A Child is Born, and a Movement Follows

Around 2000 years ago, a child was born. This small infant’s birth inspired a blossoming global movement, forever changing the world for centuries to come. It is for this child that Christians of all nationalities come together with family and loved ones to celebrate Christmas. Not only was a child born 2000 years ago, but a movement as well. While this movement helped forge the foundation of the world we know today, we are beginning to see some monumental change on the horizon.

Climate change is here, and the reality hits harder every year. It is clear that we must start actively incorporating clean, sustainable technology into our day-to-day lives. In spite of this heavy realization, citizens all over the world feel that their governments aren’t doing enough to protect the planet and the individual health of the global  population. 

So, it is time for the birth of a new child, a movement that inspires people of all walks of life to become a growing part of the environmental consciousness. Climate change is a fact; whether man-made or not is immaterial. There is scientific proof that a substantial climate shift is in our near future. This also means that it is the perfect time for the a grassroots community to step forward and plant the seeds for a new, sustainable movement.

The LIVES Foundation, this initiative is the brainchild of Mountain Pasture customers who believed that starting a non-profit food delivery service could play an essential role in fostering environmentalism. This non-profit would nurture local farmers by fairly investing in their produce, all while promoting “healthy lives for all”, including animals, plants, and ourselves.

Why LIVES is Important

LIVES promotes “Healthy LIVES for all” based on Nature Intelligence, or Biomimicry, which mimics processes and best practices of nature. LIVES is not just about regenerative farming or animal’s rights. LIVES is trying to teach members what health impact their food choices might have. Is red meat good for me? Are there any trace minerals I am missing? We learn about science in school but know very little about food. LIVES is creating a movement to keep the community informed.

Besides creating a movement that keeps consumers informed on proper food choices, why would creating an organic food delivery service impact the environmental movement?

First, let’s talk about the growing environmental consciousness. The everyday citizen, no matter how much he or she may engage in outdoor activities, is far removed from nature. While we may collectively feel the impact of severe weather changes, our livelihoods are maintained by the industrial, technologically advanced nature of our society. While this may afford us continuous safety in the face of environmental fluctuations, it will not save us in the face of drastic climate change.

We are at a crucial point in time when our current infrastructure will not protect us against the encroaching climate shift. We can no longer hide in blissful ignorance of the intimacy of our relationship with nature. We can no longer afford to live safely behind our cold, concrete walls and societal intelligence. If imbalance seeps into nature, so too shall it seep into our lives.

This, surprisingly, is where a food delivery service comes in to play.

In today’s world, we walk into a sprawling grocery store stocked with every food imaginable. We are completely severed from the growing process, and no matter what time of year it may be, we are constantly given a supply of fresh fruits and vegetables from around the world. While this is a wonderful convenience, it separates us from the reality of food production and environment stability.

Movements like LIVES.bio, where everyday customers are linked directly to the producer, are crucial in rebuilding any sort of connection our society has with the environment.

LIVES.bio cuts out the middleman, connecting consumers directly to the producers. All of the producers will be local, organic farmers paid fairly for their work. Delivery adds a sense of convenience for the customer, and direct purchase through a nonprofit puts more money into the farmer’s pockets. Furthermore, the food you receive is a direct result of what the Earth can maintain. No industrial, unrealistic farming operations. Last but not least, this direct line of supply and demand puts money back into the community, fostering a connection that was long lost to the tides of convenience.

A majority of the industrialized population neither comprehends nor appreciates what it takes to grow and harvest good, wholesome food. Reconnecting the individual with the day-to-day impact of their produce choices will help foster a necessary environmental consciousness. A growing number of people will begin to see that environmental stability means more good food. While it sounds incredibly simple, that realization helps foster self interest in our attempt to battle climate change.

If there is anything we know about humanity, it is that we will act boldly in the face of danger if it threatens the self.   

How will LIVES work?

Now that we know the who and why behind LIVES.bio, how will this organic food delivery service actually work? The first and most crucial part of the process will be the selection of regional organic farmers, all of whom will be the growers of the fresh produce.

In order to ensure the integrity of the food supply, LIVES.bio will use a unique food tracing system with clear food fact labels. We are planning to implement TROPE (Trusted Regional Organic Produce Ecosystem), a farm-to-fork food tracing system that provides full transparency. This ensures that the customer is fully aware of how their food is grown and by whom. Food labels, food facts or nutrition facts rarely tell the entire truth. Consumers want to know what they are eating, and we aim to fulfill on the promise of transparency. Ordering from LIVES.bio means you are fully aware of what you are eating, how it was grown and how it is impacting your health.

We will purchase directly from local farmers who practice and promote regenerative agriculture.

LIVES will purchase the produce at a fair price so that these entrepreneurs will have the financial means to continue growing sustainably. After all of this is said and done, it will deliver the produce straight to your door.

We will start with farms from the San Francisco Bay area. The defining characteristics of the LIVES Foundation and its food delivery service are truth, trust and transparency. Not only do we want to rebuild the struggling farming community, but we also want to deepen the connection between the producer and the consumer. We want to rebuild trust between the two estranged communities, thereby connecting the general populace to the wellbeing of our environment.

On top of building trust, the LIVES movement will also ensure that this healthy, affordable food is responsible for rebuilding healthy soil, nurturing healthy plants, protecting animals, and promoting biodiversity. In other words, the focus of our nonprofit movement will be on maintaining biodiversity, not on maximizing profits.

Why Regenerative Agriculture and Sustainability is so Important

Reestablishing a connection between the everyday consumer and the local agricultural community is crucial in nurturing the environmental consciousness. However, there are other, equally crucial reasons why we should be investing in sustainable ag. as a nation.

Climate scientists from around the world have warned that if we don’t begin removing carbon from the atmosphere, the planet’s climate will drastically impact our safety. Not only do we need to start focusing on living more sustainably, we need to start removing excess C02 from our choked atmosphere.

There are a whole host of initiatives tackling this very issue. Most of them deal with carbon storage, but there are other innovative initiatives that take C02 from the atmosphere and turn it into synthetic liquid fuel. Already there is an amazing momentum to find ways to balance the carbon levels of our atmosphere, and one of these popular methods is regenerative agriculture.

This way of farming’s most prominent feature is its ability to lock C02 underground. In regenerative agriculture, everything from raising livestock to growing crops is done in the way nature intended. There are no pesticides used, no crammed feed lots or factory farms, no mono-cropping, and no large-scale irrigation. In fact, raising large herds of cattle regeneratively plays a huge role in reversing desertification and rebuilding our soils, despite common public belief that cows are the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.  

How Regenerative Agriculture Works

Regenerative agriculture works with nature instead of against it to produce the food we love and need. It involves:

·        crop rotation

·        rotational grazing of herds and livestock

·        durable cover crops to maintain soil stability

·        no-till practices that leave the topsoil intact so stored carbon isn’t released

·        no use of pesticides

·        only growing and harvesting native, local crops

While regenerative agriculture works best with nature, it does not work best with our economy. Food has become an economic asset that we have deemed cheap and easy to produce. In order to maximize profits in the shortest amount of time, giant corporate farms began creating large livestock operations, something we now call vertically integrated agriculture. These inhumane operations jam thousands of animals into one long warehouse. Chickens, pigs, cows, or turkeys spend their entire life within the confines of these walls, eating day in and day out so they grow as fast as possible.

Vertically integrated agriculture takes up the least amount of land but produces the most amount of food in the least amount of time. The same goes for large-scale mono-cropping. While this maximizes turnaround for large corporations and big ag., it is incredibly damaging to the environment. Waste from these vertically integrated operations is stored in large, lake-sized lagoons. Often times, waste leaks into water reservoirs, contaminating the local water supply. Mono-cropping is damaging to the environment as well, with a constant emphasis on production for the sake of a quick and easy profit margin. Large industrial processors make huge profit off of its chicken business, while the farmers who raise the chicken barely manage to make ends meet.

So, regenerative agriculture not only aims to get past the terrible, environmental impact of vertically integrated agriculture and mono-cropping, but it also aims to put the power back into the small farmers hands. It is in the small farmers hands that true environmental stewardship happens. Soils are rebuilt, animal’s livelihoods are protected, biodiversity is maintained, and healthy food is grown. There is a true art and monumental love in a small farmer’s heart for their craft. It takes passion to work with the reality of nature.

Why a Massive Switch to Renewable Energy Will Not Be Enough

Renewables are a wonderful thing. By working with the constant supply of energy from the sun, wind, and water, we can produce consumable electricity with no dangerous greenhouse gas emissions. Everything about the process is clean. While there are amazing innovations happening left and right in the renewable energy alone, relying on an eventual transition to a clean energy industry alone will not slow down devastating climate change.

Our climate has already reached over 410 parts per million of C02 in the atmosphere. This means we are on track to creating a climate that hasn’t been seen on this planet since 50 million years ago, an environment far outside of our species’ time. This means that even if we cut our emissions down to zero, our climate has already been exposed to consistent warming. Ocean levels have risen, ice caps have melted, and rainforests have been cleared in the name of civilization. These are huge, long-lived scars on our planet, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions is nothing but a temporary Band-Aid.

This is why sequestering carbon through regenerative agriculture is crucially important. It restores land for future carbon storage and balances our carbon levels far faster than if we waited until natural processes brought our atmosphere back to a safe 350 parts per million. It rebuilds the soils we have destroyed and cools the planet, so ice caps may reform.  

The Hope for the Future

While most of this might seem daunting, overwhelming and impossible, we cannot forget that there is so much innovation underpinning the environmental movement. Brilliant minds are pushing past the depressing nature of the data and finding wonderful ways to connect the general populace to the environment. This is what LIVES.bio aims to be a part of.

LIVES.bio is a growing nonprofit movement that encourages “Healthy lives for all” by nurturing the local farming community, rebuilding soil through its promotion of regenerative agriculture, and connecting ordinary citizens with truly good, organic food. This brain child of the Mountain Pasture community was created out of a mission to protect “healthy lives for all.”

While its primary service will focus on delivering food, its main goal will be to maintain local biodiversity, and it will steer away from the traditional corporate mantra of maximizing profits. In the face of climate change, profits mean little more than temporary, vapid success.

The LIVES.bio movement is a community of people ready to repair the ties between humanity and nature. We aim to bring together those making a difference in the environmental movement and support them in their hard work. Through full trust and transparency, we will provide the local San Francisco Bay area with an opportunity to reconnect with their rural neighbors at a very affordable price.  

The time is now, and in the face of monumental climate forces, we have an opportunity to start building a society, culture, and community that encourages “Healthy LIVES for All.”