A MASSIVE SDMC update! New Webinar Lineup, Ocean Farming Conference Replay, Working more with Elaine
Published: Wed, 09/05/18
Greetings ,
Whew, been a while hasn't it?! Neal and I just wanted you on what we've been up to this summer and what we have planned over the next few months.
Water Restoration With Zach Weiss
So last month I had the chance to work with Zach Weiss and his team on various water
restoration earthworks up at Tabula Rasa farms in Oregon. It was a hell of an experience, because these guys work HARD. We built a large water retention pond, erosion control earthworks, and beautified a natural swimming pool. We even filmed the whole process which I'll be sharing with you once the footage is edited.
Neal at Stanford
For a Neal Spackman update, Neal and his family recently moved to California, and he's currently at Stanford. He's getting an advanced business degree to help him kickstart some new regenerative business ideas to put into practice here in the States, and in Saudi Arabia.
The Ocean Farming Conference
The Ocean Farming conference we sponsored in August was a major revelation to us and everyone involved. Over 150 Ocean Farming and Aquaculture Practitioners gathered for two days in Monterey and revealed what the future of growing food in the ocean could look like.
The potential was limitless...kelp farming industries which can clean waterways, absorb carbon, and create products ranging from food to cosmetics, to edible and compostable straws and cups made of kelp! Another presentation which caught our eye was an organic, non-gmo protein source created from fermented methane which could replace soy and aquaculture feed
worldwide.
What we learned is that Oyster, Abalone, Mussel, and offshore Fish and Shellfish aquaculture could actually meet our seafood needs without the health and environmental problems of its first iterations. Despite being an emerging, paradigm shifting regenerative industry that can rival anything grown on land...Ocean Farming is stuck in California because the 10 government agencies here created an impossible permitting
process that's stalled any progress for over 25 years. It was a sobering conclusion but the conference was a good first step towards creating some momentum to change that. Nevertheless, there's 3 operating Kelp and Sustainable Aquaculture farms coming online
in California in the next year!
You can watch the replays of the entire conference by clicking here.
September-October Lineup for SDMC
We've got some great webinars lined up for the next two months, and we're picking up where we left off. Some new topics we're putting webinars on include:
I'm personally excited to announce I'll be working more closely with Elaine Ingham over the coming months. That means we'll be doing more webinars on soil biology, with new case studies, programs and videos to assist you in restoring soil biology at any scale. Excited to announce more details as they happen.
Have a great week ahead and hope you get to enjoy the last few weeks of summer before Autumn arrives.
