From International Business to Local Regenerative Farming

Health Concerns Led International Businessman Glen Schultz to Abandon Fortune 500 Sales and Start a Farm

As Glen Schultz researched the cause of his son’s ailments, he became concerned about the way milk and other foods were being produced.  At first, he shopped from natural grocery stores.  But that wasn’t enough.  The more deeply he researched how food was being grown and processed, the more he realized healthier alternatives were needed.  Meanwhile, his own health began to falter.  In time, he realized that if you want the job done right, you really need to do it yourself.  Digging into his family’s roots, he concluded the solution he was looking for was to build an organic farm.  With support of his family, he bought a few acres in Colorado and began to raising vegetables, berries, apples, and eggs.

Marketing Farm Products Required Personal Growth

 

Farming is hard work, and Glen knew he would have to stay healthy in order to succeed.  He’d had no luck with physicians, so he began taking nutritional supplements.  After trying many formulas from many vendors, he saw the most improvement when he committed to the Healthy Body Bone and Joint Paks available from Youngevity.   Initially skeptical, Glen saw so much recovery from these supplements that he began to study the company history and meet with other distributors.    Eventually, he joined Youngevity, became a distributor, and began using Youngevity mineral supplements in both his household and on his farm (discussed below).  Glen was already growing organically, but he noticed that the flavor, pest resistance, and overall quality of his produce improved when he applied the humic minerals to his crops.

But a small farm is a small business, and an abundance of carrots and kale won’t pay the bills when it sits in the greenhouse.  As Glen began farming, he learned that marketing his produce was his biggest challenge.   Nothing he was taught in corporate sales prepared him for one-on-one food sales to local businesses.  Glen learned that if he was going to attract buyers, he needed to change.  Personal development proved to be key.  Hear Glen describe these challenges in his own words by clicking on the podcast below.

 

Mineral Elements Fundamental to Human Nutrition Proved Equally Valuable On the Farm

Biologically derived mineral elements, many of which are only needed by crops in small amounts, are perhaps the most overlooked, and the most fundamental keys to good health.  This is as true in crops and soils as it is for human nutrition.  Simply stated, if the cells that make up plants, microbes, and people lack any of the key elements necessary to help enzymes function, growth and health will both be limited.  Key elements include major elements we call macronutrients,  like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, and sulfur that make up much of the biomass in our food, but also trace elements like copper, iron, cobalt, and zinc that we need small amounts of in order for certain enzymes to work.   Remarkably, since these same elements are  fundamental to essentially all living cells, the same mineral nutrients that helped Glen restore his own health proved equally useful in formulas available for crop and soil health.

Why does it matter that minerals are biologically derived?  Because in order for plants, animals, and people to benefit from elements like iron, cobalt, and copper, these elements must be converted to forms that living cells can absorb.  Plants and soil microbes contain specialized enzymes that modify mineral elements, converting them to “bioavailable” forms.  While the forms in which minerals are absorbed can vary, we can be confident that minerals extracted from plants or plant remains have been biologically derived, or plant derived, and therefore more bioavailable than, say, minerals derived from a copper mine.

Working with other Youngevity farmers and gardeners, Glen has even explored the use of plant derived minerals to support the health of his pigs and chickens.

Small Regenerative Farms Can Benefit From Networking with Health Advocates.

It is not unusual for small farms to require alternative income streams.  By combining regenerative farming with a diversified, nutrition based network marketing company like Youngevity, Glen has opened the door to partnerships with groups of consumers who may know little about farming, but clearly recognize the value of good nutrition.  These communities are passionate about healthy food.  As Glen’s Youngevity network expands, so does the word-of-mouth market he is creating for farm fresh products.

Passive income earned through Youngevity also offers financial support that can extend through the  off seasons, when crops are not producing.  Not only that, but  technical support available from a select group of independent distributors within the network can help growers like Glen develop successful protocols for remineralizing disturbed soil and for supporting plant and animal health.

Leave a Comment