Realfoodology - No Such Thing As Vegan Food, Regenerative Meals + Adding Meat Back To Your Plate | Mollie Engelhart

Starting point is 00:00:00 On today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. The idea that we can be outside of the circle of life and death, or that by not eating meat, we somehow are saving lives. It's not a true story. And we have to stop telling ourselves that fantasy. Hello, friends. Welcome to the 200th episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. I can't even believe that we have gotten here.

Starting point is 00:00:25 It has been almost four years of so much hard work. And I just, I'm so happy that you're here. So thank you so much for listening. Without your support, we would have never gotten to the 200th episode. Oh, and by the way, guys, we're starting to do more and more video and a lot of them are going up on Spotify now. So if you listen on Spotify, you can also watch the video. Today, I sit down with a dear friend of mine, Chef Molly. As many of you guys know her from Instagram, she's actually been on the podcast a couple times now, but I wanted to bring her back on to talk about the bold move that she is making in no longer serving just vegan food at her vegan restaurants. We go more into detail about this,

Starting point is 00:01:06 but I actually have a personal love for this restaurant, Sage. Back when I was vegetarian, I used to come here all the time, even before I moved to LA. Every time I visited, I would always make sure to come here and eat her vegan food. She has since decided to now offer regenerative, organic, cash-to-raise, really high-quality meats into her menu. And so I brought her on to talk about that because there has been some misunderstandings, some misinformation out there on the internet. I wanted to actually give her a voice to talk about from her own perspective, why she decided to make this shift. So I'm so excited for you guys to hear this episode. And with that, let's get into it. If you follow me on Instagram,

Starting point is 00:01:46 you know that Turkey is like the pickiest eater ever. By the way, Turkey is my dog, if you don't know. So I've really struggled with finding a good dog food that he actually likes and eats and that also meets my high quality of standard for ingredients. I found this brand Sundays one time just when I was randomly Googling because I was looking for just a really clean, simple dog food that didn't have

Starting point is 00:02:09 a lot of stuff in there. And I definitely didn't want any preservatives or any additives. Let me just read you what's in the chicken recipe. It's chicken, chicken liver, egg, millet, oat, pumpkin, kale, ground bone, fish oil, sea salt, flaxseed, parsley, turmeric, chicory root, kelp. It has tosophorols, tocophorols. I don't know how to say that. I flaxseed, parsley, turmeric, chicory root, kelp. It has to sofferels, to cougherels. I don't know how to say that. I always forget. Ginger, blueberries, carrots, apples, tomatoes, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli, oranges, cranberries, spinach, beets, tart cherries, strawberries. That is all real food. And the great thing is it's so easy to serve and store. It's not messy. You don't have to refrigerate it because it's air dried. So it's super simple.

Starting point is 00:02:44 You scoop it out as if it's a kibble, but you just heard the ingredients. It is so much better and healthier for them than a kibble. It contains 90% meat, 10% superfoods and 0% synthetic nutrients or artificial ingredients. It was co-founded by Dr. Tori Waxman, a practicing veterinarian who tests and formulates every version of each recipe. Turkey is loving it. He has so much energy. His poops have been great. Never thought I would be saying that on this podcast, but I am very happy with this dog food.

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Starting point is 00:03:30 turkey recipe because I love that they use fish oil and flaxseed oil. So to get 40% off your first order of Sundays, go to sundaysfordogs.com slash realfoodology or use code realfoodology at checkout. That's Sundays, S-U-N-D-A-Y-S, 4dogs.com slash realfoodology. If you're like me, you know the importance of eating healthy, but you don't always have the time or the willpower to cook with all the colors of the rainbow. And your body is an amazing organic machine. It turns food into energy, It heals wounds, supports your consciousness, and so much more. But it needs the right fuel and signals to function at its best. Some of those signals include adaptogens. These are compounds that balance hormones and help you deal with stress in a healthier way. If you're feeling tired, these compounds give you a boost

Starting point is 00:04:18 of energy. If you're stressed, they help you return to a natural state of calm. They literally help you adapt to the stress of life. My favorite source of adaptogens is Organifi. They create these delicious superfood blends that mix easily with water. They make it so easy for me to get more adaptogens in my day, like ashwagandha, reishi, mushroom, rhodiola, and so much more. If you're looking for an easy way to support your amazing body, I highly recommend trying Organifi. To try Organifi today and save 20%, go to Organifi.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology. Again, that's Organifi.com. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com and use code realfoodology. So I'm here with my dear friend, Molly, who founded Sage Vegan Restaurants. How long ago?

Starting point is 00:05:06 We opened our first ice cream shop in 2009. That was Kind Cream. And then we quickly in 2010 opened the Echo Park location of Sage Vegan Bistro at the time. And then we expanded to Culver City in 2013, Pasadena in 17, and Agora Hills in 2020, which was a disaster. And since we've lost the Culver City location, and Culver City location was open for 10 years, had a good run, and the lease was up, and we had to close the Agora Hills location due to the pandemic policies really interrupting business in a profound way. Yeah. And we've actually talked about that on another episode, if you guys want to go back and listen to the episode from Molly and I. But today I really wanted to talk about, so you're making a really bold jump and introducing regenerative meat back to your menu. Now,

Starting point is 00:06:00 to give the listeners a little bit of context of where my heart lies in all of this, I was actually vegetarian for five years. And I actually remember your restaurant. I used to come here back in 2009, 2010, before I even moved to LA. And I would always bring my friends to this restaurant to get your kind ice cream and get your food. And around five years in, I started really craving meat again. And I had been one of those people that I felt like this was going to be my life forever.

Starting point is 00:06:29 I was telling my parents I was going to raise my kids vegetarian. Like I was very, my heart was very in it. I was also simultaneously studying nutrition. So I hear a lot of times from people say like, oh, well, you just weren't doing the nutrition right. And you could have done better at being vegetarian. But what ended up happening for me is I got so sick. I started seeing doctors. I started seeing a nutritionist. And ultimately, I started eating meat again, not only because my

Starting point is 00:06:54 body got so sick and I started craving it, but I also started to learn about the impact that animals had on our soil and the ecosystem and how they played a role in creating a healthier food system. And I started learning about grass-fed meat and pasture-raised eggs and pasture-raised chickens and realized that having animals were absolutely imperative to this ecosystem. Can you speak a little bit to that and why you've decided to bring regenerative meats to your restaurant? Yeah. In 2013, I listened to this TED talk and it really blew my mind about regenerative agriculture and it really clicked and I was raised vegan. So this is not like I was very in the conversation that this was the only way path forward for humanity and it was

Starting point is 00:07:36 going to be the best. And basically in one foul swoop in like 13 minutes, I got some really poignant points that really touched me. And I realized that the number one cause of methane is not cow farts, which is what I had believed. It's actually food waste. And so as a restaurant owner, I knew there was tons of food waste happening. And so I got passionate about how could I compost all my food waste and make it to be carbon sequestered and not carbon up in the atmosphere and so i bought a farm eventually it took some time uh we didn't have the money and we got someone to own our finance and whole thing and i started composting all the soil all the food waste from

Starting point is 00:08:18 the restaurants to make soil and that was the beginning of my regenerative journey and then i really realized that great compost is better with poop in it. And then I didn't want to buy poop from the CAFO system. So my dad gave me a cow. And over the last seven years, I have totally transformed multiple farms and am totally passionate about how a bovine on grass can make such a huge difference to build soil. And people say, well, what's the big deal about soil? Well, healthy soil is 70% compatible with a healthy gut. We are meant to eat of the soil. It is obvious because that's how we're supposed to be replenishing the microbiology in our gut, but we're all eating of sterile systems,

Starting point is 00:09:05 systems that are being sprayed, and we are really treating our soil more like a medium and then putting fertilizer on top of it rather than letting the web of microbiology feed the plants. And that is the way nature is meant to be. And our guts are out of whack. We have autoimmune disease. We have all of this sickness

Starting point is 00:09:23 because we're not eating of the soil. And so this change for me is not just about meat or not meat. This change is really about bringing cohesion between my farming life and my restaurant life. And also really saying that without healthy soil, there is no healthy humans. And so bovine on grass is one of the most powerful ways to create healthy soil, draw down carbon and have really health for everybody. And the reality is there is no vegan food. I started to realize as I'm certified organic farmer and then what kind of fertilizers do you use for certified organic it's blood meal bone meal and poop out of the CAFO system organic vegetables are grown on the backs of death and that is the reality or it's petroleum-based fertilizers so which do you want and so both

Starting point is 00:10:20 of those systems are broken and we have gotten so efficient, but we're not resilient anymore. We were growing corn over here and we're growing cows over here and we're growing pigs over here and we're growing vegetables over here. And these guys need fertilizer and these guys need a place to put all the poop because it's causing algae and overgrowth in the thing. And these guys over here are getting fertilizers from Ukraine and Russia and now they can't get it and so they can't grow their corn.

Starting point is 00:10:43 And it's just all, we need to bring cohesion where the animal agriculture and other row crops are happening and we're cycling through and we graze animals between and we put cover crops between and we really shift the way that we're doing agriculture to be for the whole rather than like this is over here and this is over here. And I, as a vegan, had bifurcated these things in my mind. And I understood that like by not having meat on my plate that I was causing less harm. But that's not true. Every time a combine harvester harvests a field of corn, thousands of animals are chopped up. 25% of life on the planet lives in the topsoil. Every time we plow, we kill that life. And when you harvest a whole field and there's a bunch of mice that moved into that area because they're seeing the corn or the wheat and you take it all away, they all die of starvation.

Starting point is 00:11:37 The amount of death that happens in intensive agriculture or degenerative agriculture, even if it's certified organic, is huge. And I'm not saying we shouldn't order or buy organic food. What I'm saying is it's not realistic to think that a vegan diet has less death associated with it. Yeah. And there was actually a statistic that you and I talked about before we started filming. And what was it? Calorie per calorie. Less death. Grass fed, grass fed it calorie per calorie uh less death grass fed grass fed grass finished beef has less death calorie for calorie than most monocrops that are grown and there's lots of studies that have showed um that that is true and so if it's really about less death then the nose to tail movement is is really probably the most kindest movement. People don't like to hear that.

Starting point is 00:12:29 I don't eat meat. I haven't gotten there, but the nose to tail movement, one cow can feed an entire family for a year. And you could then grow some vegetables in your backyard that don't have any death associated with it. And that could be your whole family's meals. Yeah. And that's what I really didn't understand when I was a vegetarian. I thought that I was doing better for the animals. I thought I was doing better for the earth just simply by not consuming these products. But then I realized that vegetarians and meat eaters, for the most part, at least conscious meat eaters, we're all on the same team.

Starting point is 00:13:06 We all want to get rid of factory farming because factory farming is also another huge component of this climate issue. It's a huge component. Yes. And the compassion for the animals, too. So none of us want that to happen. And that's not at all what we are supporting here. And that's why it's so amazing that what you're doing with these restaurants is you are providing regenerative, organic, better for you grass fed, pasture raised meats. Not a lot of restaurants are doing that, period. And then I think about how many vegetarians and vegans are still going to these restaurants and just ordering vegetarian or vegan. But they're still giving their money to these restaurants that are sourcing their meat from super low quality, most likely factory farmed animals. And they're treating these animals like terrible. It's also contributing to climate change. For sure. But it's not just, there's not going to be just one pathway forward. There's going to be lots of ways that people can consciously eat. But if you're a vegan in Los

Starting point is 00:14:02 Angeles and that's the way you want to move forward and your body does well with seed oils and all of those things, that's fine. But the reality is you have lots of options. If you want to only eat grass-finished, grass-fed meat that is fully pastured and not like a greenwashed scab, where can you go? There's not many places. Most of the time I have to cook it at home. Yes. I mean, I know lots and that's how I am. I don't eat meat, but I don't eat, I eat vegan out in the world because I don't want to contribute to whatever that is. And then my husband cooks me at home and I, we have dairy and cheese that I make at home, but we're, I don't want to eat what's out in the world. I know, same.

Starting point is 00:14:48 And that's a big issue. And I know my audience feels the same way, that just eating out in general is so hard to get really good, high quality food. A lot of these restaurants are charging three, four times what you would pay just if you were cooking at home. And they're getting their stuff from places like Cisco. So they're not even giving you organic fresh produce that's been locally grown.

Starting point is 00:15:10 A lot of it has traveled a long way just to get to your table. And you're getting really low quality meats as well. Yes, and all of that doesn't serve all of humanity. The family farms, the small farmers, the regenerative people that wanna eat a healthier meat, the family farms, the small farmers, the regenerative people that want to eat a healthier meat, the people that want to eat vegan, like literally this supports everybody having options. And it also supports moving into a more of alignment with nature. Nature has

Starting point is 00:15:39 a divine intelligence. Like I always say, like if you're questioning whether god exists watch the dung beetle like there's a beetle that wants nothing more than to roll poop into little balls and bring it down into the soil and lay their eggs in it eat it and feed the microbiology like come on that is a divine design because otherwise there'd be poop everywhere, just making piles everywhere, making problems. But the dung beetle is like the beautiful divine design. Nature has this divine design and we are the apex species on the planet. We have dominion and it is our job to actually foster nature

Starting point is 00:16:20 to be able to do its best, not work against it, but also not take ourselves outside of it. And much of the vegan diet thinks that we can just like step outside of nature and we cannot, that is not a reality. And so that's why I'm making this transition is that we have to have all of our energy and our money and our time going towards shifting

Starting point is 00:16:43 the way that we are treating the soil, because ultimately there's no life on this planet without soil health. Yeah. And I do want to point out too, for people that are unaware of just how much hard work is going in on the back end and just how knowledgeable you are, because you are literally on the front lines of this. We were talking about this earlier, how so many people, to give people some context. So you just posted on your Instagram yesterday that you're going to be making the switch. And there was a lot of people hating from the vegan and vegetarian community. But what they don't understand is a lot of their context and information they're just getting from reading other articles. But you are someone who grew up as vegan, but you are also farming and you are literally living this lifestyle every single day

Starting point is 00:17:27 and you're seeing it in real time. And to admit publicly that I believed one thing and now I believe something different is vulnerable. But I'm coming to this because this is what I truly believe. And people will say, oh, well, your restaurants are struggling. That's why you're doing it. Sure, my restaurants are struggling.

Starting point is 00:17:43 That doesn't mean that this is not true. In fact, when my restaurants were doing better, I was too afraid to make this choice. So maybe you could say I was doing the other thing for money if you really want to be honest, but I wasn't doing either thing for money. When I started my restaurants, I believe this was the most responsible way to be in the world. And through exposure to more information, more knowledge, and more lived experience on the farm, I don't believe that anymore. And so I've changed my mind. And I know we live in a world where nobody can ever change their mind, but I've changed my mind. Snacks. Let's talk about snacks. Everyone loves snacks. And I feel like it's hard to find a good snack that actually fills you up and that you really crave and like to eat.

Starting point is 00:18:34 I am obsessed with the grass fed beef sticks from Paleo Valley. If you guys follow me on Instagram, you probably saw recently that I went, I literally went to this show downtown and my girlfriends were making fun of me because when I met up with them I literally had a paleo valley beef stick sticking out of my pocket my friend goes are you packing meat in there I was I always have a paleo valley stick with me either in my purse or I always shove a bunch of them in my car and just leave them in there for emergencies, for snack emergencies. I'm always bringing them places on hikes, you name it. I always have them on me because they're such a great snack. It's a great source of protein. They taste really good. They come from 100% grass-fed beef

Starting point is 00:19:22 and they're really high quality. It's only organic spices in there. You're not going to find any other fillers. And you know what I love so much? Their beef comes from 100% grass fed cows raised entirely on natural grass pastures by family farmers right here in the US. And they also are committed to supporting regenerative farms, which is really important. If you guys are not into beef, if beef is not really your thing, they also have pasture raised turkey sticks and they also have pasture raised pork sticks. So they have a variety of different flavors and all different kinds of meats to serve your meat desires. And if you guys go to paleovalley.com slash realfoodology, you're going to save 20%.

Starting point is 00:20:06 Make sure you go to paleovalley.com slash realfoodology. You're going to save some money. Also check out everything else they have on that website. They have superfood bars. They have organic super greens. They also have bone broth protein. They have grass fed whey protein. They have essential electrolytes. They also have a superfood, golden milk, which is going to be really good going into fall. So make sure you guys check it out. Use the code realfoodology and you're going to save some money. Imagine having a metabolic coach in your pocket that you could access at any point, any time in the day, whenever you want. That's what Lumen is. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. It's a device that measures your metabolism through your breath and on the app it lets you know if you're burning fat

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Starting point is 00:22:08 through hormonal shifts. So if you want to take the next step in improving your health, go to lumen.me and use RealFoodology to get $100 off your Lumen. That is L-U-M-E-N dot M-E and use RealFoodology at checkout for $100 off. Thank you so much to Lumen for sponsoring this episode. Okay, so can you tell us a little bit about the menu changes that you're making? Is there such a big shift that you're getting rid of everything or are you just getting rid of some, adding some? We're getting rid of like 80% of what's on the menu. I mean, honestly, the problem is that many of the fake meats um we don't use fake meats but the fake like cheeses or vegan a's or those things all have not very good oils in them yeah

Starting point is 00:22:51 and so as a commitment to move away from seed oils most of our sauces are going to have to change but there's some bowls that we're going to keep we're keeping the buffalo cauliflower but you'll have an option to have it fried um in a in a organic fryer oil. Or if you would like to have it in tallow, you can pay $2 extra and have it in tallow. So we'll have that option for French fries, for everything like that. And then we're going to have, you know, vegetarian burgers, and then we're going to have a bison burger. We're going to call it the What's Possible Burger because what is possible with bovine on grass is amazing and there might be another food product out there that's impossible to believe is food and so we want to say what's possible out of the partnership with bovine on grass

Starting point is 00:23:38 and so that's going to be a that's going to be a buffalo burger i mean bison not buffalo sauce and then we're going to also have a beef patty melt that's also going to be a buffalo burger. I mean, bison, not buffalo sauce. And then we're going to also have a beef patty melt. That's also going to be from force of nature. So both of those will be from force of nature. And then I don't know if you have seen these like pizza sandwiches that people are making where you cook a pizza dough in half. And okay, well, we're calling it the Pizzolo here because my mom's Italian name is Pizzolo and I'm half Italian. So they're going to be Pizzolo sandwiches. The real name sounds kind of like Pizzolo, but that's not the name.

Starting point is 00:24:12 But anyway, so you cook a piece of so we're doing sourdough pizza crust in the pizza oven and we're going to put garlic and olive oil between and fold it in half and then we're going to open it back up and then we're going to put in fresh ingredients and they'll be vegan and vegetarian and meat options for the pozzolo sandwich and there's gonna be a cheesesteak version of it that and so in the fresh sourdough Oatman's Flat flour from Oatman's Flat regenerative organic farm in Arizona so that's gonna be really exciting so that's gonna be different and then we're gonna keep the ramen but we're gonna have a chicken. And because we're like the only organic ramen in LA, you can't get organic ramen.

Starting point is 00:24:49 So organic ramen noodles with organic broth, both a vegan option and the meat. So we'll keep the three broth options, but the base will either be chicken or the vegan one. So there's going to be the curry, the spicy or the miso, or it'll be the curry, the spicy or the chicken. But those so you could choose your base for your broth. And then we're going to do some other exciting things. There's going to be some chicken and eggs.

Starting point is 00:25:16 And so what will happen was a lot of like if you love the Brazilian bowl and used to come here and get the Brazilian bowl, you will still be able to get the Brazilian bowl. But let's say you're my husband and you've always imagined having carne asada on top of the Brazilian bowl, you'll be able to get the Brazilian bowl with carne asada or a fried egg on it. The same, you can add a fried egg to any of the burgers. And so many of the things will be vegan or vegetarian in their base. And then you can add your preferred protein. And so that is how the menu is going to change. But the buffalo cauliflower is staying. A lot of people's favorites are staying. But things that are going away is

Starting point is 00:25:51 mostly because I'm just not in alignment with the oils that we've been serving. As vegan food has gotten more and more and more processed, it's been challenging. So that's how the menu is changing. That's amazing. And what has been the response since you've shared about this on Instagram? Well, I think a lot of people are happy about it, but there's a louder group that is not happy about it. And I am being attacked and personally attacked and called all types of names. And really what I want to say is that I understand. I went through grief and sadness and anger to come to this conclusion. I didn't like the idea that what I had believed my whole life and I had a moral superiority in that belief is not true.

Starting point is 00:26:40 And so I understand. And when somebody that has a lifetime commitment to something comes out and says, you know what, this other thing actually makes more sense and I'm changing my mind, that's confronting to the paradigm. That's confronting to people's belief systems. And so I understand their anger and I'm not going to take it personally. I understand it too. I have a personal story. I shared a little bit of it in the beginning, but when I went to see a particular nutritionist after five years of being vegetarian, I mean, when I tell you I was sick, I was so sick

Starting point is 00:27:15 and she looked me straight in the eyes and she goes, you're going to have to eat meat. And I sat there and I cried in her office and I got mad and I stormed out and I told my mom I'm never seeing that woman again because she told me she goes you will hit a point where you will eat me and you'll get there when you're ready and I was so mad I stormed out of that office I had a full tantrum about it so my point is is that I am I empathize with that feeling because I have also been there and then I got to a point where I realized that I needed to start fighting for my life more than fighting for the animals. And I know that that sounds maybe, what's the word? Selfish.

Starting point is 00:27:56 Yes, selfish. But here's the thing. It's not selfish. There's no way, we cannot out science nature and there's no way for us to take ourselves outside of nature. We have to integrate back in to the system instead of removing ourselves from the system. That's how we're getting sterile guts and leaky guts and bad health is because we are just living in these in cities, in boxes, in sterile environments without getting exposed to the microbiology that is necessary for us to live. And regenerative agriculture is one of many ways that we can bring that balance back into our lives. But we have to actively be that we are the ones we've been waiting for. And

Starting point is 00:28:42 as my friends, Mike and Lindsay always say, I believe in us. Like we have to be the ones, I believe in us. Yeah, and unfortunately the reality of the situation is that life was designed this way. In order for some to live, other lives have to die. There's a circle of life. Every bite of food is on the back of death.

Starting point is 00:29:00 Every time that we eat a meal, I don't care what it is, we should be having reverence for what died for that meal. Even if it's quinoa and plantains and vegetables and there is no meat in it, death happened for that meal and we should honor that death. To be alive is to be on the backs of death and every time we eat, we should be present to that. The idea that we can be outside of the circle of life and death or that by not eating meat, we somehow are saving lives, it's not a true story. And we have to stop telling ourselves that fantasy.

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Starting point is 00:30:17 appliances, pots and pans, you name it, for a very long time. And the only option for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like ArtPlace came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I have from ArtPlace, I legit want to store it on the counter. And I'm the type of person that does not want anything on my counter because I like it to look really just clean and minimal. But I'm so obsessed with all the ArtPlace products that I have so many of them displayed on my counter because they are legit pieces of art. ArtPlace is a mission-driven and female-founded brand that makes beautiful kitchen products that

Starting point is 00:30:57 are healthy and sustainable. All their products are made without PFAS, which are the forever chemicals, and also made without PTFE, which is Teflon. If a company is not outwardly stating that they don't use these chemicals, then if they are using nonstick coating on their appliances, they are absolutely using forever chemicals. And there's been increasing global scrutiny for their impact on the environment and our health. And recognizing this impact, the EU plans to prohibit PFAS by 2025. Our place has always been PFAS free and they offer durable toxin-free ceramic coatings, ensuring a healthy, safe cooking experience. And let me tell you, you guys, they are changing the game with non-toxic appliances. They have a

Starting point is 00:31:36 blender, they have an air fryer, they have a crock pot, not to mention their amazing always pan. They have a perfect pot, which is just the perfect size for soups. And they also just came out with a cast iron that I'm loving as well. And I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen because I really needed an upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I got some from our place and they are so beautiful. The ceramics are beautiful. The colors are amazing. Like I said, everything is like a piece of art. If you want to try any of the products from our place,

Starting point is 00:32:09 go to fromourplace.com and enter my code realfoodology at checkout to receive 10% off site-wide. That's fromourplace.com, code realfoodology. Our place offers a 100-day trial with free shipping and returns. Well, I'm just so proud to call you a friend and I'm so proud of you for being vulnerable and coming out and admitting this because whether people want to actually really admit it or not, they can let their biases aside. It is so hard to come out, like you said, and change your mind. And I really just want to like take

Starting point is 00:32:41 a moment and just say that that is so amazing that you're doing this despite all the hate that you're getting and I think ultimately in the long run this is really going to pay off and I know you're not doing this for the money but I think when you live in your truth and you start doing what you really know to be true it pays off in the end and it's not just about me or my five children. It's also about 200 and something employees. And it's, it's, there's, there's a lot to be, to hold and be responsible for. And it's really easy on the internet with your two thumbs to tell me how bad and wrong and how my decision was not well thought out. But I invite people to come to my farm and stand on the land and smell the soil. I invite people to go to the farm I had here in California and look at the difference that I've made.

Starting point is 00:33:31 And I also invite people to look in the eyes of the people that I'm trying to keep employed and say, you know, I'm not going to try. So I am going to try. And yes, finances have an impact on everything and have. But it doesn't mean I'm doing it for the money. And I never have done anything in my whole life for the money. I'm a farmer and a restaurant owner. They're the two hardest jobs in the world. Like if I wanted to work smarter, not harder, I'd be trading Bitcoin like the bull run is coming. I wouldn't be here doing this. Like there's much easier ways in the world than farming and restaurant ownership where the profit margins are pennies on the millions. You know, it's crazy talk to say that I'm doing it for the money. Well, that's just chatter online. Everybody that knows you

Starting point is 00:34:24 personally in your day to day life knows that this is a real passion for you. You genuinely care. I mean, I've been on the board of Kiss the Ground for five years. I've been regenerative farming for seven years. I have three regenerative farms under my belt. Like it's just not a realistic idea that it's like I read an article and was like, oh, let's just put some brisket on the menu. Like that's not what happened. Yeah. And I've personally actually been to her farm here in California that you've since sold, but it was an amazing experience. You used to have volunteers come out every weekend and I actually helped to, I don't even know, I'm trying to remember what we

Starting point is 00:34:59 did. We were like planting things and we were pulling weeds and I spent an entire day on her farm. And this woman really knows what she's talking about and walks the walk. And that's what's important and that's what I want everybody to walk the walk, whatever is their highest integrity and their highest intention. And if that's veganism, I will be here to serve you the highest quality plant-based foods. And if that is that you want to eat meat, but you really want to have a more honest relationship with your meat, then I'll be here to provide that as well. And what we're doing is not greenwashing. And I'm so aware of greenwashing happening in all different types of it's not all, the sustainability movement, the regenerative movement, the organic movement. I mean, there's greenwashing everywhere happening and that is not what we're doing here. I am committed and did deep research into all the companies that we're partnering with

Starting point is 00:35:58 and through my work in regenerative agriculture over the last several years, it's not like I just met these people yesterday. These are farmers that I've been watching do amazing agriculture over the last several years, it's not like I just met these people yesterday. These are farmers that I've been watching do amazing work over the last several years and transition their farms and do what was best for the planet and for their animals over profits. And now we need people at the other end of the supply chain to support those choices.

Starting point is 00:36:23 Absolutely, because not only is it better for health, it's also better for our environment and better for the animals as well. So I want to ask you one more question before we go. There was a comment that we were looking at on your Instagram before we started filming. And there was a guy making claims saying that, let me read this for a second. So he was saying that carbon sequestration is a yarn spun by the largest animal agriculture lobbies. And he's saying there's no credible scientific evidence that shows that carbon sequestration offsets emissions from animals. Can we talk about how he is completely false here? Yeah. I mean, with Regenerate America through Kiss the Ground, we've been

Starting point is 00:36:58 begging the Farm Bill to really give more money to regenerative agriculture and to put soil at the forefront. But these big corporations that are yard-spudding, whatever he's saying... General Mills, Unilever. Kiss the Ground went out to those different big corporations and asked them, would you consider putting part of your land?

Starting point is 00:37:22 And yes, Pepsi has put part of their land into regenerative agriculture, and so has General Mills. Does that mean that they're not big corporations doing bad things? No, but does it mean that they are putting some of their land into something better? Yes, and that's true for many different companies that are doing that.

Starting point is 00:37:38 And we all buy organic products and non-organic products from companies that are owned by bigger companies that we don't agree with. I'm grateful that Gabe Brown has gotten so many of these big corporations to shift some of their land into the Understanding Ag program and really getting them to do the regenerative thing. And there's tons of science to show it. And I have my soil test year over year. And to be regenerative certified, we're getting the Regenerify certification in Texas right now. You have to meet these markers of drawing down more carbon and having more humus in your soil year over year. Those are actually, those are the markers that declare you to be regenerative,

Starting point is 00:38:22 as well as there's humanities uh humanitarian stuff is how you treat your employees there's rules about how you treat your animals and humane treatment of animals and the soil being the forefront and how does your soil get built year over year so that's not true but of course there is people greenwashing everything and so you have to look into it you have to do research don't just you see the word regenerative don't just believe it ask some questions ask which of the five tenets of regenerative agriculture are you guys implementing and i mean i've seen monsanto try to use regenerative agriculture as a reason that you could use roundup instead of tilling because no tillage is is a rule does that mean that everybody now thinks that Roundup is good for you? No.

Starting point is 00:39:05 I mean, we must use our minds and we must use, he said, a thimble's worth of common sense. Thank God I have more than a thimble's worth of common sense. And I'm using lots of common sense. And I am willing and open to have conversations with anybody about this. And I want to invite people to have these conversations because I think through honest and open communication, almost any issue in the world can be shifted. Absolutely. Well, there's so many quantifiable markers that we're seeing

Starting point is 00:39:37 that are changing in real time with these farming practices. And I would encourage anyone who wants to learn more to go watch Kiss the Ground. And I believe Common Ground just came out, right? Common Ground is in the movie theaters for Earth Day, but then it will be on one of the big major streaming platforms by October. Amazing. And so they're both excellent films showing how regenerative agriculture can make a huge difference and how we really just don't want to let our food system be centralized like the central banking system, the medical industry, pharmaceutical industry, agro pharma, chemicals, all of those things. We still have an opportunity to buy from local farmers and small farmers and

Starting point is 00:40:15 small producers. But if businesses don't make those choices, then we will lose that opportunity and our food system will be fully centralized, as is more than 80% of our beef and chicken is processed by four major companies. That is a problem. Our food supply is being completely centralized into a way that we have no sovereignty. I want to shake the hand that feeds me. I want to know who raised the food that I'm eating. And that is what I want to provide for my customers here at Sage. Regenerative kitchen. Amazing. Well, just for everyone listening, where can they find you if they want to find out more information?

Starting point is 00:40:55 Maybe they can find out more information on regenerative farming. And then, of course, guys, please, if you're in L.A., come visit Sage and give them some love. May 29th will be the new menu, but you can come and enjoy the old menu, which is also delicious. Up until then, we're going to need everybody's support because definitely some people are upset and pulling their support. So you can find me on Instagram.

Starting point is 00:41:14 I'm Chef Molly. You can find the restaurant on Instagram, The Kind Sage. And you can also find my ranch. It's Sovereignty Ranch on Instagram. And they also all have websites uh with those same names or at least similar names you can google us um and we would love to serve you here in the restaurant we'd love to you to come to the ranch in texas we have 46 beds if

Starting point is 00:41:37 people want to have a retreat or any kind of gathering uh there in texas and we can have a deep dive into regenerative agriculture maybe we should do a real foodology retreat down there i was going to talk to you about that i wasn't going to talk to you on camera but yeah we have no let's now and we have a full-on restaurant on the farm so we can do regenerative meals no seed oil everything for the whole you can choose whatever and all the food can be from the farm okay we need to do this so for everyone listening send me a little dm and let me know if you'd be interested in doing that. Let's all meet in Texas and have a regenerative retreat. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:42:09 That would be amazing. Also, for anyone listening who cannot make it out to California and come to one of your restaurants, I want to ask you guys. You guys are always asking me, how can you help this movement more? Go to her Google and go to her Yelp and give her a five-star review. Leave a nice little comment and review because she's really getting hit hard right now by people that are unhappy with the shift that are not fully informed and truly understanding why this is going to be an amazing shift. So any way we can help her. And if you can't come to California, that'd be a great way to help her. So thank you guys for listening. And tag a friend that lives in California. Maybe

Starting point is 00:42:41 they want to come visit. Yes. Amazing. Thanks so much for coming on. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. If you liked the episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a Resonant Media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie. Georgie is spelled with a J. For more amazing podcasts produced by my team,

Starting point is 00:43:07 go to resonantmediagroup.com. I love you guys so much. See you next week. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Starting point is 00:43:22 I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.

Realfoodology - No Such Thing As Vegan Food, Regenerative Meals + Adding Meat Back To Your Plate | Mollie Engelhart

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