The Road Not Taken
Each and every person’s journey is unique.
This story…is about the world we live in.
A world of duality reflected in my life…the first half of childhood spent in Southern California & Panama…
then the second half as a third culture kid in International Schools…witnessing Poland grow out of the darkness of Communism.
Before reaching adulthood I had witnessed great extremes.
Rich & poor, the have & have-nots, light & dark.
However, if you can take a step back, ask yourself what is a life worth living, follow your passions & set yourself on a larger than life positive mission, one can find true fulfillment…
ultimately rising above duality of our reality & finding a third way.
Unfortunately, the majority of the population remains caught in this duality….
most never reach their full potential…but for those fortunate enough to take the “Road Not Taken”, this is a story of the journey of taking risks & finding life’s purpose to regenerating people, planet & agriculture.
So here it goes…the reason for creating EDEN Partners…
A Broke Bootstrapping Entrepreneur
For years, I had been struggling as an international entrepreneur, trying to make it rich in Poland.
Since returning back from New York & working in high-frequency trading (witnessing the Flash Crash)…there was an underlying frustration & lack purpose.
Still it could be worse.
Instead of 80 hour work weeks in front of computer working on “market-neutral volatility arbitrage”, it was cheap party weekends in Warsaw & Berlin, the dream of every 20-something year-old.
Cognitive dissonance, while ignoring the true dissatisfaction of everyday life.
Not knowing where my passions lay, the first business created was Social Karma – a digital marketing agency specialized in sales funnels (& guaranteeing 300%ROAS)…
Learn how to do online marketing & you can create any business you like after.
However, continue lack of purpose continued to nag at me.
2016 was a key moment.
During this year, Steak Club was created, an online butcher delivery of dry-aged beef.
Experiencing the best beef Europe has to offer (Poland is the 2nd largest exporter of beef in the EU) & organizing barbecues (people), two passions were awakened.
The love of food & people.
As luck would have it, one of the original business partner in Steak Club, was the first one to introduce the concept of “permaculture”.
I was immediately hooked.
For years leading up to this, magazines, newspaper articles, & the internet were awash with stories of a society destroying itself & the topsoil which all civilizations have depended on.
Farming was the main culprit.
With Permaculture however, what was not to love?
This was not the farming we all think of, monotonous monocultures…but a possible solution to the world’s problems.
However, it would still take a couple of years, still ignoring the problem’s our society faced, still ignoring the internal conflict nagging inside me..to continue in the pursuit of the American dream, obtaining wealth…
Being an entrepreneur comes with risks & sure enough my attention was consumed by a second insolvency…bankrupting a wildly successful direct marketing business & nearly losing Steak Club…it was time for a reset.
As luck would have it, I was financially broke, but I have many friends.
Perhaps it’s my positivity or karma…but instead of wallowing in sorrow, my best paid for an all expenses paid trip to Peru, that would change my life.
Ayahuasca, Deprogramming & True Clarity
While in Peru…it dawned on me (with ancient help)…the purpose of life was not to chase money…but to make the world a better place.
When you die, what truly matters?
The wealth you’ve accumulated?
Or beautiful relationships, knowing you made a positive impact & enjoyed a fulfilling life?
So…how to fix society?
If society is a pyramid, from bottom to top, all civilizations are stacked upon..
- Agriculture
- Manufacturing
- Services
Already owning an online butcher, the answer was obvious.
Let’s fix agriculture.
Combine this with three take-aways.
1. If you have one life, you might as well be positive
2. Balance is the key to a healthy life
3. Take responsibility for your actions
Returning back to Poland after 6 weeks, I was forever changed.
However, it would still take 2 more years.
Continuing to chase money…only led to more misery…
Failing to align my heart & mind, the universe served a third insolvency….
Walking Away from Rome
At the start of 2019, with no family, no kids, no employees, nor money to pay rent…the universe had made it’s point…it was time to embark on the journey of changing agriculture for the better
So began a 5 year transformation…nomading with little to no money (not paying rent definitely helped) …and the beginning of a plan to fix our agricultural system.
First step…move to the countryside, test the waters…and learn by doing.
Having lived in the city my whole life, the move seemed daunting, but in reality it was….amazing!It was here I found my balance.
Routine is the key…
5 a.m. wake-ups, start the fire
6 a.m. put coals & brisket into the smoker
3 hours of computer work
Spend the next 9 hours outside working on projects & with nature
Finish the day with a brisket and a swim in a pond
Repeat
Top that with a keto diet, intermittent fasting for increased energy, and being around nature, experiencing real life never felt better!
For 3 months, it was figuring out how to run an educational farm, create weekend experiences, entertaining groups of people, group physical projects (karma yoga), barbecues & parties in the forest.
Learning by doing is the new mantra…tractors, chainsaws, and working with nature…the first project was a resounding success.
Creating a Mandala Kitchen Garden, it was amazing to see what you can grow with good soil, sunlight & water.
After 3 months…with no plans & still no money, friends started to call, with invites to join in on holidays, all expenses paid, for the rest of the year.
Surely this was a sign?
This opportunity was used to observe the agricultural practice in over 10 countries, including:
Italy
Costa Rica (twice)
Spain
France
Germany
Austria
Czech Republic
and Slovenia
This enabled me to observe a number of things:
- The world is full of amazing people..but the disparity of wealth between countries & within countries is shocking
- Western Agricultural practices of monocultures & chemicals are now global
- There are little to no examples of profitable “permaculture” farms
- Farmer’s are the last people you will convince to change.
On this last point, I would mention there is hope.
One of the best examples of Regenerative Agriculture is a place called Krameterhof (which we visited in September 2019).
80ha, located in the high Alps near Salzburg…it is a sight to behold.
Water capture ponds, chickens, pigs, cattle…terraced fields…the pictures speak for themselves:
Coming back from New Years in Costa Rica, as the COVID Pandemic hit & 2020 began, a solution to reform agriculture was beginning to form.
What was needed to reform agriculture?
1. Top-down Change:
To work with governments & corporations (we live in an age of oligopolies), to convert land in mass to regenerative practices.
2. Bottom-up Change:
To create a network of educational farms (Environmental Development Education Network), to create a new generation of farmers & entrepreneurs, in order to decentralized agriculture back to a farm-to-table system.
How to fund this? Not yet sure.
Beyond Permaculture
Fortunately, the pandemic was great for business.
Having an online food business (Steak Club), the year was spent traveling freely, hosting barbecues in the countryside (lockdowns be damned!), working on gardens, traveling & continuing to grow a network of people & solutions…
but there were a couple of problems with Permaculture.
What kind of problems?
As an entrepreneur…no one was able to show me a business model with a working spreadsheet!
As the Fall of 2020 approached, it was obvious, more research was needed…permaculture was turning out to be “dogma” (SWALES EVERYWHERE), with no real answers on how to profitably regenerate land on a large scale.
Now….working on the fringe of society…means you meet other thought leaders with fringe ideas.
Thus, while looking for a farm outside of Warsaw to start an educational farm…I met the infamous Dr. Svensson, holistic doctor & quantum medicine expert.
Over the winter of 2020-2021, isolated in a strange place…I set to continue my search for more answers.
First, was learning about holistic health… details of which you can check out in the YouTube playlist below.
A longer discussion, let’s just say, that we are what we eat, & agriculture is inextricably linked to human health.
The second thing I learned (or found), was finally finding spreadsheets!
Richard Perkins, excellent book The Regenerative Agriculture Book, had everything needed to start a farm (including spreadsheets), not just permaculture, but a multitude of methods, including something called keyline design.
Third…after searching for 2 years….I finally finding the missing puzzle of knowledge I had been searching for!
A farm planning course based on keyline design ie. regenerative agriculture at scale.
A Year as a Farmer
As 2021 came around (now after 2 years of nomading), I refused to return to the city.
Steak Club could now be managed fully-remote, and now having until the Fall to start the Regrarians Course, it was decided to move to Western Poland, the least populated county in the country.
The goal?
To get hands on experience, and truly understand the issues farmers were facing in the countryside…
What did I find?
The countryside is just as broken as the cities.
Unhealthy people (I now understand the root cause of 95% of modern illnesses are Western Diets), unhappy/depressed farmers, mismanagement of forests (thank you @Ikea), and extreme droughts…in Poland!
As Fall came around, and the Northern European winter set in, I geared up for the next adventure.
It was time to return to California, my home state…to get a first hand look at the problems there.
The World in Crisis
What was the goal of this trip besides observing the challenges we face?
1. Completing the Regrarians Course -> The missing puzzle piece of knowledge to design large farms
2. Building a network in California → putting my networking skills to the test & begin integrating the European Network with a US network
Really, there shouldn’t have been any surprises, but what I witnessed…was a civilization crumbling before my eyes.
Obesity epidemic, homeless people on streets, urban sprawl as far as the eye could see, crumbling infrastructure, droughts & while I was there…floods!
However, the same problems plagued one of the wealthiest places on Earth as the rest of the world:
1. The disparity of wealth between countries & within countries is shocking
2. Western Agricultural practices of monocultures & chemicals are now global
3. Practically, no examples of profitable “permaculture” farms
To top things off…Steak Club underwent another crisis, meaning no income in one of the most expensive places on earth, Los Angeles.
Luckily, now after 3 years of nomading, using my knowledge of holistic health, and moving to a farm, I managed to thrive on $74 a month.
How?
By going to Latino stores, & eating beef liver, flank steak, eggs & butter.
With a strict diet, isolated but with internet, in under 2 months the health effects were profound.
12 hours days, no brain fog, tanned & an 8-pack after 6 weeks.
We only grow when put in uncomfortable environments!
Nearly finding myself homeless during the Christmas of 2021-2022, only on Dec. 23, did I make it to Marquez Ranch…
and in the process met a “new family.”
That winter, we went about fixing up the ranch, getting first hand experience, while finishing the Regrarians Course.
This trip was risky, but well worth it.
The knowledge acquired, network built, facing difficult circumstances & observing the extremes of capitalism.
All this leading to towards the solution to change agriculture for the better.
Destination “Calabrifornia”
Returning to Europe during the Spring of 2022 (and again nearly losing Steak Club), the world would have to wait….this year was about fixing the beef business.
By this time, after 4 years of nomading, the world had been through a pandemic, demonstrating the fragility of the global supply networks, and there was now the war in Ukraine….
As the end of 2022 approached…it was time again to move to warmer spot for the winter.
This time to Calabria, Italy…and finally begin working on a solution to regenerate agriculture.
As the end of 2022 approached…it was time again to move to warmer spot for the winter.
This time to Calabria, Italy…and finally begin working on Adam Grows EDEN full-time.
With friends, a community, a place with amazing weather, great food & friendly people…2023 is now being spent learning Italian while creating a network of:
- LOCAL PARTNERS
- Experts
- SOLUTIONS Portfolio
- Investors
- Corporations
- Governments
- NGOS
Adam Grows EDEN was created to provide best in class expertise in Regenerative Agriculture for landowners, farmers, corporations, governments & NGOs, with proceeds of profits helping to grow the Environmental Development Education Network (EDEN).
Change is not easy…growth is uncomfortable.
As we face the painful changes coming, it is only by moving forward and confronting our problems, where we grow to solve the challenges within ourselves & our global society are now facing.
Don’t be scared, all the solutions exist to solve our problems, but only by working together & applying these solutions with an open-mind, we can transform a broken system.
