Kate Kavanaugh
Regenerative Farmer, Butcher & Nutrition Therapist
Kate Kavanaugh is a regenerative farmer, nutrition therapist, and butcher – she’s seen firsthand the way that soil health mirrors human health and the impacts an animal-based diet can have on the ecosystem and human health alike. In conjunction with that, Kate built a farm finder where people can find regeneratively raised meat right near home. She also recently launched a podcast called the Ground Work podcast exploring the interconnected themes of mind, body, and soil.
Kate lives in Adirondack area of New York. Runs a butcher shop in Denver.
Eating ruminants is a biologically appropriate diet that sustained our forebears. 2.4 million years of humans eating meat.
40% of US used to be grassland prairie. Supported bison, pronghorn, venison.
Deep rooted grasses, forbs, shrubs enabled water absorption in the prairies. Short-rooted grain crops deplete ability of soil to absorb water. Thus we are losing topsoil and fertility.
When did it go wrong? The problem of agriculture. Broken down soils restricted ability to grow enough for populations. Exacerbation around the time of Newton with a reductionist view of nature.
On a 24 hour clock, we’ve been eating processed foods for seconds.
Sacredness of eating meat. Rituals around the hunt and meat eating. The burnt offering – means to ascend in Hebrew. Death is transition of one into many, nourishing the soil.
Eating meat changed our evolution. Plant material is hard to digest. Nutrient dense mineral-rich material of meat went into creating bigger brains.
100% grass fed beef has higher omega 3/omega 6 ratio of around 1:1.5. SAD diet is around 15:1.
Phytochemicals accumulate in tissues of animals. Grass-fed meat has 5-10-15% more phytochemicals than grain-fed meat.
Plants have defensive chemicals so animals won’t eat them. Animals neutralize those phytochemicals that our body has a negative reaction to.
Glyphosate is a mineral chelator. Pulls those minerals out of the soil.
Soil is just a reflection of us. Relationship between soil and human health. Human fertility is declining; soil fertility is declining.
DNA from fungus and microbes in us outnumber our human DNA almost logarithmically.
Dirt is what soil becomes when it is no longer alive. Dirt runoff from conventional farms in rainstorms.
Has the cycle of creating scarcity created karma? Campaign to disconnect us from life, from vitality, from nourishing foods. Desertifying farmland. Disconnecting us from the universal seesaw. Nature abhors a monocrop.
Many animals killed in making an Impossible Burger. Versus the cow killed for food has helped restore the land.
Pigs and birds are monogastric and omnivorous. Need more input than grass. Kate feeds them corn, soy, sunflower. Some feed vegetables.
Farming is very different in upstate New York than western US. Quality of soil, price of property, water issues differ.
Listener asks about the vibration of eating dead meat. Kate says animals have a higher vibration than plants and it’s one that our bodies understand.
Alan Savory’s work in using large heavy hoofed animals to restore grazing lands in Africa. Bison are the most similar animal in the US.
Kate also has chicken, duck, geese, guineas. Uses guardian livestock dogs – Great Pyrenees. Aerial predators are biggest hazard. Chicken tractors at night for protection.
Kate interviews Dr. Stephan van Vliet on YouTube re: the dark matter of nutrition. You can taste the difference in nutrition.
Nose-to-tail eating important. Organs are source of trace minerals. Many need more organ meat than what is proportional in an animal to mitigate nutritional deficiencies.
Bone broth – roast the bones at 350°. 1 lb bones/quart of quality water, ACV, simmer for 48 hours. Collagen is the living matrix, piezoelectric, creates exclusion zone water, good glycine source.
How often to poop on a carnivore diet? Kate goes 1-2 times/day. May need to add magnesium. Will have shifts in microbiome over several months.
What does Kate eat? 4 year carnivore. Meat, organ meats, orchard fruits in season, tiny bit of honey, ghee, no dairy. Has great and consistent energy levels.
Menstrual cycle is a 5th vital sign. On carnivore diet, Kate has no PMS, no cramping, no pain, 28 day cycles. Need fat and minerals to make reproductive hormones. Want to be as regular as the moon.
Human fertility window is 24-48 hours. Sperm can live 5 days in the uterus. Predictable ovulation for birth control. Animals have estrus and seasonality.
Big antlers are a sign of good nourishment.
Carnivore can ease the transition into perimenopause and menopause. Progesterone is important. Morning light important, sets pregnenolone. Sungazing at sunrise ideal.
How about dessicated organ meats in capsules? Mother’s Best liver pills good. Paul Saladino’s Heart and Soil has organ supplements in addition to liver.
Do we need grains? Everyone is bio-individual, but we don’t need grains. Grains aren’t the same as carbohydrates. Botanical fruits good.
Kate’s site is Groundworkcollective.com. The farm finder of sources of grass-fed and pasture raised meats is at: Nearhome.groundworkcollective.com. TheGoundwork podcast.
kate_kavanaugh on Facebook.
ORN has Ted Slanker’s Grass fed Beef with Free Shipping in their store listings. Search in Store, then look under the Food and Superfoods category..
'Kate Kavanaugh | Eating Meat Is Not Only Healthy, But Deeply Spiritual and Righteous | August 16, 2022' have 4 comments
August 20, 2022 @ 9:34 am Joseph
.. it is the age of the carnivore! After decades of plant-based Gospels, cleansing, raw fruits, vegetables, sprouts, Patrick and company are on the carnivorous bandwagon, loaded with organs and bleeding steaks… Whatever is coming down the pipeline, seno zTimpine p is on to it – and it’s never quite enough, is it? Everything turns out in the end to be just a little short of complete, just shy perfect, just a little bit less than fulfilling. Where are all those berries and fruits, we ask all those smoothies and salads? Gone, have gone with the wind, at least for the moment
And not only one carnivore guru, but many! Well, The wheel of Life turns endlessly, and recurrently, bringing us back to where we were as if for the first time, only with the new conviction of enlightenment and certainty.. that is, until the next up people throws us completely out of our bubble and into yet another new but old paradigm.
It’s a way to make a living!
August 20, 2022 @ 9:53 am patrick
The only issue with your arguments is that real, real science, not Fauci type data Joseph, along with millions of people who just flat out feel better on a carnivore diet
say that animal foods, organs and fat… fat.. butter eggs work for humans. And work well and that fruits today are hybridized to have more sugar and vegetables are full of
chemicals that can be bad for people.
So there.
August 22, 2022 @ 9:19 pm Jennifer
I get really excited when I hear such inspirational yet sound dialogue out of the mouths of babes!! No disrespect implied. I am used to hearing great sound information from a few elders but when it comes from a much younger person it gives me hope that my grandchildren will be able to lead rich lives.
August 23, 2022 @ 4:00 pm Marlene
Patrick, what about the Blue Zones that incorporate vegetables (and some fruits too)? What about the Gerson therapy?
Could it be that part of the reason folks feel better on a Carnivore diet is because they’re excluding ‘seed oils’, improperly prepared foods like beans, improperly harvested/picked too early fruits & veggies, glyohosate laden produce, processed foods, etc?
Personally, I feel nourished when incorporating salads, and fermented vegetables. Dr. Berg (a keto advocate) recommends salads AND meat. I just think Carnivore has become a bit of a bandwagon lately and obfuscates a lot of other issues (which I mentioned above) that hinder our ability to do well consuming plants too. I think the simple but less exciting conclusion I’ve reached is that we need to start farming or homesteading AND/OR supporting our local and regional farmers.
God bless & thank you for your work.