006 Ancel Mitchell: Bringing Cacao from Its Traditional Roots to a Cottage Industry (Talamanca Chocolate)
Regeneration Nation Costa Rica
Release Date: 01/17/2021
Regeneration Nation Costa Rica
In this episode, I had a chat with a long-time friend, Santiago Moringa, from Molinos Verdes de Moringa. Santi is a leader in social permaculture and has over a decade of experience building community gardens and other socially regenerative projects across Costa Rica and internationally. In our conversation, Santi shares his journey from discovering permaculture through the lens of agriculture to embracing the broader social aspects that foster community and connection. We delve into his passion for integrating diverse communities into the permaculture movement, including elders and...
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In this interview, I visited Itai Hauben at his lovely home and permaculture education center, called Adama. Adama is nestled in the mountains of the Chirripo River Valley, where Itai and his wife, Melina, teach permaculture design courses to lucky students every year. It’s also the headquarters of Symbiosis Eco Design, their permaculture design and implementation business, serving land projects nationwide. Symbiosis is a powerful change agent in this country ecologically, socially, and educationally. We got together to chat about why creating a permaculture design is such a...
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Welcome to an enlightening conversation with Marcus Merlin, steward of MoZen Temple in the Diamante Valley. We delve deep into personal growth, environmental sustainability, and the much-needed impact of regenerative entrepreneurship. Merlin shares his insights into the power of forgiveness as a personal practice and a foundation for creating meaningful connections and building communities. Forgiveness has the power to transform not just individual lives but entire communities. The transformative power of forgiveness can unlock our spiritual beliefs and lead us to rewrite our personal...
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In this episode, we dive into the fascinating world of dementia care with our guest, Katya Deluisa, of The Infinite Mind. Katya shares her journey and how she became involved in working with individuals with dementia after observing the loneliness and lack of connection experienced by individuals with dementia, even when surrounded by family. Katya’s grown a passion for educating families on how to better understand and communicate with their loved ones. The conversation delves into the nature of dementia and the physiological changes that occur in the brain. Katya explains that...
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In this episode, we speak with Ian-Michael Hébert, one of the founders of Holos, a private retreat center and community specializing in holistic living and transformational experiences. In our conversation, he discusses the genesis of Holos, their vision for a sustainable and resilient community, and the importance of focusing on reciprocity and honoring the indigenous people of the land. Ian-Michael also emphasizes the importance of preserving the natural beauty of the Diamante Valley and their commitment to stewardship. Among other details of the community’s...
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In today’s episode, we hear from Sarah Wu, a highly respected permaculturist & herbalist living and teaching in Costa Rica. I sat down with Sarah at the Envision Festival earlier this year to learn about some of the regenerative initiatives the festival has implemented as part of its mission. Envision is a multi-day music festival with several stages and thousands of participants. By day, the focus is characterized by consciousness-raising workshops and presentations on permaculture, community-building, yoga, wellness, the embodiment of the divine masculine and feminine, and...
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In this episode, we meet with Scott Gallant, a permaculture consultant at Porvenir Design. I took advantage of the pragmatism he’s developed through his many years here to explore some of the pitfalls he’s seen with foreigners building large-scale developments. We also explore ways he guides his clients toward transmuting those potential problems into solutions. Through his design and consultation work, Scott often finds himself inviting his clients to slow down and simplify their visions. Scott practices what he preaches, and we get into some of the ways he applies the Holistic Context...
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This episode is with a dedicated community organizer living in the Osa Peninsula, Tricia Stapleton. Tricia shares her embodied wisdom with each question she answers. Relistening to this episode to prepare it for publication was a treat! I had a hard time selecting which portions of this interview to use for the 3-4 highlight reels I produce with every episode because there was SO MUCH amazing content. You’re lucky to be listening to this episode right now. One of the many things that Tricia and I have in common is the responsibility we share as regenerative projects of not ignoring the...
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Rodo is a master natural building teacher from Costa Rica who’s been studying & teaching bamboo construction around the world for over 40 years. I’ve released Rodo’s full-length interview on , complete with a visual tour of his handmade tools and a demonstration of a few bamboo building techniques he shows us. Still, I decided to release this shortened version of it for my podcast listeners, cutting out the parts that were primarily visual. We start this interview in front of one of his most recent compost toilet & shower installments...
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In today’s episode, we get the privilege of visiting with not one but two leaders in the regenerative space, Jean Pullen & Alan Cacao. Through their project , Jean & Alan have been tirelessly promoting permaculture education, seed propagation, food sovereignty, & community-building projects throughout the country. Regenerate Your Reality is a permaculture, agroforestry, and education project working to bring sovereignty and happiness to our communities. It’s their mission to restore the relationship between humans and the earth to build a...
info_outlineWelcome to the world of Ancel Mitchel, herbalist, storyteller, chocolatier, and overall quality human being. In today’s episode, we dive into the value of connecting with & supporting local indigenous communities, various ways that one might prepare a cacao bean, and the value of embracing the mythological roots or our plant medicines.
Ancel is one of the key players of Finca La Isla, along with her partner Peter Kring from last week’s episode. Both of these pioneers have had a lot to share. Kick back and enjoy the stories that Ancel lays out for us. It’ll be time well spent.
Also, we've create this awesome downloadable PDF that includes all the best tips and tricks we learned from Ancel in this epsiode. You can download it here: https://sharinginsights.net/Ancel-Mitchell-PDF
This episode is brought to you by, well, YOU! I haven’t built up my audience enough to have attracted sponsors and all that, so even though it’s the holiday season, you get to support the show without my selling you stuff. Isn’t that great! So, instead of buying an organic cotton shirt or an online course, maybe you can just buy me a coffee!
Go to https://ko-fi.com/sharinginsights to drop a few dollars in the bucket and let me know you care.
We've provided a pair of unique bonus videos for you, this time. I visited Ancel for a late-night beach-side storytelling session, the night following our interview. It was really cool. She shared a modernized spin on an ancient Greek story of Demeter and a Norweigan tale of Tatterhood. I recorded them on audio and have them available for your listening delight on your YouTube Channel:
Demeter and the Old Crone
https://youtu.be/FB7gu1PZBAQ
Tatterhood the Princess Twin
To follow more of Ancel’s adventures in chocolatiering, check out:
https://talamancachocolate.com
https://www.costaricaorganicsfarm.com/
FB - https://www.facebook.com/garden.botanicals
IG - @chocolateismedicine
Ancel’s Medicinal Sodas class on Amazon Explore: https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/1718970?s=13&unique_share_id=5fb27ae8-033c-4e63-85aa-d813e6f875a3
If you enjoy the podcast, please consider leaving a short review on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. It takes less than a minute, and it really makes a difference in helping to spread the word about our mission to others looking to improve their own projects.
Special thanks to Peter Mukuru for editing this episode!
Music: Rite of Passage by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4291-rite-of-passage
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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