Planting Seeds of Change in Corona
In the second half of my conversation with Tina Davis, founder and CEO of Soulful Soil Farms, we explored what it really takes to build a movement from the ground up, literally.
Tina’s story begins in Compton, where her roots in Richland Farms shaped her love for community and agriculture. Yet when bureaucratic barriers made it difficult to start there, she turned to her current home in Corona, California. What began as driving around looking for vacant lots and tending a small backyard garden has grown into a nonprofit that educates families, supports children, and advocates for food justice across the Inland Empire.
Her persistence showing up at city council meetings, networking with local leaders, and never being afraid of hearing “no” has made her recognizable in her community. As she put it, “You’re going to get 100 no’s before you get a yes, but you cannot let those no’s deter you.”
🌱 Learn more about rethinking your relationship with food in my book Deprogram Diet Culture.
Big Agriculture vs. Backyard Gardening
When we think about food, many of us picture grocery store shelves lined with perfect-looking produce. But Tina reminded us that the reality behind those glossy apples and seedless watermelons is far from natural. Large-scale agriculture often relies on pesticides, fertilizers, and monocropping that strip the soil of nutrients and leave us eating food that looks beautiful but carries less vitality.
By contrast, small-scale and backyard gardens allow people to control what goes into their soil and onto their plants. You know exactly what you’re feeding your body because you grew it yourself. Tina explained, “When you authentically taste something that was grown organically in your backyard, it changes you. Your body starts craving the real thing.”
This is why gardening isn’t just a pastime it’s a form of healthcare and independence.
🎧 Listen to the full episode of the ANEW Insight Podcast to hear Tina’s journey in her own words.
Seeds, Soil, and Sovereignty
One of the most powerful parts of our discussion centered on seed saving and exchanges. Seeds represent not just future plants, but food sovereignty itself. Yet as Tina pointed out, many of the fruits we now buy—like seedless watermelons—remove our ability to regrow and sustain crops independently.
Through libraries, community events, and seed exchanges, Soulful Soil Farms teaches families how to reclaim this vital skill. Understanding soil health is just as essential, since pesticides and over-farming can degrade land for generations.
This isn’t just gardening; it’s education, empowerment, and an act of resistance against systems that profit from our dependency.
📘 Want tools to free yourself from diet culture while embracing food freedom? Explore the Deprogram Diet Culture Course.
Food as Medicine: A Personal Story of Healing
Tina also shared her personal health journey, including living with high blood pressure. Instead of turning first to prescriptions, she turned to her garden. Beets became her natural medicine, juiced alongside celery, ginger, and leafy greens. Herbs like rosemary, sage, and thyme replaced sodium-heavy seasonings, transforming her meals into both flavorful and healing nourishment.
Her results were profound: a dramatic drop in blood pressure, renewed energy, and a lifestyle shift grounded in natural foods. She now helps her family and community turn to food first for common ailments headaches, inflammation, fatigue while always reminding them that discipline and consistency are key.
Her story echoes the wisdom of physician Michael Greger’s How Not to Die: food truly is medicine, and gardening gives us direct access to it.
📺 Watch the episode on YouTube: @my.anew.insight.
From Farmers Markets to Advocacy
For those who cannot grow their own food, Tina champions farmers markets as a “p-h-a-r-m” for the community. These markets not only offer higher quality produce grown on a smaller scale, but they also support local farmers who prioritize soil health and sustainable practices.
But change doesn’t stop with individual gardens or markets. Tina is a fierce advocate for community gardens, food access, and policy change. She has stood up at mayor’s breakfasts, attended council meetings, and pushed her city to acknowledge the need for fresh food access. Persistence, she says, is the key to creating systemic change.
Her work proves that gardening is more than a private act of nourishment—it’s a public act of justice.
🌿 Ready to transform your relationship with food and health? Explore the ANEW Insight Podcast and begin your journey with the Deprogram Diet Culture book and course.
Key Takeaways
- Persistence builds movements: Advocacy starts small—show up, speak up, and keep going.
- Soil health is public health: What we grow reflects the quality of the earth beneath it.
- Seeds are sovereignty: Saving and exchanging seeds ensures independence and resilience.
- Food heals: Beets, herbs, and whole foods can transform conditions like high blood pressure.
- Farmers markets are medicine: Local produce supports both community health and small-scale growers.
Tina Davis is proof that gardening is not just about food—it’s about reclaiming power, protecting health, and planting hope for the future.
✨ Tune into the ANEW Insight Podcast for more inspiring conversations.
📘 Explore Deprogram Diet Culture for science-backed strategies to heal your relationship with food.
🎥 Join us on YouTube: @my.anew.insight.
View here full podcast Transcript here:
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Welcome to the ANEW Insight podcast
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empowering and inspiring your journey
to optimal health.
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Hosted by Doctor
Supatra Tovar, clinical psychologist,
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registered dietitian, fitness expert
and author of Deprogram Diet Culture:
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Rethink Your Relationship with Food,
Heal Your Mind, and Live a Diet Free Life.
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I follow my guests’ journey
to optimal health,
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providing you with the keys
to unlock your own wellness path.
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Tune in and evolve with us.
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Welcome back to the ANEW Insight podcast.
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We are back for the second half
of our interview with founder
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and CEO of Soulful Soil Farms, Tina Davis.
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Welcome back Tina. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
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Tina gave us some really invaluable
insight into her inspiration
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to move from health care
into more health care, which is gardening.
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I cannot wait to pick her brain some more.
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I know we talked about your inspiration.
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I know we talked about you
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coming from health care.
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But tell us about actually starting
Soulful Soil Farms.
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What were the challenges you faced
and how did you launch it?
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How did you get it on its feet?
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So, so okay.
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I initially, I’m from the city of Compton, I grew up in Richland Farms , so initially
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I wanted to start where I came from.
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There was just a little bit too much red
tape out there, for me.
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So I decided, okay, I live in Corona, and I’ve been out here
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some years now, this is home.
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So let me start where I live.
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My kids, like, you know.
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So I started driving around
looking at vacant lots.
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Understanding that
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okay,
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I did my research on community gardens
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in the city of Corona,
which there was one at a church.
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But again, went back to maintenance, no one maintained it.
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So there are no gardens
in the city of Corona at the moment.
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So then I started to do my research about gardens in the Inland Empire,
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that’s how I came across
Music Changing Lives.
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And so I reached out there,
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just to kind of be able
to put me in a space so that I can,
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you know, do hands on day to day.
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while simultaneously building
my own garden in the backyard.
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So then with regard to Corona,
I started researching, like,
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city council meetings and the,
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the breakfast, you know, meetings
that they do once a month.
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And so when I started my nonprofit, knowing
that’s what I wanted to do.
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I just really immersed myself
in that world,
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in the nonprofit world in anything
gardening, anything agricultural.
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I signed up for,
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classes,
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workshops,
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community events, where I could be a vendor.
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The more
I would just kind of put myself out there,
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the more people were drawn to it,
you know, and it just,
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it just went from there.
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And it literally just went.
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When we do, like, say like, farmers
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markets, we’ll do have like a vendor
booth, information booth.
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Also do like an activity where kids can plant.
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You know plant seeds.
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We’ll have seeds set out for them.
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And I would have an event at one school,
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and then you have, like, a parent from a
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PTA, and she’s like, oh my God, you know,
can you guys do this same thing at this event?
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And then, you know, we’re having this event and I would love
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you guys to, and Earth
Day is coming up.
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And you know we have and it just
it would go you know, so.
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The more we put ourselves out there and,
let people know what we do.
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And started, you know,
expressing the education aspect of it.
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People just were drawn to it.
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You know, I think people are really
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thirsty for that knowledge, you know.
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And, a great way, I think
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people are understanding that
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our health is wealth.
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Literally, you know, it sounds kind of cliche,
but it is literally, you know,
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the convenience people,
people pay for convenience, right?
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So you have the drive through McDonald’s, and the Burger King’s and Carls Junior’s
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and the salt, salt, salt, salt, salt,
you know,
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and it’s just it’s complete
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unhealth on every corner.
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So being able to educate people
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like I said people, like
you don’t know you’re missing it until
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you start to hear it and experience it, and people
are drawn to it like, oh my god,
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I don’t have a green thumb, I get that a lot.
You don’t need a green thumb.
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You don’t need a green thumb
to grow your own food.
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I have the least green
thumb on the planet.
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And your garden sounds like it’s thriving.
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I think that’s a big misconception.
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But when we, when we started to spread
the aspect of educating the community,
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you know, we really want people
to learn and understand why it’s important
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and that we’re here to help.
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And again
people were just drawn to it.
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Some more people we reached out to
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and the more spaces
we put ourselves in, the more we grew.
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I think that’s so inspiring. Thank you.
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It’s, it’s, it’s amazing what you can do,
when you just kind of follow your way down
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a rabbit hole and really what it takes
is intention and passion,
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and you just put yourself everywhere
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that was possible to be able to do this.
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And I think that that’s
what stops a lot of people.
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I think that that’s the problem,
is that they look at, you know,
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what you have to do to start something
like that, and it becomes overwhelming.
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It can be, yeah.
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And so I think what you’re doing is,
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you know,
inspiring a newer generation of people
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who may want to go out
and and create their own enterprise.
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And that’s what you’ve done.
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And so to help people,
maybe to inspire them more,
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especially in areas like food deserts,
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what can people do to advocate
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for more healthful commerce
in their own neighborhood?
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Say that they’re already starting
to garden.
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Say that they have
that happening and going on.
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But there’s
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they’re looking around their neighborhood
and they want to see something different.
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They want to see an actual grocery store.
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They want to see a Whole Foods
or something like that.
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How can they start to advocate to
their government or chamber of commerce?
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I started locally. Exactly. Chamber of commerce.
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I, I started locally, like I said,
I would sign up for the breakfast with the mayor.
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So now the mayor of Corona,
he doesn’t know me by name, I don’t think,
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but he definitely knows me by face
and maybe tattoos.
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but every time he sees me, he’s like,
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you still owe me that tractor, and
I’m like, I got you,
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you know, I make it a point.
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I love people,
you know. One, I love talking to people
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and I have no problem putting myself in a space
and talking, not at all.
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So you can’t be afraid to face,
the challenges
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that are going to come with this
because there will be challenges.
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You know, you’re going to get 100
no’s before you get a yes,
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but you cannot let those
100 no’s deter you.
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You know, I use that as fuel.
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I use that as fuel, so as much as I bug
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the Corona mayor now,
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you know, now he knows me.
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He knows when he sees me,
he can identify me
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he knows me as the garden girl.
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So it’s like, kind of slowly just making,
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making a name for myself.
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And I don’t care about bugging you, I’m going to continue to bug you
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until, you know, we get a community garden
in the city of Corona,
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whether we’re building it or not, and so
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persistence is definitely key.
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And again, just not being afraid
to step out and talk to people.
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Go to city council meetings ,start locally.
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You know, you have your,
find out who your supervisors is in your area.
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Ours is Karen Spiegel, I know her by name now,
she knows me by face.
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I have put myself in these environments
to where they have to see me.
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You have to hear me, You’re gonna to deal with me.
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You know, I’m going to get the point
across and I’m not going to stop
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until I see change.
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Wow, well, what was your biggest obstacle
working in those spaces?
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And probably the 100 knows.
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You get a lot of
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well, we have Parks and Recreation who,
you know does that.
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There’s a park
that, is being revitalized right now.
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A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful project in the city of Corona,
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They don’t have a community garden.
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And I was kind of late to the ball game
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you know, with that one.
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So that’s on me.
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So I still put a bug in their ear,
you know, I went to
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one of the Coronas breakfast
and the mayor was there, you know,
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so at the end of their presentation, and awards, and what
have you for the event,
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they open the floor up, you know, so
they open the floor up:
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Is there anyone who have
any suggestions, questions?
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I got it, I got up, and got in line.
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And so I told them you know, I think that
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the city of Corona needs a community garden.
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And I said we would be happy to build it.
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And the reaction from, I kid you not,
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almost everybody in that room was like,
oh my God, yes we do.
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Wow. It’s like you don’t know you needed it
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until, it’s now something people think of,
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but once you put that bug in their ear,
and you start giving that information
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and the change and.
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People really start
to listen, and pay attention,
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I’m not
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politics is not, you know, a space
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I’m very familiar with, but I am learning.
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Like I said, I’m learning who the supervisor
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what district I’m in. Those things are important
because you need to know
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who you need
to reach out to emails, phone calls.
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And it’s it sounds like
harassment, and probably in a way it is, but, you know, it’s
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they’re going to remember you,
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you know, it’s going to be like, okay, get this girl off my line.
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Whatever she’s asking for, let’s give
her a meeting.
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Let’s hear her out, you have
to be persistent
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and let them know, you know, we
have a voice
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and ultimately, I’m always gonna use it.
00:10:04:21 – 00:10:06:13
Oh, absolutely.
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Now, give me a picture.
00:10:08:13 – 00:10:12:18
We touched on this a little in the first
half, but give me a picture of what
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issues and problems
you’re seeing come from big agriculture.
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Why is it so important that we empower
ourselves to create these gardens?
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So with big agriculture,
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there’s the first word that pops
my head is pesticides.
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When you’re growing
on such a massive scale,
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you are treating crops and produce
on a massive scale.
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So pesticides come into play
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and there really is no way around that.
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You know, when
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you’re a small farmer, and
your growing small, you have more control
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over your crops.
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If you’ve ever paid
attention to the stickers
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and like the fruits and vegetables in the grocery stores,
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that PLU number,
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If it starts with a 4 it’s
not organic.
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And to be completely honest
a lot of the produce that you see
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that’s labeled organic as not organic,
you know, you all you really genuinely
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don’t know what’s been put on the produce
unless you’re growing it yourself.
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There’s like the coating that they’re
putting on our fruits now to make it look a certain way.
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I don’t care about presentation,
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You know, I want it to do it’s job.
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So many of the nutrients are taken
out of the produce that we’re buying
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in the grocery stores. It’s like we’re buying
shells of what it should be.
00:11:35:08 – 00:11:40:12
You know it looks great on the outside
it’s all green and huge and shiny.
00:11:41:04 – 00:11:42:05
A lot of that fruit
00:11:42:05 – 00:11:44:02
those fruits and vegetables
00:11:44:02 – 00:11:46:09
aren’t supposed to look like that, you know.
00:11:46:19 – 00:11:50:12
And so when you authentically
taste something that was grown
00:11:50:12 – 00:11:55:11
truly organically,
you know, in your backyard, it changes.
00:11:55:18 – 00:11:56:20
It’s something
00:11:56:20 – 00:12:00:17
switches, something clicks and
you can literally taste the difference.
00:12:00:17 – 00:12:03:15
I think you were saying about your cucumbers?
00:12:03:15 – 00:12:05:12
Or your squash, you can taste the difference,
00:12:05:12 – 00:12:07:06
The cilantro.
00:12:07:06 – 00:12:08:23
The cilantro,
you can literally taste the difference.
00:12:08:23 – 00:12:13:08
And once that palate gets a taste
of what it’s supposed to be, it just,
00:12:13:10 – 00:12:14:12
it changes it for you.
00:12:14:12 – 00:12:17:02
And you’re like, I want. More of it. Yes.
00:12:17:02 – 00:12:18:14
Like my body’s calling for that.
00:12:18:14 – 00:12:20:06
I don’t know what that is back there,
00:12:20:06 – 00:12:23:05
but I know that’s not
what it’s supposed to be. Yes.
00:12:23:05 – 00:12:24:21
It’s looking the part that’s not giving
00:12:24:21 – 00:12:27:00
you what you need. Yes.
00:12:27:00 – 00:12:29:14
So the importance of growing our food
is you know what’s in it.
00:12:29:14 – 00:12:33:00
You know what you’re putting into your body
because you grew it. Exactly.
00:12:33:08 – 00:12:36:07
That’s
what’s glowing on top of the vegetables.
00:12:36:07 – 00:12:41:11
But let’s talk about the soil, too,
because the soil is a big problem.
00:12:41:11 – 00:12:44:15
And that’s
where a lot of the nutrients are absorbed.
00:12:44:15 – 00:12:48:00
And that’s why,
certain fruits and vegetables
00:12:48:00 – 00:12:51:12
don’t have as high in nutrients
like we used to be able
00:12:51:18 – 00:12:57:00
to get B12 from our soil into our food.
00:12:57:00 – 00:13:02:20
And now we can only really get it either
from supplements or from the meat.
00:13:03:08 – 00:13:05:16
From animal protein.
00:13:05:16 – 00:13:10:06
But talk a little bit about what’s going
wrong on the soil level.
00:13:10:11 – 00:13:13:02
It’s just really different dynamics
in the environment.
00:13:13:02 – 00:13:16:00
Again pesticides play a big part.
00:13:16:21 – 00:13:18:21
If you have
00:13:19:23 – 00:13:22:23
and say like in your produce,
00:13:25:08 – 00:13:26:18
I can’t think of the name of it.
00:13:26:18 – 00:13:28:02
The bugs that.
00:13:28:02 – 00:13:29:04
They grow underneath the
00:13:29:04 – 00:13:32:04
leafy greens, like little gnats or the
00:13:32:04 – 00:13:36:22
There’s a name for them, I’m so sorry,
I can’t think of the name right, but if you have an infestation of
00:13:36:22 – 00:13:41:16
any type of insect, you know, that affects your crops
and your growing massive scale,
00:13:42:09 – 00:13:44:22
those insecticides and pesticides
00:13:44:22 – 00:13:48:06
are not just going to the crop, they’re going into the soil
and the soil is tilled.
00:13:48:06 – 00:13:52:08
So digging deeper and deeper
and ultimately you have a land
00:13:52:08 – 00:13:53:21
full of unhealthy soil
00:13:53:21 – 00:13:56:20
So soil health
is something that we also teach.
00:13:57:00 – 00:14:00:11
Because you want to understand the soil
that you’re using,
00:14:00:21 – 00:14:04:21
that you’re growing in so that you can get
the outcome that you want for your fruits and vegetables
00:14:04:21 – 00:14:06:22
but soil health does play a big
00:14:06:22 – 00:14:09:02
part in gardening and growing
00:14:09:02 – 00:14:12:00
Yes. And mono cropping as well.
00:14:12:00 – 00:14:16:23
When they don’t change out the crops
and they’re using the same crop
00:14:16:23 – 00:14:19:23
on the same land
for years and years and years,
00:14:20:00 – 00:14:23:22
the soil becomes so depleted
that it is so difficult.
00:14:23:22 – 00:14:28:01
That’s why they have to use,
you know, copious amounts of fertilizer.
00:14:28:07 – 00:14:32:07
So when you look at the fertilizer
and the pesticides and the runoff,
00:14:32:15 – 00:14:36:11
this is a big reason
why we have a huge dead zone
00:14:36:16 – 00:14:40:05
in the Gulf of Mexico
is because of this runoff.
00:14:40:15 – 00:14:44:12
So the more that we can educate people
and really help them understand
00:14:44:12 – 00:14:47:12
that you do not have to be dependent
00:14:47:16 – 00:14:50:06
on your grocery store, you can.
00:14:50:06 – 00:14:54:09
And seeds are so incredibly cheap to buy.
00:14:54:09 – 00:14:57:18
And their important
A lot of times we recommend to find
00:14:57:18 – 00:15:00:11
where they do seed exchange, libraries do it.
00:15:00:11 – 00:15:03:11
Yes. A lot of people don’t realize that you do
seed exchange at libraries.
00:15:04:13 – 00:15:06:20
But that is definitely
00:15:06:20 – 00:15:10:17
if you look at a lot of the fruits,
fruits are supposed to have seeds, right?
00:15:11:09 – 00:15:14:07
I’m sure probably everybody at
this point has walked into
00:15:14:07 – 00:15:17:10
the grocery store
and has seen seedless watermelons.
00:15:18:00 – 00:15:20:16
Like, what is that, watermelons are supposed to have seeds.
00:15:20:16 – 00:15:22:14
Fruits are supposed to
have seeds, pits.
00:15:22:14 – 00:15:24:13
And the fact that there’s
00:15:24:13 – 00:15:28:02
so many being created now
00:15:28:17 – 00:15:31:21
without seeds, let
you know that they,
00:15:33:14 – 00:15:36:06
the control of our food
00:15:36:06 – 00:15:39:06
is shifting, you know, and
00:15:39:10 – 00:15:42:08
the key part in that is
someone is controlling
00:15:42:08 – 00:15:45:08
or there are entities
controlling our food. Yes.
00:15:45:08 – 00:15:47:10
If we’re growing food without seeds,
00:15:47:10 – 00:15:50:00
how are we supposed to regrow that crop?
00:15:50:00 – 00:15:51:10
We need seeds to do that.
00:15:51:10 – 00:15:54:12
So now why are we selling
fruit without seeds?
00:15:54:12 – 00:15:55:15
That’s not natural.
00:15:55:15 – 00:16:00:23
The whole point is to grow the fruit, take the seeds, harvest.
00:16:02:09 – 00:16:04:03
You, get your seeds
00:16:04:03 – 00:16:08:02
together, you replant, you regrow,
and you keep that going.
00:16:08:02 – 00:16:11:02
Like, seeds are one of the most
essential parts of that process.
00:16:11:02 – 00:16:15:05
So how are we selling fruit
without the seeds? Yes.
00:16:15:05 – 00:16:19:03
It’s literally mind boggling to me.
00:16:19:03 – 00:16:22:00
But I, soil health, getting back to
00:16:22:00 – 00:16:25:06
soil health is a very big deal, seeds, seeds exchange
00:16:25:07 – 00:16:28:07
If you guys can find the seeds exchange,
Google is my best friend.
00:16:28:07 – 00:16:31:23
I look for seed exchanges absolutely anywhere.
00:16:31:23 – 00:16:34:23
What I found,
libraries are like one of the biggest,
00:16:35:18 – 00:16:37:05
and most common places where I can go
00:16:37:05 – 00:16:38:15
do seed exchange.
00:16:38:15 – 00:16:41:11
And so I’ll save seeds
of what I grow and I’ll make sure
00:16:41:11 – 00:16:44:11
that I take some to leave,
and then I’ll take seeds
00:16:44:11 – 00:16:46:09
from the library or different places.
00:16:46:09 – 00:16:48:16
I tell you, Tina is amazing.
00:16:48:16 – 00:16:53:15
You guys,
let’s also talk about food safety,
00:16:54:04 – 00:16:57:17
because the big reason why I started
my hydroponic
00:16:57:17 – 00:17:01:11
garden is everything was becoming
contaminated with E.coli.
00:17:01:11 – 00:17:04:11
There were so many recalls
on so many vegetables
00:17:04:13 – 00:17:06:06
that I was starting
to freak out a little bit.
00:17:06:06 – 00:17:10:10
And I was like,
I don’t know how trustworthy they are.
00:17:10:11 – 00:17:13:07
You know,
agricultural system is right now.
00:17:13:07 – 00:17:17:22
And I think a big reason, and maybe,
you know, a little bit more about this
00:17:17:23 – 00:17:21:19
is because we have, farms right
00:17:21:19 – 00:17:26:16
next to, animal production
in a lot of areas,
00:17:26:22 – 00:17:31:08
and that runoff is going into our farms.
00:17:31:13 – 00:17:36:21
But do you know a little bit about
the recalls, why they’ve been happening?
00:17:37:02 – 00:17:38:14
What’s going on with them?
00:17:40:04 – 00:17:42:00
Not too much.
00:17:42:00 – 00:17:44:16
I do get the notification,
so I, I’m signed up
00:17:44:16 – 00:17:47:16
with, USDA,
00:17:47:18 – 00:17:51:06
and the Department of Agriculture
to get those,
00:17:52:02 – 00:17:56:08
those updates and news alerts just so that
I can make sure that I’m aware
00:17:56:08 – 00:17:59:08
so that I can pay
that information forward.
00:17:59:10 – 00:18:02:14
But because I grow my own
00:18:02:14 – 00:18:06:22
and try to educate as many people as I can
to, I’m sorry, my
00:18:06:22 – 00:18:08:16
information on that is a little limited.
00:18:08:16 – 00:18:11:16
I just, I don’t
00:18:12:04 – 00:18:14:11
I don’t trust,
00:18:14:11 – 00:18:18:18
you know, massive, produce grown massively.
00:18:19:05 – 00:18:21:07
I don’t trust what
00:18:21:07 – 00:18:23:18
is sold in the grocery stores.
00:18:23:18 – 00:18:27:00
I’m not like a vegan or vegetarian,
so I still
00:18:27:00 – 00:18:30:03
have to go to the grocery store
for some items, with regards to produce
00:18:30:03 – 00:18:35:03
my eggs, my vegetables, my fruits, I grow. I grow it, if I can’t grow it, I don’t want it.
00:18:35:03 – 00:18:39:21
I think it’s like when you look at it,
the the big factory farming,
00:18:40:06 – 00:18:45:19
we’re seeing just so much,
just runoff and pollution,
00:18:46:06 – 00:18:50:11
difficulties, especially with,
you know, the waste that comes
00:18:50:21 – 00:18:55:19
from the big agricultural, CAFO’s
they are called,
00:18:56:07 – 00:18:58:23
that I think is what’s,
00:18:58:23 – 00:19:01:23
putting our produce at risk.
00:19:01:23 – 00:19:05:11
So there’s a lot of things that we can do
that,
00:19:05:14 – 00:19:09:16
you know, in terms of our choices,
in terms of how we spend our money,
00:19:10:01 – 00:19:16:02
especially, that can shape
and shift commerce in the United States.
00:19:16:02 – 00:19:19:13
And I’m all about empowering that.
00:19:19:13 – 00:19:22:01
And Tina is doing that
00:19:23:15 – 00:19:26:15
amazingly, which I’m so proud of her.
00:19:26:20 – 00:19:29:08
Now back to the issue.
00:19:29:08 – 00:19:32:08
The topic of, you know,
00:19:33:05 – 00:19:37:01
vegetables, fruits, for health.
00:19:38:12 – 00:19:39:22
Give us a picture,
00:19:39:22 – 00:19:44:01
so anybody who doesn’t really
fully understand that food is medicine,
00:19:44:10 – 00:19:47:02
give us a little bit of, a picture
00:19:47:02 – 00:19:50:02
of how it’s medicine.
00:19:50:10 – 00:19:53:11
So we’ll start with beets.
00:19:53:11 – 00:19:56:11
I’ll speak personally, I have high blood pressure,
00:19:56:11 – 00:19:59:20
beets are an amazing, amazing,
00:20:00:19 – 00:20:05:13
food to combat and lower naturally lowers
blood pressure.
00:20:05:20 – 00:20:08:19
So I juice, I juice, I grow my
beets and juice them
00:20:08:20 – 00:20:11:20
I juice the leaves, I juice the actual beets,
00:20:12:11 – 00:20:15:03
celery,
00:20:15:03 – 00:20:18:06
water, Vegetables and foods that are high
00:20:18:06 – 00:20:19:10
in water content.
00:20:20:23 – 00:20:22:17
Good for skin.
00:20:23:05 – 00:20:25:16
So it really depends on the ailment.
00:20:25:16 – 00:20:29:18
I do, because of the high blood pressure,
you do have to minimize the sodium.
00:20:30:01 – 00:20:33:11
I try to do away salt, I love seasoning, let me just start
00:20:33:16 – 00:20:37:14
let me just say that, I love my food,
I don’t like bland food.
00:20:37:18 – 00:20:40:08
So to shift
00:20:40:08 – 00:20:44:13
from the sodium
I learned how to season with herbs.
00:20:45:03 – 00:20:48:02
So I grow rosemary, I grow sage,
00:20:48:12 – 00:20:52:04
I grow thyme. I dry them and I use those.
00:20:53:08 – 00:20:55:09
Parsley, cilantro.
00:20:55:09 – 00:20:58:15
I dry my herbs
and I use those for a seasoning,
00:20:58:15 – 00:21:01:08
then I’ll use like a Mrs. Dash
or maybe like a
00:21:01:08 – 00:21:05:10
dash of maybe sea salt, just to
give it a little, you know something
00:21:05:11 – 00:21:08:17
But the herbs really kind of
come into play
00:21:08:17 – 00:21:11:17
with the flavoring of the food.
00:21:12:02 – 00:21:15:00
But beets were the first thing that,
00:21:15:00 – 00:21:20:01
with regard to my, my own personal health
condition, that I started to kind of play
00:21:20:01 – 00:21:25:22
with and research, and I check my blood
pressure on a regular basis.
00:21:25:22 – 00:21:28:13
I juice.
00:21:28:13 – 00:21:31:16
I try to juice at least three times
a week, as best I can.
00:21:31:22 – 00:21:34:23
And so my,
I’m about to tell my business
my blood pressure,
00:21:34:23 – 00:21:36:11
on a regular
00:21:36:11 – 00:21:39:11
I was in like the
00:21:40:23 – 00:21:42:17
like one, mid 150’s
00:21:42:17 – 00:21:44:13
to like over,
00:21:46:02 – 00:21:48:00
Close to always like 100. Wow.
00:21:48:00 – 00:21:48:09
Yeah.
00:21:48:09 – 00:21:52:04
It was, it was
I mean on a regular basis consistently.
00:21:52:09 – 00:21:54:20
I was stage three. Wow.
00:21:54:20 – 00:21:56:11
And now,
00:21:58:01 – 00:22:01:01
my blood pressure is at
00:22:02:07 – 00:22:04:07
I think it’s
00:22:04:07 – 00:22:07:07
it’s it’s
not even in the hypertension stage
00:22:07:19 – 00:22:10:01
on a regular basis.
00:22:10:15 – 00:22:13:05
I say like 120 over
00:22:13:05 – 00:22:16:05
maybe like 125 on a regular basis over
00:22:16:20 – 00:22:20:21
- 93 so. Pretty good.
00:22:20:21 – 00:22:24:12
I’m not all the way there,
like, close in the right direction.
00:22:24:12 – 00:22:25:11
Yeah.
00:22:25:11 – 00:22:28:11
And so discipline is, is key.
00:22:28:22 – 00:22:31:17
But when I started to realize
00:22:31:17 – 00:22:36:00
and actually experience
the results of my health shifting,
00:22:36:14 – 00:22:39:14
like, I’m not as tired as I used to be,
you know,
00:22:41:06 – 00:22:44:06
I do a lot of,
00:22:45:23 – 00:22:48:05
I do ginger.
00:22:48:05 – 00:22:51:05
I do ginger. I put in all of my juices. Lets start there.
00:22:52:03 – 00:22:54:19
Ginger is good for inflammation.
00:22:54:19 – 00:22:56:13
I actually have a book
00:22:56:13 – 00:22:59:07
that I reference
when I can to give me different
00:22:59:07 – 00:23:04:13
ideas on juices or recipes,
and that I have now, at this point,
00:23:04:13 – 00:23:09:01
I have family that actually
will reach out to me with regard to
00:23:09:08 – 00:23:12:00
I have a headache,
Is there anything I can do
for a headache naturally?
00:23:12:00 – 00:23:16:07
Oh , you know, I’ve been having like chest pain and I, you know, and I’m
00:23:16:07 – 00:23:18:20
by no means, way, shape or form,
00:23:18:20 – 00:23:21:20
you know, am I a doctor, but for
my family is I will absolutely
00:23:22:00 – 00:23:25:10
okay, let me make this some of these shots
or let me make this, some of this
00:23:25:10 – 00:23:29:08
kind of juice, or go to the grocery store
have them check the PLU numbers.
00:23:30:06 – 00:23:32:09
If I can’t bring it to them myself.
00:23:32:09 – 00:23:34:22
But then also, farmers markets.
00:23:35:11 – 00:23:36:07
Oh, yeah.
00:23:36:07 – 00:23:39:21
Farmers markets are a gem.
00:23:40:05 – 00:23:44:18
In a lot of community that people don’t even realize
if you can’t grow it,
00:23:45:06 – 00:23:48:00
okay cool.
Don’t buy it from the grocery store.
00:23:48:00 – 00:23:50:15
Go to your local farmers market.
One, you’re supporting
00:23:50:15 – 00:23:52:13
those small businesses.
And two,
00:23:52:13 – 00:23:55:11
those small, those farmers
that are at farmers markets,
00:23:55:11 – 00:23:57:11
a lot of them grow on a smaller scale.
00:23:57:11 – 00:24:01:18
So you’re not having to it’s
not a mass production where you’re dealing
00:24:01:18 – 00:24:05:09
with insecticides and pesticides,
and they know their soil health
00:24:05:09 – 00:24:07:07
because it’s
more of a controlled environment.
00:24:07:07 – 00:24:10:00
So I always, always, always,
if you can’t grow it yourself
00:24:10:00 – 00:24:12:16
or don’t want to grow it yourself,
don’t have the time to grow it yourself,
00:24:12:16 – 00:24:13:23
I love it,
00:24:13:23 – 00:24:14:16
Farmers markets.
00:24:14:16 – 00:24:16:11
I love it.
00:24:16:11 – 00:24:19:00
So, you know, we could call them.
00:24:19:00 – 00:24:20:02
We could spell it
00:24:20:02 – 00:24:25:05
farmers market p-h-a-r-m because they are
00:24:26:05 – 00:24:27:14
I mean, plants are medicinal.
00:24:27:14 – 00:24:31:22
And if you guys just want,
probably a brief
00:24:31:23 – 00:24:34:23
take away as far as how
00:24:35:10 – 00:24:38:04
plants are actually medicine,
00:24:38:04 – 00:24:41:17
I would recommend you read
How Not to Die by Michael Greger.
00:24:41:17 – 00:24:46:05
Doctor Michael Greger it’s a terrible
name of a book, but man, it’s quite a book
00:24:46:11 – 00:24:49:18
and it goes through
so many different types of plants.
00:24:50:04 – 00:24:53:14
Vegetables, fruits, grains,
00:24:53:15 – 00:24:56:16
beans, why they are so healthful
00:24:56:16 – 00:25:01:13
and how they actually help reduce
or prevent disease.
00:25:01:22 – 00:25:06:09
So food is medicine and growing your own
00:25:06:09 – 00:25:11:16
or going to farmer’s markets
knowing where it’s grown is so key.
00:25:11:16 – 00:25:15:00
And it can be so incredibly empowering.
00:25:15:08 – 00:25:19:22
So Tina tell people how they can get
a hold of you, how they can work with you,
00:25:19:22 – 00:25:24:19
or how they can get you out to where they
are to help them build their own garden.
00:25:24:22 – 00:25:28:13
So our website is w w w
00:25:28:17 – 00:25:33:08
dot Soulful Soil Farms dot net.
00:25:33:18 – 00:25:34:21
It’s a bit of a tongue twister.
00:25:34:21 – 00:25:36:22
So when I was coming up with that
name, I didn’t think that through,
00:25:38:07 – 00:25:40:07
it stuck with me.
00:25:40:07 – 00:25:41:23
We’re on Instagram.
00:25:41:23 – 00:25:46:19
That’s probably our biggest platform
at soulful underscore soil
00:25:47:06 – 00:25:50:06
underscore farms.
00:25:50:10 – 00:25:52:18
All of our contact
information is on there.
00:25:52:18 – 00:25:54:22
Our website has our calendar,
00:25:54:22 – 00:25:59:02
and we try to keep both sites up to date
with all of our events,
00:25:59:02 – 00:26:01:01
upcoming events.
00:26:01:01 – 00:26:04:01
So we can always be reached there. You can DM me.
00:26:04:01 – 00:26:06:21
Our contact number is on there,
mailing address is on there, so.
00:26:06:21 – 00:26:10:00
I’m pretty easy to find. Yes.
00:26:10:05 – 00:26:11:09
And she’s amazing.
00:26:11:09 – 00:26:13:04
Complete wealth of information.
00:26:13:04 – 00:26:15:14
She also is a humanitarian.
00:26:15:14 – 00:26:20:06
She is still out there doing donation
drives for Eaton fire survivors.
00:26:20:06 – 00:26:23:06
She’s doing lots of community work.
00:26:23:10 – 00:26:27:19
You got to just support this amazing,
incredible human.
00:26:28:03 – 00:26:30:20
Thank you so much, Tina, for joining us.
00:26:30:20 – 00:26:32:13
Thank you for having me.
I super appreciate it.
00:26:32:13 – 00:26:35:13
Yes. And thank you all for joining us.
00:26:35:21 – 00:26:38:04
We’re really looking forward
to the next interview.
00:26:38:04 – 00:26:40:08
Hopefully it’s as good as this one.
00:26:40:08 – 00:26:42:00
Fingers crossed.
00:26:42:00 – 00:26:44:18
We really hope to see you next time.
00:26:44:18 – 00:26:45:19
And thank you.
00:26:47:06 – 00:26:50:11
Thanks for tuning into
the ANEW Insight Podcast.
00:26:50:11 – 00:26:53:03
Please remember, the contents shared on this podcast
00:26:53:03 – 00:26:57:23
is for entertainment purposes only,
and does not constitute medical advice.
00:26:57:23 – 00:27:00:19
You can find us anywhere podcasts are streaming.
00:27:00:19 – 00:27:03:08
On Youtube: @my.anew.insight
00:27:03:08 – 00:27:08:05
And at anew-insight.com under the
ANEW Insight Podcast tab.
00:27:08:05 – 00:27:16:04
And follow us on our socials @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Threads for more updates.
00:27:16:04 – 00:27:19:06
Tune in next time and evolve with us.
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