The Promised Land

For the first half of his career, Wes Jackson was an academic. At 41, he was a tenured professor at California State University, establishing one of the first environmental studies programs in the country. And at 41, Wes Jackson decided to begin the other half of his career. He returned to his native Kansas and became a pioneer in the sustainable agriculture movement. Wes founded The Land Institute, which works to breed perennial grains that mimic the way grasses grow naturally – next to other species, and without tilling or replanting.

Short Audio:

Wes_Jackson.mp3

Short Picture:

3162194857_ce29bedb82_z.jpg

Short Thumbnail:

WesJackson.jpg

Short Special Info:

CONNECT

Wes directs The Land Insitute

The Land Institute

RESOURCES

Full-length Transcript

Majora: You have one quote that, I swear, kind of left me a little cold: “Farming is humanities original sin.” What do you mean by that?

Wes: Well, let’s think what those ecosystems were like 10,000 years ago...

Pedro Sanchez

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Growing up in Cuba, young Pedro Sanchez's life was all planned out - he was going to follow his father's footsteps, by studying at Cornell and eventually taking over his father's business. But when his parents lost everything in the Cuban Revolution, Pedro had to throw out the plan. And it led him to a life dedicated to eradicating hunger, while restoring fertility and protecting the tropical environment.

Short Audio:

Pedro_Sanchez.mp3

Short Picture:

pedro.jpg

Short Thumbnail:

pedro.jpg

Short Special Info:

CONNECT

Pedro directs the Millenium Villages Project at the Earth Institute

Millenium Villages Project

The Earth Institute on Facebook

RESOURCES

Full-length Transcript

Pedro: I was a wimp when I was a little kid. I was short, I had all sorts of asthma. And then I grew a foot in a few months, and everything changed.

Majora: So puberty changed you? [laughs]

Cheryl Rogowski

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:42:03 +0000

Where does our food come from? Since we pay close attention to so many aspects of food in the holiday season, host Majora Carter visits the northern reaches of the New York metropolitan area, where Cheryl Rogowski, a fourth-generation farmer, grows 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables. In ...

Marla Spivak

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:47:40 +0000

When you sit down at your holiday table, thank a bee. A third of the food on your plate is made possible by these pollinators, whose numbers are being decimated by disease and colony collapse disorder. But the bees have a champion in Marla Spivak, a University of Minnesota researcher and ...

Carl Safina

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 08:00:00 +0000

Carl Safina fell in love with birds first. As a child, he bred pigeons, and as a young ecologist, he worked to protect wild birds that he called "living jewels." But those birds led him to his most enduring love - the ocean. When studying seabirds, he realized that other ocean creatures - bluefin tuna, sharks, sea turtles - were declining.

Short Audio:

Carl_Safina.mp3

Short Picture:

carl_photopatriciapaladines.jpg

Short Thumbnail:

carl_photoscotteckert.jpg

Short Special Info:

WATCH

Carl's PBS television series shows success stories about marine conservationSaving the Ocean

TAKE ACTION

Want to know which seafood is environmentally sustainable?

Blue Ocean Institute's Guide

Baldemar Velásquez

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 07:00:00 +0000

Growing up in a family of migrant farmworkers, Baldemar Velásquez spent his childhood in the fields, planting, weeding, and harvesting crops like sugar beets and berries.

Short Audio:

Baldemar_Velasquez.mp3

Short Picture:

baldemar.jpg

Short Thumbnail:

baldemar.jpg

Short Special Info:

CONNECT

Follow the Farm Labor Organizing Committee [FLOC]

Twitter

Facebook

Sharon Hanshaw

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 19:53:35 +0000

When Hurricane Katrina hit East Biloxi, Mississippi, it destroyed Sharon Hanshaw’s home and the hairdressing business she had built over a lifetime. It also transformed her from cosmetologist to activist. episode thumbnail: ...

Wilma Subra

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 20:00:52 +0000

Chemist Wilma Subra has spent her career defending local communities against Louisiana’s powerful oil and gas industry. She received a MacArthur Fellowship for helping “ordinary citizens understand, cope with and combat environmental issues.” When the Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened in ...

Reimagining a Way of Life

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 19:43:58 +0000

Vietnamese American fisherfolk in the Gulf region are trying to rebuild their lives — opening sustainable farms, gas stations, nail salons, and aquaponic projects — while also dealing with the mental anguish that surfaces when a lifetime on the water suddenly disappears. episode ...

Nat Turner

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 22:29:24 +0000

For Nat Turner, garden rakes and shovels are tools for transformation. He's transformed an old store in New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward into an urban Eden. Blair Grocery is now both a nontraditional school and an urban farm run by youth who’ve dropped out of mainstream education. Majora spends two ...

Kyshun Webster

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 21:00:19 +0000

Dr. Kyshun Webster is a man who gets things done. And before that, he was a kid who got things done. Now the founder and executive director of Operation Reach, an extensive family of programs for kids throughout the Gulf South, Kyshun has been working to improve his community since he was a kid ...

Winona LaDuke

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 17:21:52 +0000

Outspoken, engaging, and unflaggingly dedicated to matters of ecological sustainability, Winona LaDuke introduces host Majora to the pine forests, lakes, and windswept plains of the White Earth Reservation; and she talks about harnessing wind power, nutrition and diabetes, preserving heritage ...

Walking the Walk with John Francis

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 19:47:33 +0000

John Francis spent decades of his life walking across continents, carrying a backpack, a banjo, and a message of respect for the earth. He takes host Majora Carter to his hometown of Cape May, New Jersey, and tells her how, through walking this country, he connected to people in surprising ways.

Related Episode:

Short Audio:

JohnPodcastBounce.mp3

Short Picture:

012-John.jpg

Short Thumbnail:

012-John.jpg

John Francis

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 19:47:33 +0000

Decades ago, in response to an oil spill off the coast of California, John Francis made a vow to give up riding in motor vehicles, and stepped out on a walk. And he kept on walking for the next 22 years. Wherever he went, he carried a message of respect for the Earth — silently for 17 of those ...

Seeing Sweet Possibilities in Weeds

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 18:05:45 +0000

Brenda Palms Barber, the force behind a transitional jobs program that employs ex-offendors to make honey, shows Majora the view from her office window in Chicago. Where some might only see weeds, Brenda sees possibility.

Related Episode:

Short Audio:

Brenda_Bounce_2.mp3

Short Picture:

003-Brenda.jpg

Short Thumbnail:

003-Brenda.jpg

Brenda Palms Barber

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 18:05:45 +0000

Brenda Palms Barber wasn’t always drawn to beekeeping. But her quest to find work for residents of Chicago’s economically disadvantaged North Lawndale neighborhood — where some 50 percent of adults have been in the criminal justice system — led her to start Sweet Beginnings, a transitional jobs ...

Conquering Fears in Yosemite

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 23:24:34 +0000

Leaders can emerge in surprising places, as host Majora Carter found out when she went to Yosemite National Park and crawled through a cave with teenagers.

Short Audio:

YosemiteBounceFinal.mp3

Short Picture:

20-Peterman-1.jpeg

Short Thumbnail:

20-Peterman-1.jpeg

Climbing into the Canopy

ask@thepromisedland.org (Launch Minneapolis) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 06:00:35 +0000

Short Audio:

Nalini_Bounce_2.mp3

Short Picture:

Screen shot 2011-11-07 at 1.07.30 AM.png

Short Thumbnail:

Screen shot 2011-11-07 at 1.07.30 AM.png