Regenerative Living/Hemp Expert Doug Fine

Plows Ahead with American Hemp Farmer

TV Series

 

March Marks Appearances

At SXSW, C-SPAN and NoCo Hemp Expo

For Author, Speaker, and Host

(LOS ANGELES) Fresh from his lively address at the Climate Change Track of the renowned South-by-Southwest (SXSW) Conference in Austin, Texas, hemp/regenerative living expert, author, and speaker Doug Fine continues working on his American Hemp Farmer TV docuseries.

“As a regenerative farmer and goat herder who is trying to preach optimism about humanity’s future and live the model I’m describing, I send immense thanks to the incredible organizers and community at SXSW, an amazing event located beside a living river — in a capital city. If SXSW was the New Orleans Jazz Fest, my talk was in the Gospel Tent. I’m so appreciative to have been invited to speak to this broad audience. We can all be soil farmers now and help steer us to a stable climate,” Fine notes after his SXSW appearance. “By sharing my experiences and gained knowledge, my hope is that everybody comes away with an immersive, instructive, fun and funny blueprint for ensuring that independent regenerative farming spearheads a golden age for humans.”

In his acclaimed 2020 book, American Hemp Farmer (Chelsea Green), Fine explains, “a growing body of research suggests that each cubic inch of topsoil we restore of the world’s farmland sequesters up to three billion tons of carbon annually. And hemp’s substantial taproots are absolutely stunning at creating the conditions that allow for the building of topsoil. We’re all wise to root for an industry that helps with climate stabilization. If the regenerative farming mode catches on, farmers might even sequester sufficient carbon to buy us humans a crucial century to get our underlying infrastructural cards in order—the goal being to thrive, rather than panic, as we glide into the post-petroleum future.”

Fine has wrapped filming for the pilot of the six-episode series, based on the book which was nominated for the Santa Fe Reporter’s Book of the Year award. The pilot episode is complete and, during post-production, Fine and his co-producers will meet with potential distributors for the series.

The American Hemp Farmer series will have all of the adventure, comedy, drama, and growth of Fine’s travels and writings—and make a compelling and entertaining case for hemp as a part of the solution to mitigate climate change. And, with Fine’s trademark wit and wisdom, it will teach its audience that the regenerative lifestyle isn’t beyond the average person. “If I can do it,” says Fine, the one-time suburbanite, “anyone can.”

“Anyone can grow hemp and other food crops in their yards, on their roofs, in community gardens,” Fine says, adding that even a small home garden can sequester tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide, which contributes to reducing global climate change.

Doug says: “One of the easiest ways to support hemp production is to buy hemp products like rope, hempcrete, and clothing. But the simplest way is to incorporate hemp—a superfood rich in antioxidants, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids, fiber, and protein—into your diet. To get you started, I have a great recipe for a hemp superfood smoothie.”  

 

Fine has emceed or spoken at hundreds of events since releasing his first book, Not Really an Alaskan Mountain Man (2004). He has also appeared on TV (Conan, The Tonight Show, CNN), given a TED talk (“Why We Need Goatherding in the Digital Age” at TEDxABQ), and even testified before the United Nations regarding “the right to farm whatever a farmer pleases.” And, in late February, C-SPAN aired Fine’s keynote address from last December’s Acres USA 50th Anniversary Eco-Ag Conference. You can watch it here.

Fueled by a sense of urgency, he continues to leave his idyllic, solar-powered regenerative hemp farm—the Funky Butte Ranch in New Mexico—many times a year to preach about hemp at conferences and festivals across the country. Engaging, funny, and informative, Fine is often invited to return to these same events.

“[Doug Fine] is always our first booking, around which we build the whole event,” say Montana State Hemp Festival founders Erin and Shelly Crowbar. “His humor and truth work in perfect harmony with the musical acts and the crowd loves it. What’s more, they remember it.”

After his SXSW session titled “What Anyone Can Do to Stabilize Climate: Plant Hemp,” Fine returned NoCo Hemp Expo in Denver where he moderated a panel, “Cannabinoids in Food and Beverage Products” as well as delivered a keynote address, “How Your Hemp Enterprise Can Fight Climate Change and Win In the Marketplace.”

Looking beyond that, Fine is developing more television series and film ideas, including an adaptation of his book Too High to Fail. And, of course, more Doug Fine books are in the works.

On the back cover of Fine’s 2014 book Hemp Bound, Willie Nelson writes that Fine “tells us with detail and humor how to get to the environmental Promised Land. Doug has created a blueprint for the America of the future.”

“We’re in the bottom of the ninth with two outs when it comes to tackling climate change and we’ve got a game plan: teaching it to everyone is my day job. And you’ve got to have fun along the way.” The Washington Post agrees, writing “Fine is a storyteller in the mold of Douglas Adams.”

Doug Fine is available for interviews and further speaking engagements in winter/spring 2022. A website of Fine’s print and radio work, United Nations testimony, television appearances and TED Talk is at dougfine.com. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @organiccowboy.  

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