Conversations That Matter

Population predictions - Stein Emil Vollset

Ep 306 - Population 

Guest: Stein Emil Vollset, PhD

 

A new study, published by The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, estimates the global population will rise through to the mid-60s and then plummet in much of the world, while soaring in Africa. The study examines fertility, mortality and migration, and projects global population to rise to 9.7 billion in 2065 and then rapidly decline by close to one billion people by the end of the century.

 

Beyond the numbers are the dramatic population drops in Europe, most of Asia, South and Central America, juxtaposed against large increases in Africa. The societal and economic challenges will be immense. No one country can address the issues alone that will arise.

 

We invited Dr Stein Emil Vollset, the lead author of the extensive report on global populations, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the significance of huge population swings on countries around the world.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Charles C Mann: William Vogt - The Grandfather of Environmentalism

Ep 304 - William Vogt - The Grandfather of Environmentalism

Guest: Charles C. Mann

Chances are you have never heard of William Vogt yet, according to Author Charles C. Mann. “His philosophy is one of the few that was born in the last century and is as relevant today, if not more, than when Vogt started campaigning to save the environment.”

 

William Vogt is responsible for defining “The Environment” which, before he so perfectly gave shape to the environment as a global and interconnected system, ecological issues were deemed to be local or site specific. Mann goes into great detail in his book, The Wizard and The Prophet”, about Vogt and the development of his philosophy that says “the carrying capacity of the earth is limited.” Vogt believed that the biggest threat to Mother Nature is an outbreak of humans.

 

I invited Charles C. Mann to join me for a Conversation That Matters about the incredible influence of William Vogt in shaping the environmental movement. 

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Robert Saik - Was Bloomberg Wrong about Farmers?

Ep 303 - Was Bloomberg Wrong about Farmers?

Guest: Robert Saik

 

Yum yum, food – glorious nutritious and delicious food produced in Canada. In his book, Food 5.0 Agrologist and international consultant Robert Saik points out that less than 0.2 percent of the population of this country are farmers of consequence. That’s just enough people to fill the stands at a professional hockey arena and it’s enough skilled people to feed Canada and millions – if not billions – of others around the world.

Contrary to what Michael Bloomberg said: “I could teach anybody to be a farmer. It’s a [process]: you dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes corn.”  Not even close, says Robert Saik: “The production of food is extremely complex. Seed varieties change to meet soil and weather conditions on a county-by-county basis. Tractors use laser guided GPS systems to line up row after row of seeds.”  Tilling is a doctoral study unto itself. In the vast prairies of North America, tillage is an out-of-date practice, yet tilling the soil in the wetlands of coastal BC may or may not be required depending on soil conditions. There is no-one-size-fits-all in agriculture.

To grow food, you need four elements: fertile soil, sun, water and carbon. Those are the building blocks of photosynthesis, a combination that has to be just right. Getting it just right is not easy. Rain, snow, hail, wind individually and, at times, collectively make farming an art that relies on science and technology to get it right.

Saik says, “The next 30 years are arguably the most challenging years in agriculture's history. As the global population grows from 7.6 to 9.5 billion people, the question is, ‘Will we be allowed to feed them?’” Saik contends that agricultural policies that are developed by voters who have never set foot on a farm, mixed in with a heavy application of the precautionary principle, those policies will ensure we cannot feed the world.

We invited Robert Saik, author of Food 5.0 and ag industry thought leader, to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the remarkable world of farming in Canada.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Dr Evan Wood and Payton Nyquvest: Psychedelics in Therapy

Ep 302 - Psychedelics in Therapy

Guest: Dr Evan Wood - Payton Nyquvest

 

The numbers are staggering. Mental health is crippling Canada. 

 

Here are the estimated costs both human and financial: One in five Canadians suffer from an addiction in any given year.  Fifty percent of us will experience a major depressive episode. PTSD affects close to 10% of the population and 4,000 Canadians will take their own lives this year.

 

Payton Nyquvest - the founder of Numinus, a Vancouver-based company - is working with Dr Evan Wood to address these pressing issues, utilizing the potential of psychedelics in mental health treatment. Nyquvest openly admits he was struggling with depression. He says, “I had to get treatment, lasting treatment. I sought it out internationally and it worked.” It worked so well, he set out to provide the same opportunity for others in Vancouver. 

 

Dr Evan Wood, a leading figure in addiction research and treatment, is the company’s Chief Medical Officer. Wood says, “Studies at Johns Hopkins University and other institutions are showing tremendous gains in mental health and addiction outcomes when psychedelics are added. The therapeutic outcomes are significantly better than current common treatments. It’s cutting edge but it is an exciting development in treatment.”

 

We invited Dr Evan Wood and Payton Nyquvest of Numinus to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the positive outcomes psychedelic treatments are offering in therapy.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

Andrew Petter's Legacy

Ep 301 - Petter’s Legacy

Guest: Andrew Petter

 

As he wraps up ten years at the helm at Simon Fraser University, Andrew Petter says, “Universities are more important now than ever. In a post-COVID environment, universities have a vitally important role to play in scientific research, addressing workplace dislocation with retraining of talented people who will play a role in restarting and shifting the economy.”

 

Petter says that the role of the university is paramount in addressing “diversity, equality, inclusion and innovation in a greener economy.” COVID-19 has exposed inequalities in society and in the workplace. Petter says, “Many of the people who work on the frontlines have been hard hit. There is now an opportunity to harness education right across the spectrum to harness the capacity of education to retrain and upskill people and, in doing so, provide them with greater opportunities and level the playing field.”

 

We invited Andrew Petter to join us for a Conversation That Matters about his term as President of Simon Fraser University, how it has changed and grown during his term, and his thoughts about the future of university education.

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Dr Benjamin Miller: Deaths of Dispair

Ep 300 - Covid - 19 Deaths of Despair

Guest: Dr Benjamin F. Miller

 

In May in British Columbia, 170 people died from suspected illicit drug use: that’s more than five people a day.  That’s a 93 percent increase in death due to overdose over last May. Compare that to 52 deaths to COVID-19 in May and it is not unreasonable to ask if the spike in overdose deaths is related to the lockdown associated with C-19.

 

According to Well Being Trust, the number of additional deaths attributable to COVID-19, as a result of deaths of despair, could be as high as 150,000 people in the US. Death from alcoholism, drug overdoses and suicide, also known as deaths of despair, were already at record levels in the United States before COVID-19.

 

Dr Benjamin F Miller says, “We know the stressors that accompany this pandemic. They are job loss and financial instability, anxiety, grief, depression and other factors.  Add in social isolation, a loss of hope and many health care programs that weren’t accessible.” Miller follows up saying he is very worried about people who need help. 

 

We invited Dr Benjamin F. Miller of Well Being Trust to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the desperate need to reopen assistance programs that can and will save lives.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Chris Sankey: Real Talk About Racism

Ep 03

Chris Sankey

Having Real Talks About Racism

 

Finally and thankfully it looks like we’re on the cusp of having a real discussion about racism.

 

It’s something I know all too well.  I was beaten down by society's judgments of who they perceived me to be, through discriminating mockery with a smile, aggressive language and stereotyped views that included thinking I am a lesser person and will amount to nothing more.

 

Why? Well because I’m an indigienous person in a country that didn’t want me.

 

Am I bitter? No. Did it make me stronger? Absolutely, anger wasnt getting me anywhere.

 

Was I going to let the actions of others determine who I would become and what I could accomplish?

  

No, that thought never crossed my mind.

 

I put my mind to being a successful person and I also wanted to set an example. I wanted to break down racist barries, not build em up.

Happy Creator: Your Relationship with Your Spirituality

June 12, 2020

Ep 299 - What role Faith?

Guest: Happy Kreter

 

Who are you? What is your purpose in life? Do you matter? These are questions most of us ask ourselves during the course of our lives. “How do I define ‘I’ and how does my faith influence that definition?” asks Chaplin Happy Kreter, the host of a new podcast that looks at our relationship with faith and how that, in turn, guides the principles we live by, and then how do we manifest those principles in our modern secular society.

 

For Kreter, these are the questions he asked himself as he reconnected with faith. In the podcast series, he will be engaging with people from diverse spiritual backgrounds. “I want to talk about what it means to be human and our relationship with something we know is greater than our individual selves, that we are a part of something that is magnificent.”

 

We invited Chaplin Happy Kreter of Portland Hotel Society to join us for a Conversation That Matters about our relationship with our faith and how that guides us in our lives.  

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs 

Quick Dick McDick: Food and Fossil Fuels

Ep 298 - Food and Fossil Fuels

Guest: Quick Dick McDick

 

Saskatchewan farmer Quick Dick McDick has decided to throw himself into a number of hot-button issues. Food production and its reliance on fossil fuels is a common theme. From his perspective: “You can’t have one without the other.” It’s a point he believed was being drowned out by people in urban settings, who as he put it, “have no idea what it takes to produce food in Canada.”

 

Rather than moan and whine, Quick Dick decided to employ cutting humor and a raw on-camera presence to make his point. Namely, he feels that decisions about how to produce food and the increasing cost of energy are out of touch with the reality of farming. His concern is: “I worry that we’re needlessly driving up the cost of food production while the commodity price on crops has not gone up, making it even more difficult than it already is to be a farmer.”

 

His style is a no-holds-barred poke-ya-in-the-eye one that has gained him a huge online audience. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney shared QDM’s “Protestor Diet” video and, in doing so, ignited interest in Quick Dick’s YouTube channel. Now he is an internet sensation and before C-19, he was in hot demand as a speaker. 

 

We caught up with QDM on his farm in Saskatchewan as he was seeding one of his fields. We invited him to join us for a Conversation That Matters about him, his message and why he is not going to stop sharing his down-to-earth messages.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs

Dawn Buschert: Greenhouse Farming

May 29, 2020

Ep 297 - Greenhouse Farming

Guest: Dawn Buschert

 

Fresh beautiful veggies from a well managed greenhouse are a delicious and nutritious addition to your table. Producing these vegetables is hard and detailed work. As a result, farmers need to charge more for their produce. Therein lies a significant challenge: will wholesalers support those prices? Will consumers?

 

In Canada, there are a number of producers who sell their products into the well established food supply system. When they sell into the system, they are competing with vegetables from California and Mexico, where they are grown in significant quantities. The price the farmer is paid fluctuates based on the market supply.

 

For some farmers, that price won’t support the cost of their operations, which leaves them with few options. Either they stop farming or they opt out of the system and sell directly to consumers. For some consumers, these products are highly sought after because the product is delivered from farm to table and isn’t touched by so many hands.

 

Farmers markets play host to a number of producers who have decided to grow, package and sell their products. It’s also a lot more work. In addition to nurturing the plants to maturity, the farmer needs to design and source packaging. They also need to complete the packing process and transport them to the market. Once there, they need to set up their site and sell. As Dawn Buschert of Shirley’s Greenhouses says, “It’s a lot of work but for us, because we are small, it is the only way we can survive financially. We can’t produce at a rate that competes with imported prices.”

 

We invited Ms. Buschert to join us for a Conversation That Matters about the work of operating a greenhouse in Canada and why it is important that she and others take on the arduous task of complementing the food supply system.

 

Conversations That Matter is a partner program for the Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. The production of this program is made possible thanks to the support of the following and viewers like you.

Please become a Patreon subscriber and support the production of this program, with a $1 pledge https://goo.gl/ypXyDs