Anya Fernald: Regenerative Farming and the Art of Cooking Meat | Lex Fridman Podcast #203

The following is a conversation with Anya Fernald, co-founder of Belcampo Farms that was founded with the purpose to create meat that's good for people, the planet, and the animals, specifically treating their animals as ethically as possible. In this, she sought to revolutionize the meat industry from the inside out. She's also a scholar and practitioner of regenerative agriculture, and she's a chef who has appeared many times as a judge on Iron Chef. Plus, she has one of my favorite food-related Instagrams. On top of that, she's also a long-time friend of Andrew Huberman, which is how we first got connected. Quick mention of our sponsors: Gala Games, Athletic Greens, Four Sigmatic, and Fundrise. Check them out in the description to support this podcast. As a side note, let me say that I got the chance to visit and spend a few days with Anya at Belcampo Farms in Northern California. I met many animals there, from cows to pigs, and saw the amazing land on which they grazed. I butchered meat, I watched Anya cook many amazing meals, I ate raw meat and cooked meat, and spent long hours at the bonfire talking with friends and listening to the sounds of nature. I hiked, swam in a cold mountain lake, and slept in a tent underneath the stars. It was an amazing, eye-opening experience, especially in my first ever visit to a slaughterhouse. The term "slaughterhouse" is haunting in itself. The animals I met lived a great life, but in the end, they were slaughtered in the most ethical way possible, but slaughtered nevertheless. Seeing animals with whom just the day before I made a connection be converted to meat that I then consumed was deeply honest to me. This ethical farm, Belcampo, represents less than 1% of animals raised in the United States. The rest is factory farmed. I could not escape the thought of the 40 to 50 billion animals worldwide raised in terrible conditions on these factory farms. I've spent most of my life thinking about, and being in contact with, human suffering. But the landscape of suffering in the minds of conscious beings is much larger than humans. I must admit that I still am haunted by human suffering more than animal suffering. Perhaps I will one day see the wrong in me drawing such a line. Either way, the visit to Belcampo Farms made me realize that I have not thought deeply enough about the ethics of my choices and the choices of human civilization with respect to animals. And, more importantly, I have not thought or learned enough about large-scale solutions to alleviate animal suffering. Belcampo is paving the way on this, and is the reason I wanted to show my support for their and Anya's efforts in regenerative farming and ethical treatment of animals. This is the Lex Fridman Podcast, and here's my conversation with Anya Fernald. (footsteps crunching) If you're watching the video version of this and are asking yourself why we're in nature right now, there's actually-