodynamically, much of it dryfarmed.
Dry farm and biodynamic areagricultural practices at forgo

(12:18):
chemicals, patrolling, basefertilizers or added water, yet
nowhere on the label do you comeacross the words.
I asked the winemaker why theterminology didn't appear on the
label.
Those words hold little meaningor no meaning for most people.
He told me I get it.
It took me over seven years toresearch for my first book and

(12:40):
travel 16,000 miles to learnthis vocabulary reflecting the
best farming methods torevolutionize agriculture.
Words and phrases likebiodynamic, dry farming,
holistic management, croprotation, no till, crop cover
line, cop, fish, shade grown andregenerative agriculture.

(13:00):
It is a terminology you willlearn in this book.
When these words have meaningto more people, the consumer
will have the language necessaryto bring change in food and
beverage cultivation and themarket will respond.
A survey among top corporationsfound customers to be the

(13:22):
leading driver of theircompany's sustainability
initiatives.
Our influence will impactpolicy decisions when more of us
start asking questions likewhat are your best biodynamic
wines?
Are these eggs rotationallygrazed?
I'll take my coffee organicshade grown.
Kitchen activism provides astructure to align food

(13:43):
procurement, storage andpreparation with our desire for
environmental and social change.
It equips us with practicalapproaches to waste less food.
The whole kitchen wastes morefood than restaurants, farms and
factories.
Kitchen activism provides astructure to align food
procurement, storage andpreparation with our desire for

(14:07):
environmental and social change.
Visiting small, organic,regenerative farms and factories
that support them around thecountry encouraged me to connect
with those who produced my foodand beverages close to home.
I shifted many purchases to thefarmers market.
I asked the vendors questions,utilizing a new vocabulary I

(14:28):
learned on my farm and foodoperation visits.
At the same time, I wascultivating friendships.
The ingredients in my pantryand refrigerator started to tell
the stories of people, placesand how it was cultivated.
When I'd reached my produce bin, I think of Jose, who seeded
and harvested my leafy greens onhis small farm, pesticide-free.

(14:51):
He arrives at the farmersmarket twice a week, ready to
greet his customers A few times.
He let me pay for produce thenext time, something that could
never happen at a grocery chain.
Through these human interactionswith my local regenerative
farmers and food producers, myfood held more meaning and I

(15:11):
didn't want to waste any of it.
I learned to use the wholeingredient freezing the chicken
bones for broth, and found usesfor vegetable parts I had
discarded before, like turningcarrot tops into pesto.
Next, I set out to developkitchen organization systems to
keep from losing ingredients tothe back of my refrigerator.
Decomposing food in ourlandfills contributes 20% of

(15:36):
methane gas four times morepotent greenhouse gas than
carbon.
That was a motivator.
So was my growing knowledge ofvirtual water footprint totals
of food.
Did you know we eat between 500to 1300 gallons of water daily?
A cup of coffee has a virtualwater footprint of 34 gallons, a

(15:57):
slice of bread 11 gallons and apound of butter 3,602 gallons
Enough water to fill 50 bathtubs.
Kitchen organization andutilizing the whole ingredient
dialed back our house hold foodwaste considerably.
But the game changer was when westarted meal planning.

(16:17):
It began simply as writing downour dinners on a chalkboard.
That's start of each weekwithin a joining shopping list.
With time, I developed thekitchen activist meal plan
template that reminds me to shopmy kitchen first and buy food
in season.
Plus, now I can keep the mealplans and frequently refer back
to them.

(16:37):
The biggest reward of mealplanning is a feeling of dread
lifted.
When the question arises whatwill I make for dinner?
With a meal plan, the answerawaits in the kitchen with the
ingredients.
Ease has replaced dread atdinner time, well being served
to the cook.

(16:58):
An essential tool for organizingany cause or movement is to ask
what's at state.
The answer helps craft languagefor flyers or press releases
and provides the call to actionat rallies.
When discussing the climatecrisis, the answer is simple and
harrowing Everything is atstate.

(17:20):
The world has been altered andchanged by modern food
cultivation and together we willreverse the harm by purchasing
food from businesses and farmssupporting a regenerative model.
In other words, fill yourfarmers' market baskets and
shopping carts with food fromproducers who give more to their

(17:43):
communities' land and watersystem than they take.
And once we get this deliciousand more nutritious food home,
we learn to store and utilizeevery last crumb to reduce food
waste in our home kitchen.
My father taught me to be anactivist to do more than hope
for a different world.

(18:04):
The teaching came in theprotests and lectures he took me
to During Sessa Chavez's lastbath to bring attention to the
harmful impacts of pesticides onfarm workers and their unborn
children.
My father loaded my youngsisters and me into our station
wagon at desk.
We traveled a distance betweenOxnard and Delano, california,

(18:29):
to stand in solidarity with farmworker labor leaders and other
activists.
My mother coached me to be ateacher.
She brought me into herbilingual classroom to staple
homework packets.
Once finished, I'd organize heroverflowing school cabinet
After a long workday.
She modeled how someone showsup in the kitchen even when

(18:49):
you're tired.
She wanted all of us gatheredaround the table for one
home-cooked meal every day.
The two mighty influences of mychildhood shaped a new style of
activism, activism comprised ofsmall, repetitive steps designed
to create a better, moresustainable world.

(19:10):
You and I can and will bringmindfulness to choosing,
planning, storing, organizingand cooking food with one goal
to grow well-being on thisplanet.
The stream of joy, health andcontentment is embedded in
kitchen activism.
Together, we will usher in foodcultivation that is ripe, with

(19:33):
climate and water conservationsolutions, and the reward is a
life made more delicious.
Together, we will change theworld with what we eat.
Let's begin.
There is power in thecollective, so there it is.
Let me know what you think, orI just hope you enjoyed it and

(19:55):
took in something from that.
I want to let you know that I amoffering a Writers' Retreat for
Women in January.
So if you are working on yourown book project and want a
beautiful place to just be in, acreative place to be focused on

(20:15):
your book project, I have justthe place for you.
It's my home in Santa Fe, whichI lovingly call Casa de Sueños,
because it was born from myhusband and my daydreaming that
turned into this beautiful homeand surrounding land.
Take a look at it.
If you are a writer, or if youknow of a writer who is looking

(20:40):
for a retreat to begin the year,find the link for the Writers'
Retreat in the show notes or atmy website, which is
wwweatlesswatercom.
So I am sending you love andlight wherever you may roam on
this planet, and I will be hereagain next Wednesday.

(21:04):
Thanks for listening.
Be well, let's stay connected.
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You can also find me on yourfavorite social media space, at
Eatless Water.

(21:24):
Please remember to hitsubscribe and leave a review,
even if it's only the starrating, because every one of
them will increase the chancesof other like-minded folks to
find us.
Thank you for joining me onthis journey to Eatless Water.
Together, we will write thestory of well-being for this

(21:46):
planet we have the privilege tocall home.
Meet you back here everyWednesday.
There is power in thecollective.