S5 Ep23: How Regenerative Agriculture is Strengthening the Foundation of Our Food System with Mollie Engelhart
“The foundation of all that we are is food and water.” — Mollie Engelhart
We're used to the idea that we live in a time for sustainability. While "sustainable" agriculture has certainly played its part in making us more aware of the impact of our actions on the environment, it hasn't done much to actually improve the situation. And with climate change getting worse every day, it's clear that something needs to change.
We need to stop obsessing over how much food we grow and start paying attention to how much food we regenerate. Regenerative agriculture can strengthen our food system beyond the "sustainable" level and help us fulfill our role as stewards of the land.
In this episode, Justine sits with Mollie Engelhart, the Executive Chef at Sage Plant-Based Bistro and Brewery. Working in the kitchen for so long has helped Mollie to see how much food waste is affecting the environment. Although she was doing her part to solve this, she knew she can do more. That’s when Sow a Heart was born, an organic farm that focuses on regenerative agriculture. All the food waste from their restaurants and others were brought to the farm to help regenerate soil health, in turn, giving them more nutrient-dense produce. But the farm was not only used to grow crops, Mollie’s heart also inclined her to build a sanctuary for rescued animals.
Listen in as Justine and Mollie talk about how much greenhouse gas is produced from food waste, how regenerative farming is helping the environment and humans thrive, the qualities of a successful entrepreneur, why we should not be afraid to fail, and how much work is needed to succeed.
Connect with Mollie:
Plant-based Chef, Mollie Engelhart and her husband own Sow a Heart, a 17-acre organic farm that supports regenerative agriculture and takes care of rescue animals. Besides running farm operations, Mollie and her husband also manage their plant-based restaurant, Sage Plant Based Bistro and Brewery. Mollie is also a board member of Kiss the Ground, the award-winning producer of “May I Be Frank”, a freedom fighter, and a mother of 3.
Connect with Sow A Heart:
Connect with Sage Plant-Based Bistro and Brewery:
Episode Highlights:
01:01 Food Waste and Greenhouse Gases
04:05 This is No Longer About Sustainability
08:02 Not Afraid to Fail
11:06 Success is Work
Tweets:
What if there was a way to keep our planet thriving while also feeding ourselves well? Regenerative agriculture is a long-term solution to our food crisis! Listen in as @jreichman and @thechefmollie share how regenerative farming is now strengthening our food system. #podcast #entrepreneurship #socialgood #inspiration #impactmatters #NextGenChef #EssentialIngredients #sowaheart #regenerativeagriculture #organicfarming #foodwaste #soil #foodindustry #entrepreneurialjourney
Inspirational Quotes:
01:20 “Food waste creating methane is the number one problem in the world when it comes to greenhouse gases— and we're all participating in that.” -Mollie Engelhart
03:08 “The only bank account that matters is the soil." -Matthew Engelhardt (Mollie's father)
08:11 “I've never been afraid of failure. I've had tons of failed stuff, and tons of successes." -Mollie Engelhart
09:25 “To be a successful business person, you have to be able to adapt to whatever's happening." -Mollie Engelhart
10:00 “Do not talk yourself out of anything. Just take the next step." -Mollie Engelhart
11:32 “We have to be willing to try something and to try for a long time." -Mollie Engelhart
12:41 “The foundation of all that we are is food and water." -Mollie Engelhart
14:16 "People need to know how to make an informed choice." -Justine Reichman
Transcriptions:
Justine Reichman: Welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman. And today, Mollie Engelhart from Sow a Heart.
Welcome, Mollie.
Mollie Engelhart: Thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here today.
Justine Reichman: I'm so excited to meet you. Thank you so much for having us here. Your farm is amazing.
Mollie Engelhart: Yes, it's been a dream of mine. It came into shape for my experience here in the world. I mean, I wouldn't go home with a goat. Everybody wants that. They're the cutest thing ever. They're little velvety ears.
Justine Reichman: Honestly, your farm is amazing. I just want everybody to learn a little bit about you and what you're doing, because it's just beautiful. And let's start with, what is Sow a Heart?
Mollie Engelhart: Well, to start with what's Sow a Heart is, my real job is I'm a chef., and I
Justine Reichman: Not your real job.
“Food waste creating methane is the number one problem in the world when it comes to greenhouse gases— and we're all participating in that.” -Mollie Engelhart
Mollie Engelhart: No, because that's what it came from. I'm a chef, I own restaurants. And I realized that we were putting so much food into the landfill. Nobody wants to talk about cars, or the problem or cows are the problem. But really, food waste creating methane is the number one problem in the world when it comes to greenhouse gasses. And we're all participating in that. We all throw food in the trash. And when I realized that, I realized that I'm a chef, and I'm throwing tons. I don't mean like that as an expression like tons of food every day in the trash. The bottom of cauliflower, the bottoms of broccoli, the tops of carrots. And so I realized like, oh, I need to have a farm so I can compost it, turn it into soil, and then make it into food to send it back to the restaurants. And that is how Sow a Heart came to be. It was a long journey, but that is how we ended up with the farm via Sage Vegan Bistro. And then Sow a Heart came to deal with the compost from the restaurant.
Justine Reichman: You started off as a chef. Had the restaurant. And then built the farm.
“The only bank account that matters is the soil." -Matthew Engelhardt (Mollie's father)
Mollie Engelhart: I started as a pot grower, and then I got good at cooking. Or I was always good at cooking. So I was a latchkey kid, and so I used that skill. I use that skill to turn into restaurants, and then I went back from pot farming back to regular farming after this. But no, my real job is I'm a chef. We do this farm regenerative agriculture to give the best ingredients to my restaurant to have the most nutrient dense food possible given to my guests. Because I really believe that the connection between healthy soil and healthy human beings is so closely related. And that when you look at the microbiology in healthy soil, and the microbiology in a healthy gut, it is the same. So we know that that is what we're meant to be doing. And so I am trying to not relate to Islander, very passionate about soil. That's a big thing in our family. My dad was like, the only bank account that matters is the soil. I'm like, wow, I hope that's true. But yes, we are always banking carbon.
Justine Reichman: So have you always had a passion around this?
Mollie Engelhart: No. I was just like a regular LA. I moved to Los Angeles, went to film school, made a few films, got a film into Sundance. The regular LA bullshit. Then I was like, oh, I'm gonna grow some pot, and I'm opening a restaurant. I have a hybrid, drink my oat milk latte, bought my organic vegetables, use bags at the store and was like, I'm really not doing shit for the environment. But I guess I'm doing the best that I can. I heard a podcast from this guy, Graeme Sait that my brother said to me, and it was the first time that I had hoped that there was a solution, and that we could be part of it. We could be part of nature and grow the best.
Justine Reichman: What was it that he said that resonated with you that made you feel that way?
Mollie Engelhart: He said that we can reverse what's happened, like this is not sustainable. This is about regeneration. This is about how we bring down that gas that we've put up there into the top eight inches of topsoil at quantities that we've never talked about before. And I thought that if this is a scientific solution, how come nobody's talking about it? And then I just started talking, and talking, and talking about it. And I convinced nobody to buy a farm so I was like, I got to be the one to buy a farm. And so then I tried for a long time to buy a farm. My husband was undocumented so no bank would give us a loan. And then finally, we got a private person to give us a loan, and this is how Sow a Heart came to be.
Justine Reichman: And now, you have a farm. And now, you produce all the produce to feed all the people that go to your, for restaurant for restaurants.
Mollie Engelhart: Yeah. We do 250 boxes to families in Los Angeles. And it's not all of the produce to our restaurant. We have a big 5000 square foot restaurant, so other farms are supporting our restaurants as well. But we are a farm to table concept. We do buy directly from many small farms, including my own. But all of the compost from all of those farms comes back to this farm and turns back into soil, and then goes back to the restaurant in the form of an avocado, an orange and a cabbage.
Justine Reichman: That's crazy. So now, talk to you about your restaurant. So you started off as a film student, and then you were a pot grower, and then you became an entrepreneur.
Mollie Engelhart: I was a poet. I was on hbo.poetry and all that for a while. So I opened a restaurant with my best girlfriend. We first started to do just vegan ice cream, raw vegan ice cream.
Justine Reichman: Can we just digress for one second? Were you ever involved in the family restaurant?
Mollie Engelhart: No. I had enough of those requests over the days growing. I grew up in a very spiritual affirmation family. I'm always like, okay, yes, we're all grateful. Okay, let's get to work. I'm a little bit more, I don't wanna say grounded. But I'm just like, I have a different view of life. I'm still very grateful, much appreciation today. What are you grateful for today? My beautiful family, my beautiful farm, my husband. Well, I am grateful. I didn't know about the restaurant concept for me, so we never worked. I opened at the same time as them. I just didn't get popular. Took my restaurants much longer to get popular. We both opened our LA Stores in March of 2011, and then it took much more time. Me and my girlfriend started an ice cream shop. (inaudible) and my dad were doing this challenge to be raw for like, I don't know how long, and I kept making raw ice cream for them. And then that led to us opening an ice cream shop. My best girlfriend was pregnant. She was like, I can't be an actress. It's too unstable. And I was like, I can't be a pot grower because my brother in law went to prison. And so we were like, let's start an ice cream shop like that. We had high hopes for this ice cream shop. It was too niche of a market, raw vegan ice cream.
Justine Reichman: We actually went to New York, it was really good to lose to the apothecary.
Mollie Engelhart: It's not there anymore. It's too niche. Really good, like on Instagram. But is it really good at the bottom line?
Justine Reichman: It is very expensive to me.
“I've never been afraid of failure. I've had tons of failed stuff, and tons of successes." -Mollie Engelhart
Mollie Engelhart: It was very expensive. And so we opened this ice cream shop, and then we opened Sage, and then we opened another one, and another one. My girlfriend passed away in 2018 of breast cancer. But it was a blessing because if she had just stayed to be an actress, her daughter would not be able to be taken care of the way that she is now. So I feel grateful that we made all the choices that we did, even though she did pass away. So we started this restaurant. And now, it's very successful. I think it's one of the most successful vegan restaurants in Los Angeles. We have four locations, and a brewery.
Justine Reichman: Wow. So when you went into it, though, as an entrepreneur, you didn't have experience as an entrepreneur.
Mollie Engelhart: Oh, I had an experience as an entrepreneur. I had a recording studio. I had a lemonade stand when I was eight, but I've never been afraid of failure. Every successful person you've ever met has like, oh, I was living in my car. I was this, I was that. So I've had tons of failed stuff, and tons of successes.
Justine Reichman: So you weren't afraid. You're just like, I'm doing this with your friend. Was there a plan?
Mollie Engelhart: I'm just growing pot, we're just kind of like siphon the money off. And then it was a math and health department, I had to learn all on the way, and then I had to stop growing pot. And we just learned. Learned on the job with everything. Same with farming.
Justine Reichman: I'm scrapping. I think that's the best way to be.
“To be a successful business person, you have to be able to adapt to whatever's happening." -Mollie Engelhart
Mollie Engelhart: People always say like, even now when I raise money for a new restaurant, I'll send out a business plan. But I'm mostly like, okay, these are numbers made up on a piece of paper by somebody who thinks they know how this restaurants gonna go. Nobody knows how it's gonna go. So you can look at all those numbers, but it's a bunch of bull. People always be like, kids will come to me like getting out of college, I'm making this business plan. I'm like, great. And then I'm like, give them advice on it because that's what you do when you're an entrepreneur. But I'm always like, hey, this is all made up. Nobody knows how it's gonna go. 50% of the stuff is not even going to line up with what the reality of the costs are because stuff is always changing. And to be a successful business person, you just have to be able to adapt to whatever's happening. And I believe there's two, three qualities to success in entrepreneurship. This is to see an opportunity and take it when it's there and available to take even if it seems scary. Seize the moment.
“Do not talk yourself out of anything. Just take the next step." -Mollie Engelhart
The next one is to not be talking yourself out of anything. 90% of people talk about their own self out of their own success, because their brain wants to know how it's going to be 10 steps out in the future. Always just take the next step. Do not talk yourself out of anything. Just take the next step, I always take the next step. Who is really going to open a restaurant here? I don't know if it came across my path, or check it out. And that's how I do stuff. Take the next step, take the next step. And you have to be willing to look stupid. And you have to follow through, you have to go the distance because nothing is successful right in the beginning. Some things like right out of the blocks are successful. But 9 times out of 10, you got to work some shit out, and it's gonna go left and right. Oh, my god, we're losing money. I'm a rat in the wheel, how am I gonna do it? Where are my costs? And then you got to follow through, you don't quit. Anyway you quit the first you'll be like, I've been doing this for seven months, and we haven't made any money. And I just laugh because I'm like, yeah, of course. Maybe wait seven months. It took me three years to make money in my Culver City's restaurant. It's now a $7 million restaurant, but I failed for three years. I had to take calls from investors for three years explaining that I just don't even know what I'm doing. I'm doing the best that I can, and I'm sorry.
Justine Reichman: I think people often believe that they're gonna make money overnight. And they look at people and they're like, well, that company did it.
Mollie Engelhart: I think that there is the occasional overnight success. I've seen them. But people thought, well, if people thought Cafe Gratitude when my dad came to LA was an overnight success, but they didn't know he'd been doing it for seven years in the bay, and having all types of challenges. Getting his feet wet and learning on the job. My dad was a carpenter in the fashion industry. But a carpenter in the fashion industry knew nothing about restaurants when he started Cafe Gratitude. And so we have to be willing to try something and to try for a long time. And so if you're going to start a business, what I have to say is like, are you still willing to be doing this business if you're not rich next year, or the year after? That's what you want to choose. And people who say like, oh, to something you love at, and then you'll never be working? Like, no, bullshit. Choose something you're good at, and that you can make a difference in the world at because that people are like, well, I can paint this log like, okay, only 10 people maybe want to buy that lawn painted by you so you have it be your passion. But that can be your hobby. And you could do that and have an Instagram page for everything, but choose something that you are good at, and that makes a difference in the world and then you will always feel the fulfillment of making other people's lives better. Not like, oh, my god, I'm so fulfilled because I paint logs. No, don't do that.
“We have to be willing to try something and to try for a long time." -Mollie Engelhart
Justine Reichman: So why do you do food?
Mollie Engelhart: Because food is life.
Justine Reichman: I agree with you. I love food.
Mollie Engelhart: Because the foundation of everything is food. The craziness is that 70% of farmers in this country are working a second job to keep the farm, and these are the people that are feeding us like the foundation of all that we are is food and water. The food system is being centralized in the way that many other systems have been centralized. And then when that happens fully and we no longer have small farms like this? We wanted to know what is in our food because there's so much gray and so much behind the curtain around our food. And so I wanted to be able to have people go to a restaurant and feel good like, I know what is in this food. I know that it's nourishing my body and I don't have to suspect that maybe a Cisco Trump is pulling up behind while they're saying this on the front facing and then they're serving me corn syrup on the back facing. I wanted to have something that nourished people.
Justine Reichman: How do you communicate that to your customers?
“The foundation of all that we are is food and water." -Mollie Engelhart
Mollie Engelhart: I have a YouTube channel. I have Instagram, the Farmers Instagram, restaurants Instagram. We have TV cameras in the restaurants playing stories about the farm. Not TV cameras, TV monitors. I don't know, it's constantly a hard job. I mean, people always say, I didn't know you had a farm. And I'm like, but I think people have to see something like 11 times or 7 times until they know it. And so it's a job to communicate that. But what was very rewarding is during the pandemic, we got so many calls that said, I'm on a fixed income right now, or I don't have this, or we're on one income, but we're still going out to eat once a week, or getting takeout once a week. And it's from you, because I trust you. Because I see that what you're doing, because we're following you and all that. So I do feel like it is resonating with people, and it's our job to get that communication out there.
Justine Reichman: It's amazing because people need to know how to make an informed choice. And you're giving them the information so they can make an informed choice, and they're choosing you.
Mollie Engelhart: I think that informed consent is one of the most important values that we should hold on to so yes.
Justine Reichman: What's new and what's next for you?
"People need to know how to make an informed choice." -Justine Reichman
Mollie Engelhart: I just bought 200 acres in Texas, and we're opening restaurants in Texas.
Justine Reichman: And are you gonna have a local farm there? You just say that, sorry.
Mollie Engelhart: Weah, we're setting it up right now. Greenhouses are being put in, and we're putting up fencing so the deer can't get, and we're going to start. Hopefully, the summer will start producing food there.
Justine Reichman: That's amazing. Congratulations. What are you hoping to?
Mollie Engelhart: I hope that we'll have our first restaurant open in San Antonio by the end of this year.
Justine Reichman: You'll have to keep us posted.
Mollie Engelhart: All right, definitely.
Justine Reichman: Well, thanks so much.
Mollie Engelhart: Thank you so much.
