Feb 14, 2023
In today’s episode, we get the privilege of visiting with not one but two leaders in the regenerative space, Jean Pullen & Alan Cacao. Through their project Regenerate Your Reality, Jean & Alan have been tirelessly promoting permaculture education, seed propagation, food sovereignty, & community-building projects throughout the country.
Regenerate Your Reality is a permaculture, agroforestry, and education project working to bring sovereignty and happiness to our communities. It’s their mission to restore the relationship between humans and the earth to build a regenerative present.
They start the conversation by
describing their work educating people at their biodiversity
sanctuary in the mountains, near Platanillo, up the hill from
Dominical. If you schedule a visit to their 1-hectare food forest,
you’ll be welcomed to a tour of more than 300 species of food they
have planted there. All of which is a living seed
bank.
We
discuss their partnerships with Kiss the Ground
& Jungle Project
and how they’ve been empowering
local farmers with a regenerative livelihood, growing syntropic
food forests with a focus on the abundantly producing breadfruit
tree.
With the help of Earth University, INA (Costa Rica’s National Institute for Learning), and Kiss the Ground, these two life advocates and the rest of their friends at The Jungle Project provide ongoing, multi-year technical assistance to small-scale farmers on a variety of organic regenerative practices.
The organization’s mission is
Trees, Training & Trade. The farming families learn to restore and
maintain the ecological health of their farmland in ways that
improve their nutrition and their income.
This crew is actively seeding a regenerative nation.
As Alan put it, connecting with the earth is our first medicine and one worth practicing daily. Participating in a world where the color green is ever out your window, and the sounds of birds and insects are perpetually punctuating the periphery of your awareness - for me, that’s a life I want to live. It’s the one I want to participate in preserving and passing on to my grandchildren.
I loved the moment when all three of us were relating to the transformative power we’re gifted with when we embody the experience of volunteering or interning at a permaculture center. You become a product of that project. It changes your life forever.
I was impressed to learn that the Jungle Project is rewarding partner farms by buying 80% of the fruit they produce.
Their mission is to substitute grains in people’s diets with breadfruit. Changing people's habits can be a long road, but it doesn’t stop them from walking it. After the interview, I had the pleasure of trying Alan’s handmade breadfruit tortillas with the abundant garden salad we all shared. The tortillas were delicious and had a very agreeable texture! I think they have a shot.
If you’d like to learn more from Jean and Alan, check out Regenerate Your Reality’s website and the permaculture webinars they’ve created. You can find Jean’s book there, as well.
That’s what I’ve got for you this time. If you like the episode, pass it on to a friend. If you’re hearing the show for the first time, subscribe to Regeneration Nation Costa Rica wherever you find podcasts. We’re on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and most other players.
Have a fantastic day, and the next time you have a friend over to visit, consider gifting them some seeds!
To follow more of Jean & Alan’s contributions toward a
regenerative world, check
out:
Regenerate Your Reality - https://www.regenerateyourreality.com
Jean’s Book - https://youtu.be/1hpulzhRNTM
Jungle Project - https://jungleproject.com
Kiss The Ground - https://kisstheground.com
FB - https://www.facebook.com/RegenerateYourReality
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/regenerateyourreality
Order Breadfruit Flour by contacting team@jungleproject.com
Breadfruit Flour Recipes (in English) - https://regenerationnationcr.com/breadfruit-recipes
Recetas con Fruta del Pan (En español) - https://regenerationnationcr.com/recetas-con-fruta-del-pan
Other recommendations from our discussion:
Punta Mona - https://www.puntamona.org
Mystical Yoga Farm - https://mysticalyogafarm.com
Essence Arenal - https://essencearenal.com
My interview with Nico Botefur of Essence Arenal - https://regenerationnationcr.com/podcast/nico-botefur
Envision Festival - https://www.envisionfestival.com
This episode is brought to you by YOU! I haven’t built up my audience enough to have attracted sponsors and all that, so instead of buying an organic cotton shirt or an online course, maybe you can just buy me a coffee!
Go to https://ko-fi.com/regenerationnationcr to drop a few dollars in the bucket and let me know you care.
You can now also visit our website’s Resources page to find lots of great information and products that many have found to make their lives better. Visit: https://regenerationnationcr.com/resources
Special thanks to Albán Corrales for editing this episode!
Music: Rite of Passage by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4291-rite-of-passage
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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