The New Face of the Environmental Movement: The American Cowboy

Donald Trump’s campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, called Kennedy “an environmental whack job” for promoting Regenerative Agriculture and choosing as his VP Nichole Shanahan, an environmental activist and executive producer of the film Kiss the Ground, which delves into healthy farming and soil practices.

Shanahan’s record demonstrates a willingness to investigate the sources of, and solutions for, ecological and human health hazards. Kiss the Ground takes a practical approach to how farming can be improved, rather than promoting punitive policies, such as flight credits or banning certain products, that are often associated with traditional Democrat Party ’woke’ “environmentalism.” In fact, the environmental policies that Kennedy and Shanahan promote resonate with many traditional conservatives in “flyover country.”

As explained in parts 1 and 2 of this series, Regenerative Agriculture rejects the techno-fixes promoted by people like Greta Thunberg and policies like the Green New Deal, and instead focuses on using nature to revitalize the soil and grow healthier food for all (including the farmers). 

In part 3, we talk to a cowboy about how he uses regenerative methods. 

The Kennedy Beacon sat down with Brian Alexander of the Ranching Reboot podcast, which produces weekly episodes with farmers and other people in the agricultural sphere about how to improve their trade. Alexander, who is a fan of Kiss the Ground, is restoring some of the most environmentally sensitive land in America – part of the Great Plains that stretches through the driest sections of Kansas – and he is using cows to do it. Unlike those who want to reduce the number of cows (because farts), he stresses that ruminants are an integral part of the plains ecosystem. [The following interview has been condensed.]

Nikos Biggs-Chiropolos (NBC): How did you learn about regenerative farming?

Brian Alexander (BA): A bunch of us out here started using regenerative agriculture when we realized sustainable was the buzzword. And we don't want to sustain the current system. We want to make something better. It's kind of always been in my thinking, the natural cycling processes of the land. So it's not that I came to regenerative agriculture. I was always here.

The regenerative holistic mindset is not just a set of practices. People get fouled up because people want a set approach, a set of practices that they can apply every year and don't have to think about  modifying them. Holistic management and regenerative agriculture are different; if you want to make a small change, you can change something you're doing. But in order to make a big change, you have to change the way you're thinking.

NBC: I get the sense the American conventional model is misguided. 

BA: Yeah, American Ag policy is totally off. They say, we got to feed the world. But we're not feeding the world. Less than 30% of the world is fed from industrial agriculture. By and large, we're producing foods that have no nutritional value. 

We have USDA nutritional guidelines. Everybody's fat, sick, and diabetic. There's no profit in cure, but there's unlimited riches in chronic disease treatment.

To read the rest of the interview, please click here.

Nikos Biggs-Chiropolos studied government at Georgetown University and interned for several Democratic elected officials and their campaigns, and other affiliated groups. He then earned a master’s degree in urban studies in France, where extremely strict COVID-19 lockdowns led to his political reawakening and inspired him to try to help fix the broken two-party system.