Mootopia
How to easily fix human health and heal the planet
Do cows make rain?
This book is for people who want to understand what farm folk have always known. Our soil is a legacy, cows make rain, horses heal the land, fungi are our friends, the sky is alive, and farm kids are happy kids. The authors found thousands of scientific references -- and cite nearly a hundred in the book - validating the observations of farmers over millennia and throughout the world.
Regenerative graziers are restoring the Garden of Eden. This hopeful and inspiring book connects researchers, ranchers, farmers, and philosophers with the activities of our daily lives – and with programs that countries, regions, cities and towns are adopting all over the world.
About the authors
Mary Lin grew up with a garden in the woods and worked on horse farms. She did her undergraduate work in cell biology and interdisciplinary fine and performing arts, studied somatics, earned an M. Ed. and an M.F.A., and was a journalist, marketing director, editor, and publisher. She stays current in cell biology, philosophy of science, agroecology, and related fields.
Ben Sargent grew up on an organic farm with sheep and other animals. He studied music theory and composition. His career in tech services included a 14-year stint as a global industry analyst running both qualitative and quantitative research programs, writing syndicated market research, and speaking and consulting in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. In retirement, he returned to organic vegetable farming.
In 2022, Mary and Ben helped a group of local families in Front Range Colorado start a Farm-to-Family food coop, working with 30 farms to bring local food to local plates.
Description of Mootopia
After founding a farm-to-family food coop in Colorado and personally handing organic veggies, grass fed beef, and clean dairy to thousands of people every week, co-author Ben Sargent found he could predict people's diet and lifestyle choices simply by reading their face, their gait, and their voice: the strongest, healthiest, clearest-minded people were those that ate ample meat and dairy and already lived a "farmey" lifestyle. As an ex-vegetarian, he went in search of a scientific explanation for the effect.
Sargent teamed up with his wife, Mary Lin, a trained molecular biologist to figure it out and the surprises didn't stop with human health. Mary had studied the Gaia Hypothesis and spoke of how microbes created Earth's current atmosphere. What farmers always knew and what biologists were finding out clicked together.
The book shows:
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How the shared cow-human gut biome benefits human health and mental health
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How regenerative grazing can rebuild the soil microbiome, restore wildlife habitats, and stimulate the entire trophic cascade of important ecosystems
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Why horses and asses are essential for healthy grasslands
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How methanogens and methanotrophs interact in a healthy environment to prevent wetlands and cow burps from harming the atmosphere;
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How the minute electrical charges in structured water impact everyday weather
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How microbes, including the newly discovered sky microbiome, created and still largely control the Earth's climate via feedback loops.
The book also provides actionable ideas for how urban, suburban, rural, and wilderness communities can start enjoying the health and lifestyle benefits of Mootopia right now.
What folks are saying about Mootopia
"That was wonderful! Fabulous book. Rich in common sense. I love the storytelling voices you have. The resources are a great value. I'll be exploring those. One of the best things a book like this can do is make complex ideas and information more accessible to the mortal man and woman, and Mootopia does that very well. There are some intricate details and concepts that go beyond the familiar view of nature's systems but you make it an easy ride."
Stephanie Anderson
Publisher, Editor-in-Chief
Selene River Press
"You've done such a creative job of integrating science into practice, highlighting the implications, and finally describing what we can do now. Great work!"
Fred Provenza
Author of Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us
Professor Emeritus, Dept Wildland Resources, Utah State University
"The book is a FANTASTIC introduction to the importance of holistic management of pastures, and of the extraordinary role that grasslands and ruminants can play in the management of our biodiversity, atmosphere, and health. It is written in an engaging style, so I hope it reaches a broad audience!"
Patrick Worms
President, International Union of Agroforestry
"I am enjoying your book! Especially where clouds follow rivers in degraded environments. I have been observing and saying this for a long time."
Jaime (Jim) Elizondo
Real Wealth Ranching
"Couldn't put it down. It's dynamite. In modern 'demonize cows' mentality, the poor creatures get blamed for everything from heart disease to climate change. MOOTOPIA is the ultimate antidote for cow hate. Ben Sargent and Mary Lin condense the best ecology understanding into common language to bring even the most ardent cows-are-bad advocate into another way of thinking. Fortunately, this book separates good cattle management from poor cattle management, allowing cow disparagement credence while explaining a better approach. For those of us who sell well-managed grass-finished beef or grassfed dairy products, this little book offers foundational affirmation of our vocation. Direct-to-consumer farms will want to give one to every customer."
Joel Salatin
Polyface Farm
Editor, The Stockman Grass Farmer
"The book reads very well! It's a fun book to read, following in the footsteps of Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis (that's a compliment!), full of interesting historical facts and ecological examples of how major processes in nature are linked, become stronger or provide resilience when they work together, and how it's all very fragile in the end too. Overall, I found your book very inspiring (I myself grow up and still leave in a very rural area with cows and all), and I'll recommend this to my students!"
Pierre Amato
Université Clermont Auvergne
Laboratoire Microorganismes: Génome et Environnement
"Mootopia will really make you think about how animals, plants, and the soil are interconnected. There is a need to get the crops and the animals back together. Rotational grazing and integrating grazing animals with crops can improve soil health. Contact with farm animals early in life can also reduce allergies in people. The authors provide scientific references for many of their ideas. In some parts of the book, there are claims that are extreme. Ideas that may be considered fringe and far out today can sometimes become mainstream in the future. Over the years, I observed how probiotics for farm animals changed from over the top and weird to being advertised at giant trade show displays. Readers who are interested in agriculture and farming should read this book."
Temple Grandin
Author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make us Human
Distinguished Professor, Dept of Animal Science, Colorado State University