Doug Fine wants it save the planet By teaching people a renewable and sustainable lifestyle. A lofty goal for a hemp farmer and solar-powered goat herder, but Fine still stands. This is the thing about saving the planet, it takes persistence. It takes the gospel in the biblical sense, from our mouths to their ears. They may or may not want to walk the talk, but they will hear you.
Author of six books so far, Fine’s first effort, Not really an Alaskan mountain man, published in 2004, reflecting his introduction to nature as a man who grew up in suburban New York. Another post in 2008, Bye Subaru, detailing his life living “Green Off the Grid”, showing how to drastically reduce fossil fuel use in order to live sustainably. This was followed in 2012 by Too high to fail focusing on the innovative aspect of youth cannabis At that time, the green economic revolution – which is now in full swing after ten years.
In 2013, he appeared at TEDx Talks in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his ranch, Funky Butte Ranch, is located in a remote area hours from the nearest town. The slasher talk “Why we need goats in the digital age” is a call to arms, with the goal of luring humans back into the park to save their lives — and their health.
Fine introduced himself: “I am standing before you today, a hard-nosed individualist, a solar-powered goat herder.” And so begins his funny and informative talk about how and why he supports his family by tending off-grid goats.
Posted in 2014 Hemp Bound: Missions from the Front Lines of the Next Agricultural Revolutionwhere he shares his life on his farm, explaining the many uses of cannabis – and how it can help save the planet.
His latest efforts were published in 2020, American Hemp Farms, The Adventures and Adventures of the Cannabis Trade, David Brunner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, “A wonderful piece of Americana that shows the way to a sustainable future.”
American hemp farms It was developed into a TV series, with a pilot and episodes in the box, and more now in production, seeking distribution.
The series includes visits to the Rosebud Sioux tribal lands, with lovely advice on growing organic hemp. Other visits within the gallery include George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate, with its fine hand-harvested, and dressed entirely in colonial-style clothing made from hemp, of course.
Doug Fine: Preaching a Sustainable Life
As detailed in his TEDx Talk, his first experience with nature was moving to rural Alaska in 2003, where he learned about fishing, catching salmon in the wild.
He enjoyed the idea of getting food from the backyard, so to speak. This, he said, brought him into contact with what he calls the original gene, or first gene, inviting humans to go back to our Paleolithic roots from living on Earth as hunters and gatherers.
“Despite all our digital tools,” he said, “we, as humans, are still the same hunters we were tens of thousands of years ago.” “I feel my absolute best and most relaxed when I am outside milking a goat in the first light of day, with local owls returning from date night. To me, that is the feeling of living as one is meant to live.”
The experience in Alaska reawakened a vital part of himself he had been raising ever since, moving to New Mexico two years later and founding Funky Butte Ranch, to nurture his soul, with the end result being to give him a sense of fulfillment. He said that the balance between the digital age and our original selves.
Then there is climate change, for those who understand the ramifications.
“We are bottom ninth with two points outside when it comes to tackling climate change, and we have a game plan,” he advised. “Teaching that to everyone is my daily business.”
And he teaches, with courses offered by his website, as well as hundreds of speaking engagements around the world under his belt.
To date, the most famous talk has been an appeal to the United Nations, jointly with the European Alliance for Fair and Effective Medicines Policies (ENCOD), an organization working for better drug policies, globally. In this five-minute talk, he urged change in the context of the failed war on drugs.
On February 27, he will be the keynote speaker at SXSW’s Eco-Ag Conference in Montana to celebrate its 50th anniversary, with the event broadcast on C-SPAN.
His journey as “Johnny Hempseed” teaching the citizens of Earth how to help heal the planet seems endless, as he presents himself wearing head-to-toe hemp – including hemp boxers made by his old companion.
Cannabis can heal the planet
The stats on how sustainable industrial hemp is, are fascinating, when one thinks of all the trees that have been felled over the years – not to mention the amount of plastic now strewn on the ground that can be made from hemp and other plants.
“Prohibition of hemp, and therefore industrial hemp, was a huge mistake made by a great country,” he explained from the farm. “In my talk, I brought with me a small plastic goat made of hemp, created with a 3D printer. We don’t need to use petroleum by-products – we’ve never used them.”
The benefits of industrial hemp are many, they can be used in everything from fuel to building materials, to draw toxins out of the earth after pollution – demonstrated in what is now Ukraine, at the site of the Chernobyl nuclear melt, where thousands of cannabis plants were grown.
Vine’s hemp seeds from his farm are being used in an experiment to clean up contaminated soil in a study by the University of New Mexico, with initial reports of a very successful uranium withdrawal.
He wrote in a blog post with the title “I can write with confidence that hemp cleans radioactive soil” at vote hemp site. “No, I’ve heard it does, or I hope it does, or someone even told me they used it in Chernobyl. It really does, according to this study.”
As explained in an article published by the World Hemp Societies, the process is called Phytotech, whereby plants can actually cleanse the soil by drawing out toxins – hemp is exceptionally good at this process, decontaminating at a very high rate, taking up chromium, lead, copper and nickel And more.
Air and soil quality cleanup is nothing new for plants, but our understanding of how it works is.
“When you look at the number of trees needed to make anything, and the number of years it took for these trees to grow large enough to be used, it’s astonishing to ignore these facts,” he explained. “Before we started manufacturing petroleum byproducts, everything we made and used came from the earth – and it was all renewable and sustainable. There is absolutely no reason why we can’t change this.”
To give one example, as noted by the European Industrial Hemp Association, hemp contains upwards of 65 to 70 percent cellulose, while wood measures about 40 percent. The Ministry of hemp states that one acre of hemp can produce the equivalent of four to 10 acres of trees over a 20-year period. Cannabis stalks grow within four months, while trees take from 20 to 80 years, depending on the species.
One can see why the Plant for the Planet movement was founded, which encourages humans to plant as many trees as possible – with a goal of one trillion trees planted globally by 2030.
“It’s a no-brainer,” Fine said with regret. “Hemp paper is more durable than paper made from trees, because it does not degrade over time. Hemp construction materials are also rot and fire resistant. Not to mention the devastating impact of deforestation on the climate and health of the planet.”
Climate change at the door
Several years ago, a massive 130,000-acre wildfire hit Funky Butte Ranch, setting off years of hard work on the ranch.
“This isn’t rehearsal, it’s happening now, and it’s just around the corner,” Fine said of climate change, perpetual fires, storms and floods around the world, which she predicted years ago.
Fine said he saw a bear escaping from a wildfire, then attacked all but one of his goats, while telling the story to show the collateral damage caused by the devastation.
He continued, “The destruction affected everything.” “Fires, floods and water levels are rising due to melting glaciers. All of this is forcing me to keep talking, keep teaching, and keep growing regenerative cannabis. The good news is we have two new baby goats on the farm now, and the blessings are many!”
The always-optimistic beauty explained that not all of us have to become farmers, but that we can begin to understand the process by growing a small piece of something—even if it’s a handful of basil in a pot on the city porch.
He believes farmers can lead the way, while the masses support them with small changes being made to the way we live every day.
He predicted that “Supporting local small farmers by purchasing produce from local sources, sourcing produce from community-supported cooperatives or farmers’ markets – or even working in community gardens, are all valuable contributions”. “Who knows, you might find, like me, that farming or gardening and growing your own food is the most fun you’ll have outside of the bedroom!”
For more information on visiting Doug Fine, dougfine.com.
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