00:00:00:06 - 00:00:32:20
Laura
So I woke up this morning thinking about this interview today. So I'm going to try to get through this introduction without crying. But I know I will. The Graese family from Northstar Bison is so dear to my heart. Every time I get around Mary, who was the founder, I start crying just like this. And then and then. So Mary and her husband started Northstar Bison in their ranch in Wisconsin.
00:00:32:21 - 00:00:57:13
Laura
They switched everything to native grass. They tested the soil 20 feet deep. It is the most nutrient dense food on the planet. And as I started to learn that my body would always feel hungry until it got the nutrients it needed. And then I discovered how hard it is to find nutrient dense food. And I was reading everything I could.
00:00:58:11 - 00:01:30:13
Laura
I didn't know how to cook nothing. I came across this book called Tender Grass Fed Meat and I live in Wisconsin and I like read every word. And so I get to the very last page and it's like sources for grass fed meat. And Northstar Bison is listed twice in here as the author uses this company like eats it and says it's one of the best in the whole country of the U.S. And I'm like, Wisconsin, that's me.
00:01:31:05 - 00:01:54:20
Laura
And I called them right away. And because of my studying and diligence, I, I knew all the questions. So I was I talked to Mary that day and I'm like, What about your soil? What about your your the land around your soil? What about this? And do they get any grain? I was just and she was just firing it back.
00:01:54:20 - 00:02:23:11
Laura
And like we became fast friends. I send her Christmas cards. I love her dearly. I've even when this is really funny when I started sharing this with others because I'm like other people out there must not know how to cook like me, must not know how to find food. You know, not they don't I'm sure they don't know nutrient dense food, just like I did.
00:02:23:23 - 00:02:45:18
Laura
So I started blogging and I called Mary one day and I'm like, Mary, I'm nervous to blog about this because I might not have your food if everyone else is buying it as I did. Talk me through it. Go. No, no, no. We can meet any sort of demand and the consumer has the whole power they can like.
00:02:46:11 - 00:03:19:17
Laura
The country used to be filled with bison. And so I've learned so much from this family. I'm so grateful for my health. And Mary and her husband have passed the company on to their son and daughter, who've been building the company since they were literal babies or very young children. And so I met your sister today. We have Sean, just to give you a quick Sean Graese, a quick peek into the interview.
00:03:19:17 - 00:03:46:09
Laura
But I met your sister. Oh, gosh, just like a month ago, because she was at the University of Minnesota and they she and Courtney in your place stopped at our house to deliver. Like this is what this kind of company is like. And your family, they stop there to to drop off food for us. And I started crying.
00:03:46:09 - 00:04:24:07
Laura
I was like, Courtney told me later that your sister was like, Why was she crying? And Courtney is like, Because you changed lives. Like you don't even know, like her whole quality of life is dependent on what you are producing, what you're creating, what you're offering other people. Like to say, this is a service to the world, is that is too little because what you're doing and what your family's doing and thinking about the soil and the nutrients and nourishing people and the lengths you go to to create your products.
00:04:24:07 - 00:05:00:11
Laura
And this is the only place in the whole country that sells caul fat organ meat the ground. What I mean, it goes on and on and on. And so, yes, I am very grateful for you. And just so you know, so you have a background of about me. This literally has changed my life. My health is compounded for over a decade of eating your bison liver, your I've made myself and I did not know how to cook.
00:05:00:11 - 00:05:26:09
Laura
I've made myself homemade bison, bone broth and consumed at least the cup every single day for over ten years. And I have an autoimmune disease since I was young, chronic. And I'm I've tested for another one because it's very common to get more than one. But I have no symptoms I can think of the few times I haven't been sick that whole time.
00:05:26:09 - 00:06:06:03
Laura
And so I'm just sharing my experience like this is why I literally sob whenever I'm near you and your family because It has totally changed my life. So anyway, I'm glad I got some sleep. But the excitement, I'm so thrilled to have you here. I asked Sean to come because as I'm promoting your food every single day, I just I was struck by a conversation that I had with your mom, and she taught me that
00:06:06:03 - 00:06:36:09
Laura
the bison. Well, no, she taught me that grass fed grass, that all of those terms have no regulations. And so her words are with me all the time. Like if I'm in like a larger grocery store and it says grass fed. And so I'm like, would you come on and help us as consumers navigate this? And I know it's a little depressing for us as consumers to get this information.
00:06:36:11 - 00:07:09:05
Laura
But before we get into that, Northstar Bison is there as a personal farmer. Personal friend like your email list that you send out is so knowledgeable and it like gives it's empowering because it gives us the knowledge we need and the actions we can take. So you are a resource. So I just I don't want to break people's hearts and then have them go, What do I do now?
00:07:09:13 - 00:07:33:10
Laura
Because you are there as the answer, and that's why I wake up every morning at four to get up and do this because you're there like you are such a gift to all of us. So I don't have words, but hopefully people are going to understand after that. Yeah. Thank you. And thank you so much for.
00:07:33:12 - 00:07:33:17
Sean
00:07:33:20 - 00:07:35:06
Laura
Here, my gosh.
00:07:35:16 - 00:07:37:12
Sean
Thank you. Yeah, well, if.
00:07:37:12 - 00:07:39:10
Laura
I can cry and let you take over.
00:07:39:10 - 00:08:06:20
Sean
No, I think, like you're your depth of care, your depth of knowledge is such a blessing to people. And so we so appreciate what you do also and your your passion for people and their health and your own personal story and your energy. It's just it's special.
00:08:06:23 - 00:08:11:22
Laura
It’s fueled by Northstar Bison!
00:08:11:22 - 00:08:40:01
Sean
Oh, that's yeah, that's yeah. It's hard to take credit for that kind of stuff because it's not really we're just, uh, what do you want to say? We're just stewards of, um, of cycles and, you know, systems that are far more complex and far more amazing than anything we could ever create. So we just kind of step back and we say, you know, or, or students of, of creation or students of nature.
00:08:40:01 - 00:09:14:07
Sean
And so we try to try to unpack cycles that are that are natural and wonder where we went wrong and try to try to fix them or go back to the way they were, get out of the way, you know, just let nature do its thing and then, you know, try to preserve that that bounty of that quality all the way through the process of our harvesting and our processing and our shipping and all the things, you know, so that we can really get as many nutrients to you as possible, You know, the consumer.
00:09:14:07 - 00:09:23:11
Sean
Like that's that's truly what we care about is feeding people well. So yeah, I'm very grateful to be here and I appreciate the opportunity.
00:09:24:00 - 00:09:59:03
Laura
So what what do you think is the most important thing that a consumer should consider when purchasing? I know just recently I listened to the Wise Traditions Podcast with Sally Fallon and she said, you know, decades ago we spent 18% of our income on food and 2% of our income on medical, and now it's just flipped. So it's 2% on our food and 18% on our medical, but it's still 20% of our income.
00:09:59:03 - 00:10:24:00
Laura
And so, you know, people are really used to going to a big store and just getting everything they need because their lives are, you know, busy. And yeah, but what I really wanted people to know is that even though it says and you might be thinking you're doing something really good for your health, it's not always as it seems. Is that true?
00:10:25:05 - 00:10:41:11
Sean
That's so true. Yeah. There's so many different ways that we can go about this or, you know, talk about this. But I think one thing that's really interesting, what you just and kudos to you. I would also like, you know, to drink a cup of bone broth every single day for ten years is
00:10:41:11 - 00:10:43:01
Laura
Ten plus!
00:10:43:01 - 00:11:22:17
Sean
Yeah. So that's like that's significant. Right. But that I think your understanding of what it's truly doing for you motivates you to continue to stay on the path. You know, I think until you understand the value of what's in that cup and the value of what it's doing for your body. And a lot of us don't have the opportunity or the privilege to have, I'm going to say, an autoimmune disease or something that causes your body to say, stop, stop, stop, stop, whatever you're doing, and then have this biological response where you drink something or you're just something that is deeply nervous and your body goes, Give me more.
00:11:23:02 - 00:11:53:09
Sean
We have so many customers, former vegans, histamine intolerance, or just any, you know, really disabling disease, I guess, or complex disease that they're that they're struggling with, that their body just has this response where it's just, you know, people literally just eat pounds of meat a day because it is their body is just like craving it. You know, just something flips in their brain that says, I need more of that.
00:11:53:09 - 00:12:06:16
Sean
I don't know what it was, but I need more of that. And that's just like, you know, how do you how do you communicate that to someone, you know, on a label? Like how do you know that message is just so deep?
00:12:07:06 - 00:12:13:19
Laura
I would interrupt and add mental health too. And that's a new.
00:12:13:19 - 00:12:14:02
Sean
Yeah.
00:12:14:16 - 00:12:25:08
Laura
They're just discovering this now. But even if you don't have an autoimmune disease, like if you're not, if you know, you're not feeling your best. Yeah. Mental health.
00:12:25:09 - 00:12:26:00
Sean
Absolutely.
00:12:26:00 - 00:12:27:15
Laura
Is a huge part of it as well.
00:12:27:16 - 00:12:59:12
Sean
Yeah. Right. So we, you know. Yeah. So we're with what we talk or what we talk about internally a lot is, you know, nourishing, deeply nourishing people and feeding people well, both physically, mentally and spiritually. You know, there's there's so much more to food than just filling your belly. It is foundational. I think it's the most impactful thing that you can do for your overall well-being outside of, you know, some sunlight and fitness and good sleep.
00:12:59:12 - 00:13:21:13
Sean
Is just finding. And that's such a missing element. I would say, you know, there's degrees of of the other elements, you know, that are missing in our in our busy lifestyle into our lifestyles. But the food is the is the number one shift that people biggest shift, most impactful shift that people can make an investment in all three and in every area of your life, it's going to affect your sleep.
00:13:21:13 - 00:13:50:09
Sean
It's going to affect your ability to exercise. It's going to affect your your mental health and hormonal balances and all these things. But I think going back to it, like unpacking, like why are we the way we are asking that question and why are we not more like Laura, where we do have discipline and diligence and excitement and passion for an opportunity to get up and eat well today and talk about that and and help others do that.
00:13:50:09 - 00:14:15:07
Sean
But it was a it's an interesting concept. Like, it's so I think what society is looking for today is is is the fast food version, but it's the distinction is insurance versus assurance. Like are we eating in a way that gives us assurance of health or are we eating in a way that allows us to buy insurance, you know, health insurance?
00:14:15:14 - 00:14:36:00
Sean
Like what's our you know, what's our focus? Are we are we looking to be able to pay our health insurance bill? Are we are we eating in a way that makes insurance not necessary? You know, and I think that's a that's a really stark contrast for people to understand or to think about in their mind that says, okay, what you know, what is my what is my methodology behind health?
00:14:36:07 - 00:15:06:04
Sean
Am I inevitably on a path of of of pills and and pharmaceuticals? It doesn't need to be that way. It doesn't matter how old you are, like your body desires is craving for the ability to heal itself. It just it just needs the elements to do so. And it will it will literally change. So, yeah, it's I have I have a little bit of my own personal journey to here over the last six months that's been really, really powerful for me.
00:15:06:04 - 00:15:43:14
Sean
And, and I've grown up, you know, since I was eight years old. We've been in the bison world and what we're doing right now, it's grown a lot has changed a lot. But my own experience here as we just I don't know, it's so deep. I'll just say that like it's you know, we're 30 years in on this and and being, you know, the founder's son or the founder’s daughter, and kind of just growing up in it and working at it your whole entire life and being submersed in it, there's still so much that we're learning on a daily basis and experiencing in and of ourselves and in ways that, you and the ways
00:15:43:14 - 00:16:11:13
Sean
that you consume and the different methodology behind the things that we're creating, you know, for consumers is really just a reflection of our own personal journey and what we see. And of course, feedback, you know, from people like yourself that have a different journey, you know, a different health journey, but it's just confirming. It’s so confirming to, you know, what we what we're pursuing, I guess, for for consumers and for the betterment of people and pets, too.
00:16:11:13 - 00:16:19:19
Sean
So we have some pet stuff, too. But the methodology just goes, you know, it's it's holistic, right? It's got to be good for all.
00:16:20:02 - 00:16:23:01
Laura
They love the rabbit when they love it. Yeah.
00:16:23:14 - 00:16:28:17
Sean
Yeah, yeah. That's such a that's such a best kept secret, honestly. Like, I love the world.
00:16:29:11 - 00:17:09:23
Laura
Is all the way you are. So is the so what would you say if someone is just, you know, busy and going to a large store that's on their normal routine? Are they like and it says grass fed and they know that and they're making the effort to to eat well when it comes to meat for that is that guaranteed for them that that's going to be the best source of nutrients or.
00:17:11:00 - 00:17:42:11
Sean
Yeah well so yeah that's a that's a good point and I think it's it's healthy to understand like meat any meat even though there's some really, really dark things that go on in the beef industry and the food industry in general. But in the meat industry as well, even though, you know, those are distasteful, disdainful things, the way that some animals are raised and treated and harvest harvested is more robotic than it is than it is livestock.
00:17:42:14 - 00:18:01:09
Sean
Right. That in and of itself, even even though like nutritionally. Okay, so we said all that on the shelf. If you look at it, traditionally meat is better than no meat. Right. Any meat is is far and away more nutrient dense than any than any other food type on the planet. So I think that's really healthy to understand.
00:18:01:09 - 00:18:27:01
Sean
Like, okay, so just eating meat is good. It's a step in the right direction, It's positive. But you look at meat the way that certain meat is produced and the what happens to, you know, ecologically and biologically within the animal. And then naturally what we what type of food that produces, that makes you it, it puts you at a fork in the road, you know, what are you going to choose?
00:18:27:01 - 00:18:59:05
Sean
What are you gonna put in your body? What are you going to support in, in the world of, of the natural world, I should say, you know, the is it a regenerative type model that is really, really nursing the land and not only the land, but also the producer of it, You know, like there's people that run feedlots or and, you know, the mass production, the CAFO style production systems are not real healthy people.
00:19:00:18 - 00:19:31:22
Sean
And then you look at people who get to spend time on the land and the natural landscape. They're very, very different people, just like the consumer of those foods as well. So it's I'm just honing in, I guess, on your question here, but once you get to the grocery store, it's a it's a really, really depressing place to be because labels are so deceiving and marketing is really, really, really sly.
00:19:32:14 - 00:20:01:06
Sean
And there's a lot of money to be made with almost claims you know, or leaving suggestive claims, you know, putting grass-fed on the label and people recognizing or seeing that grass fed. And like oh! That's, that's the good stuff. And they go home and and they've been deceived because if it doesn't say 100% grass fed on it, it's not 100% grass fed.
00:20:01:22 - 00:20:21:15
Sean
And so when you say grass fed, that means it might have had a bite or two of grass and its life or when it was a calf. And then it went to a feedlot, you know, for 120 days and that's been a strong grain and then harvested. That is not what people expect when they pick up a product at the grocery store that says grass fed on it.
00:20:21:15 - 00:20:57:10
Sean
They would never imagine in a million years that it actually lived over half of its life in a feedlot for half of its life would be lots of. That's disheartening and there's so much of that out there. Honestly. We are in the very, very, very, very small minority of agriculture that produces food the way that people expect it to be, the way that “Disney” agriculture, I guess, if you will, you know, the way that animals you know, the way that people expect animals to be respected.
00:20:57:19 - 00:21:20:22
Sean
I say this to like I don't want people to hate on agriculture. There are a lot of animals that live out on the land, cow, calf operations and things like that. But when it comes to meat and where your meat, the meat journey, I guess for the most part does, you know, nine out of ten and even more end up flowing through a lot.
00:21:21:20 - 00:21:28:04
Sean
And that's I don't know too many consumers that are actually excited about that being the journey of their food.
00:21:30:04 - 00:22:06:02
Sean
So in most, you know, pretty much everybody that we talk to are are completely disinterested in that. But there's there are other options, right? There are other alternatives. And people out there, brands out there, farmers, I guess, that are behind the brands that are doing things as consumers would expect. And it's just making that connection as close to you can to your farmer to be able to know and how transparency, if you're just looking at a label, it has to say 100% grass fed or it's not.
00:22:06:19 - 00:22:35:18
Sean
It is grain finished it it just says strictly grass fed. So that's that's one distinction I think that's worth people understanding when they are shopping in the grocery store, mostly grass fed, still has an acidic profile, mostly grass fed meat, still has an acidic profile because grain is so powerful in changing the Ph of the rumen and therefore the Ph of the muscle.
00:22:36:02 - 00:22:58:03
Sean
Just slightly. It's a few degrees, but it makes a massive difference in the amount of inflammation that the animal sees and what you're you are what you eat. So there's a recent study here done by a professor. I'm waiting to get the link so I can share it with everybody in the blog that I have. But he just very clearly showed.
00:22:58:03 - 00:23:04:02
Sean
He said within 4 hours, if I can take your blood sample, I can tell you everything you ate in the last 4 hours.
00:23:04:16 - 00:23:05:13
Laura
Oh, my gosh.
00:23:06:20 - 00:23:40:11
Sean
And as you don't think that that you know, like that instantly, you know, if you ingest it and then it goes instantly into your bloodstream and stays in the bloodstream for that long, how can it not affect you physiologically, mentally, Like where doesn't your blood flow in your body? What doesn't it affect? Everything. So you can't underestimate, you know, the the the statement of you are what you eat because it literally is that so when it comes to there should be zero tolerance for pesticides herbicides and and I guess I'll touch really quickly on the organic statement We're not certified organic.
00:23:42:00 - 00:24:30:18
Sean
There are rules and regulations within the organic certification and expense that does not nourish the customer more or deeper. There are things that are conflicting and from some rules and things that put you into a box. And we're not. We're we we live outside the box, you know, every word. But when it comes to, you know, greens, plants, fruits and vegs types things, I actually do some some health guiding to on the side for fun It's kind of a it's a lot of work but it's I'll be able to be in the mountains and do wild elk with some clients and have some really interesting conversations.
00:24:30:18 - 00:24:52:06
Sean
And a few years ago I had a couple clients that were from from the Southwest and they're big produce farmers. And they were telling me while I was they didn't know what I did. They didn't know who I was. We were just real superficial. And I asked them, What do you do? You know, what do you do? You go out all year round or like, Oh, no, this is just a couple weeks, a year kind of thing.
00:24:52:06 - 00:25:17:08
Sean
I get to come out here and have fun and but otherwise it's, you know, we have a meat company and so we do bison and they're like, Oh, that's great. You know, this is what we do. And they were sharing how their produce farmers and Yeah and oh yeah they, they raise conventional which is you know the pesticide herbicide class all the other genetically modified products that everybody's familiar with.
00:25:18:07 - 00:25:47:01
Sean
And then they, so they, they do a significant portion of their business is organics and they said we wouldn't touch that organic stuff. Well, he didn't say stuff, but with a ten foot pole he said we treat that stuff way more than we do our conventional with organic certified pesticides and herbicides. And he said that stuff is dirtier than even the conventional stuff, because the stuff that we have to put on it is just less potent because it has to meet organic certifications.
00:25:47:01 - 00:25:50:07
Sean
But we're still spraying and treating it just as much as so.
00:25:50:21 - 00:25:52:01
Laura
Oh my God.
00:25:52:01 - 00:26:21:09
Sean
That scared the socks off me, you know, So that that pulls back the curtain for your food supply. And I think, you know, again, you said it sounds depressing and it can be, but I would rather be, you know, how this mental weight, you know, of recognizing, okay, so that's the truth. So if you know the truth now, you can start to to make different choices, right?
00:26:21:09 - 00:26:45:05
Sean
If you don't know the truth, then you just keep consuming. And now you're really confused as to why you're still sick. You know, you think you're eating all the right things and checking all the right boxes, but in reality or not, you're eating grass fed feedlot, finished meat and organic certified vegetables. And they're wondering why, why you feel the way you do.
00:26:45:13 - 00:27:08:18
Sean
And the honest truth is, it's deception. It's not you're not eating what you think you're eating. And that's the most sorrowful thing you know about what we do and recognizing when people call and have complications, you know, and challenges and they're like, I just I, I'm at my wit's end, you know, I don't even know where to go, where to turn.
00:27:08:18 - 00:27:28:14
Sean
And I tried everything. And basically it is it's also freeing to recognize that you haven't tried everything, you know, you haven't actually had deeply nourishing food yet. But to be under the under the perception that you have and to still be sick is a really, really desperate place.
00:27:29:21 - 00:28:01:10
Laura
It is. And it's so often and what I did was blame myself. Like, why can’t I, why aren't you feeling better? What is wrong with me? You know, And so that that's the deep gratitude I feel for you and your family and what you're doing. And so for people like me. Well, you listening? What? I have so much to say.
00:28:01:10 - 00:28:38:16
Laura
But like I remember reading that even with complete grass fed grass finished animal, something from western Canada can have a different nutrient profile, like selenium for instance, based on Eastern Canada. So it's like that is how precise or I don't know what the word is, but what, like, why you would want to talk to your farmer and know about the plant health and the the soil health and everything.
00:28:38:16 - 00:29:06:00
Laura
And then the other thing is, once you find the good stuff, like that's why I'm always like, you are providing like your what you're doing is so valuable because you don't need as much. For someone who is feeling overwhelmed with finding food, like once you get the really nourishing food needed.
00:29:07:00 - 00:29:14:13
Sean
00:29:16:06 - 00:29:20:03
Laura
00:29:20:03 - 00:29:28:22
Sean
00:29:29:06 - 00:29:31:09
Laura
00:29:31:10 - 00:29:34:04
Sean
00:29:35:19 - 00:30:16:05
Laura
Can you speak at all about the like. I mean, I've started an entire company protecting those nutrients and how valuable they are and the lengths that regenerative farmers are going through. And, and actually the repair that it's doing. Like your mom told us that the root system at your ranch in Wisconsin has positively affected the Mississippi River so many miles away because of that healthy root system of the native grasses and just about the how.
00:30:16:05 - 00:30:32:21
Laura
It's not I mean, it starts with nourishing yourself on a deep level, but then it's also affecting all of us and our climate and all of that. And I know that take about 24 hours to talk about. But yeah, really Yeah.
00:30:32:21 - 00:30:54:12
Sean
So really quickly out some story on that I guess the you know the runoff we're not real scientific we're we're very anecdotal objective type people. But it's the simplicity that I think helps you peel back the layers and not get confused. You know, you can argue all day long the science behind in regenerative and that kind of stuff.
00:30:54:12 - 00:31:21:11
Sean
But when we took over, when we purchased the the home ranch in 1997, we started on a different place and outgrew that in 1994. Well, yeah, and then moved to the place that we're on now or the whole place up in 1997. And it was a conventional, very conventional crops. And they just had the cows in the barn and a little pasture, and then everything else is crops.
00:31:23:04 - 00:31:49:04
Sean
And there was a, a ravine, a drainage system that ran through the farm and they had it. We used to ride a horse through the culvert. That was that was that went under the road out of that being from the from the farm, from the ranch. And Marielle and I used to ride ride horse through there to be able to go over to the neighbor's house instead of walking and going across the road was a little bit busy.
00:31:49:04 - 00:32:13:18
Sean
And it was a it was a full, you know, six foot culvert. We just kind of lay down on the horse and walk right through. And it was fun. We were kids. You know, they done stuff like that. But the point is that it was really big. They just they just redid the intersection five years ago and did a runoff test and they put a 36 inch culvert in because we had essentially zero runoff from the ranch.
00:32:13:18 - 00:32:48:11
Sean
So that just speaks to the volume of water that is being soaked up like a sponge because of the root system, the living root and the and all that, that and and and the the, what do I want to say. Just the structure of the soil that's able to absorb, to trap and absorb all that water and all that water that's not leaving our place used to run off brown you know going through that culvert now it's it's a it's a clear stream and it's tiny, you know, 36 inches that they decided was was more than enough.
00:32:50:08 - 00:33:07:16
Sean
That's cool, you know, to be able to hear that kind of stuff. But it's not we didn't we didn't set out for that. It's just like, you know, you just make the right decisions. And I think this applies to anything in life, whether it's ranching for your own health is just make make the next right choice that day.
00:33:08:06 - 00:33:31:14
Sean
And you know, in over time you'll be surprised where you find yourself and what are the effects. Right. Don't get too far down the the road of mapping your health journey and overanalyzing and saying, is this really worth it? You know, all this effort, if it doesn't turn out, you know, X, Y, and Z way, it's it's going to be all for naught.
00:33:31:14 - 00:33:46:03
Sean
It's going to be wasted. I'm going to waste money on the waste the time and the waste, the energy, the waste. This then all the things you know, you're overthinking it. You know, you need to have a little faith or just to start on the journey and say, okay, this is this is the next right step, the first right step.
00:33:46:03 - 00:34:23:19
Sean
And so, yeah, I would just encourage people to make the first the next right step, whatever that is, and understanding their own health journey that this stuff is. It's it's almost incomprehensible, but it's simple logic and it makes sense. So there's not a lot of science to support it because there's not a lot of it's such a small microcosm of agriculture in the food industry that there's almost no and there's almost no money in it also, which is challenging.
00:34:23:19 - 00:34:48:15
Sean
You know, that where the money is made is in big AG. It's unbelievable. Almost unfathomable, you know, how much money they make. Hence the reason that the most wealthy or the wealthy or one of the wealthiest companies in the world, I believe Bayer, the pharmaceuticals, bought Monsanto and got into chemical ag production because it is one of the most wealthy industries in the world.
00:34:49:17 - 00:35:24:06
Sean
And dollars dollars buy a lot of marketing dollars by very smart people to be able to market very creatively and dollars feed families. And so they can they can justify, you know, a lot. But it's it's not it's not feeding people well, it's not nourishing people. And I think we have a lack of understanding of what it actually we're so disconnected from what it is, what it feels like to feel good.
00:35:25:08 - 00:35:51:03
Sean
Like I think people are so mostly sick all the time that they're that they're the justification line is so distant they don't even know what it, what it, what it means to feel good. It just a lot of people think that feeling good means not feeling bad. And that's just such that's a sad state for us to recognize, you know, where people at.
00:35:51:03 - 00:36:14:03
Sean
I was a buddy at the gym that says all the time, healthy feels way better than any junk food I've ever tasted. And he was vegan for a few years and was down to a little bitty guy, but he was down like 95 pounds convincing himself that he was feeling great, you know, that he was doing all the right things and eventually somebody said, like, kind of, What are you doing?
00:36:14:03 - 00:36:30:10
Sean
Like, you're kind of wasting away. I think it was a aunt that made some little comment or something like that was supposed to be kind of cheeky I think like, Oh, you're such a cute little boy, you know? And he's like, Wait a minute, I'm a grown man. And, you know, like, out of military and not real tall, but just it was it was a it was just a little sick.
00:36:30:13 - 00:36:49:11
Sean
And he's like, that's not what I you know, that's not what I feel that I was meant to be. And and so he's actually become a customer of ours and just absolutely probably one of the one of our number one fans now, but just absolutely loving and he's put on a whole bunch of weight and feels better than he ever has.
00:36:49:11 - 00:37:25:22
Sean
And it's it's truly night and day when you experience it and embrace the the craziness of of because of how different it is to eat you know maybe animal based or eat the way that that that the things that nature provides. You know kind of I'm on this journey of kind of thinking about a native diet. You know what premodern food industry what would people eat, what was available and I don't believe that nature is incomplete.
00:37:26:13 - 00:37:56:11
Sean
So everything that we need and this is circling around to your point about the the regional aspects of of nutrient profiles and things like that in the soil and what that ultimately means for for the consumer. I think it is really important we've gotten so far from, so far from purchasing for nutrient value and you know, our whole entire food industry is set up on volume, right?
00:37:56:11 - 00:38:28:00
Sean
So the farmer gets paid on volume, doesn't you know, nutrient density has no bearing whatsoever on what he gets paid for, for his produce or for his goods. And nor does the consumer. They're not they're not paying for nutrient dense. These are paying for volume. So that's a broken that's a broken system. And just recognizing that and thinking, okay, so how can I be a more conscious consumer and a better steward of my dollars if I'm buying value and not volume?
00:38:28:16 - 00:38:57:20
Sean
So nutrient value is going back to eating what you just mentioned there about you can consume less because it's more nutrient dense. You don't need to consume as many calories because the nutrient density of what you are eating is satisfying and it is everything that you would need. And this is, I think, eating internationally is we don't understand it yet.
00:38:57:20 - 00:39:24:01
Sean
I don't think there's anybody doing any studies on nutrient profile or what the body truly needs. I think we're so far from even understanding how this this impacts. But really, if you if you bring your your food network into a more local setting, localized setting with this understanding or this thought process that, okay, so everything that I need is in this is within reach essentially, right?
00:39:24:01 - 00:39:50:21
Sean
Like there's nothing that's nature is not incomplete unless man makes it incomplete and breaks the cycle, breaks the system, try to go bigger, faster, stronger. But if we can understand that and embrace that and you start to look at, okay, so what's available, you know, there's I guess you know, in Wisconsin, either blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, you know, some really strong, powerful antioxidant fruits, some strawberries, occasionally just for a short season.
00:39:51:05 - 00:40:25:01
Sean
And everything's in a seasonal cycle. And you can try some fruits and things like that, but, you know, remove the refrigerator in the freezer and refrigeration delivery from the system. And okay, you have raw milk, you would have a cow that because it would spoil before you'd have to eat or drink it or consume it really quickly. You have, you know, preservation methods of sour cream, cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, kefir, some of those types of things that are really natural preservation methods, I guess old world preservation methods.
00:40:25:01 - 00:40:54:16
Sean
But and then meat, right. So you have some fruit occasional and if you didn't have a sophisticated garden and even even the sophisticated gardens of of old had much more much more what do you want to say Just like native species within And the way that they were grown is just old world grains and old world, you know, root vegetables and and things like that that were relatively simple.
00:40:54:16 - 00:41:20:13
Sean
Today we have all this exotic stuff in our gardens and it takes so much effort and so much, so much resource, you know, to be able to support it. And it just makes me wonder, okay, so we're spending all this effort. We only have so much energy, right? Everything takes energy to to produce and to create and why not tap into the natural cycle?
00:41:20:14 - 00:41:42:05
Sean
This is where regenerative comes into with raising animals. What if, you know, the craziest concept. What if, you know, your garden just did it on its own? What if your animals just, you know, had babies and made meat on their own? And what if you're dairy cow just, you know, made milk on its own and it and all those things do happen.
00:41:42:18 - 00:42:14:13
Sean
And if we just align ourselves with how nature is producing, ironically, it turns out that we are actually healthier and is providing all the nutrients in the seasons that we need them. Nothing more, nothing less. But we just we overcomplicate it, right? So if you reduce it down to just a really simplified version of how you think to consume, I think meals get a lot simpler, but also so much more nourishing and so much more right and enjoyable.
00:42:14:13 - 00:42:33:14
Sean
I don't know. It just feels right and appeals to to eat well. It just feels just feel so good. I don't I don't know how to say that. I guess going back to my own journey here six months ago, I decided to go really almost all in on the animal based aspect to really kind of test positive for myself and I like to to work out and lift.
00:42:33:14 - 00:43:03:12
Sean
And I've always been kind of athletic in sports and things like that and interested and but my, my body composition didn't necessarily reflect that. So about five years ago I got into lifting a little bit more. And for the first four and a half years ago, you know, I felt good or felt better. And physically, but decent. You know, I was I was healthy, I would say, relative to what I had relative to I don't know what I'm even stumbling over.
00:43:03:15 - 00:43:39:18
Sean
So what do relatively not try to bring myself to other people? I guess so. But in the last six months, so it's six months ago I decided to change my diet and go to this, you know, really holistic lifestyle of animal based to really practicing what I'm preaching because being and this is a blog that I'm just working on right now, but thinking about, okay, so I'm a product of the 80s and I didn't think, you know, that, that the greens were necessarily good or bad, but that was kind of, you know, greens, fats are bad and greens are good, you know, that was the that was the message of the 80s.
00:43:39:18 - 00:44:11:08
Sean
And I being, you know what we do, I, you know I knew balance was good right. And so but I didn't fully understand it and I didn't really have a personal impact on my life. And so now I've really shifted over to this more native diet, animal based eating. It has I have seen more mental physical transformation in the last six months than I did in the first four and a half years of lifting.
00:44:11:23 - 00:44:33:11
Sean
It has changed drastically and to the point where people at the gym are constantly coming up to me, asking what I'm what I'm taking. Right? There's some form of steroids that I started getting, and there's a lot of people at the gym that are taking steroids that is just what everybody does. I'm shocked. So a little bit of background, too, with my mom and dad.
00:44:33:11 - 00:45:00:07
Sean
They're kind of a come full circle. That's the the thing they that they grew up in and kind of how they started interested of getting into the how Northstar was born, I should say my dad competed at a high level in powerlifting and started the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association with a few friends because of his disdain for drugs and the setting an American record and and the deadlift.
00:45:00:07 - 00:45:23:14
Sean
And so he was highly competitive. But his it was, you know, his training, genetics and genetics. You can't change what you're training and your diet. You could and he did everything you could you know to to make sure that his diet and his training were on point and ended up, you know, doing some really amazing things. But it was out of his distaste for people that he was competing against.
00:45:23:14 - 00:45:37:08
Sean
He didn't realize he was just a, you know, a naive farm kid. And you go to these competitions and just get blown away. He's like, oh, my gosh, I don't know how I could train any harder. These guys are just destroying me. And then, you know, somebody said, Well, what do you what do you use them? Like, whatever.
00:45:37:08 - 00:45:54:03
Sean
You use them as their own thing. Like, what do you mean, what am I use them? And like, well, if you're and I said, I'm not using anything that's stupid. And I said, Well, you're you're not mad enough to take the drugs and you got to get out of the sport. And he's like, Oh, really? Okay, that was fighting words.
00:45:54:14 - 00:46:20:01
Sean
So they so then he set out on a mission basically to level the playing field and, and distinguish and this is where the distinguish or that you know doing the right things just doesn't necessarily pursue you. Northstar started out grass fed and regenerative model not for the purpose of grass fed regenerative model it was just okay, we have bison, how are they going to live?
00:46:20:11 - 00:46:51:13
Sean
They should live like they used to live right in every way possible. So by default, that's 100% grass fed, regenerative. The human body should not we should not be considering, you know, okay, so, you know, how should the human body function not with HGH and steroids and all this other stuff that we're injecting into our bodies to be able to, you know, compete at a higher level, that's like outside the boundaries of what's good for us.
00:46:51:19 - 00:47:13:17
Sean
Right? So that was kind of the distinction then in the lifting world that my dad had had made. But it's just a constant. The concept of the common thread, I should say, is just making the right decision in the moment about, okay, what's best for for me, what's best for the animal, what's best for the land. And you just find yourself in a place that's deeply nourishing for you.
00:47:14:13 - 00:47:27:13
Laura
Oh, my gosh. I had no idea. That is so inspiring and Behzad and I are going to cheer you on for your natural lifting powered by bison.
00:47:29:05 - 00:47:52:22
Sean
Yeah. So that's literally my my that the light bulb moment for Northstar was my mom was a dietitian and had done a lot of the supplements category. That's kind of a funny, funny story now too. I guess 30 years later. But she said, you know, she's a marketer and she said, okay, but also I got this hobby that was kind of getting out of control this little because you just love his bison because you got to have more and more.
00:47:52:22 - 00:48:17:16
Sean
I mean, I got to pay for it. So somehow. So from that question, they started looking into it just a little bit more. What are what opportunities are out there for bison? And this is early 90s and not a lot of information was available, but they did find that bison was nutrient nutrient dense in a way that was different than other red meats.
00:48:17:16 - 00:48:38:03
Sean
And they liken it a little bit more to chicken. And in all my training days, my dad couldn't eat red meat because it was taboo. It was bad fats. And red meat is, you know, we've got heart disease. And so all in all, it was chicken. And he said, well, you can only have so much chicken in your life. Like there's a lot of lifters out there that need this bison meat, a.k.a red meat chicken.
00:48:38:13 - 00:49:04:14
Sean
And that was kind of the the the catalyst that said, okay, let's try this. I think there's I think there's a whole lot of people in the world that need good red meat in their life that don't even realize they can eat red meat. And so, yeah, they had made some connections with some cardiologists and that were looking for, you know, a good a good protein to be able to turn some of their patients on to that.
00:49:04:14 - 00:49:36:11
Sean
We're dealing with some health complications and and things have just been growing ever since. But now coming full circle to with my mom, with my mom's occupation of selling supplements and and kind of the traditional sports arena of protein powders and things like that where I don't want to pick too big of a fight here, but we're kind of on a mission to put those those industries not out of business.
00:49:36:11 - 00:50:08:20
Sean
But just like that's old news, you know, you can actually incorporate. And we're trying to formulate products now with our our various blends are old world blend being like our multivitamin, so to speak, like this every day, you know, full as a whole animal eating experience. And there's also some other plans that we're coming out with now as well and formulating and have launched that are a little bit more specific, you know, to different needs, you know, that people might have, whether they're recovering or dealing with some really serious health issues.
00:50:08:20 - 00:50:42:19
Sean
So it's got a little higher heart and liver content in it. But so trying to formulate supplements and but then also just completing, you know, people's nutrient profile that they don't need supplements anymore. They don't need vitamins and pills and things like that because they have a complete diet and you can put your money into things that are significantly more natural and bioavailable than, you know, vitamin C tablets and things like that that are overly processed and and it really expensive.
00:50:43:13 - 00:51:10:00
Laura
So totally that and that is what Behzad and I experienced we were waiting so excitedly for the Old World Blend to become available and we ate it right away. And literally our bodies were craving like we just we have to have more of this. And I would say that even it's been out for like six months, maybe longer, all month.
00:51:10:07 - 00:51:15:00
Sean
Yeah, I think it was late July, early August and little more than six months ago.
00:51:15:05 - 00:51:45:20
Laura
That I still have craving like, I mean, we can just eat. Now we're preparing to packages at a time because we get through the first one and we're our bodies literally are craving it and we have an impeccable diet. You know like it was the only thing that changed. And I had all these little hairs that were popping out and it was the only thing that had changed in my diet. So it's just.
00:51:45:21 - 00:52:18:00
Sean
Wow, that is such a I mean, that that little testimony right there, it just goes to show like you don't understand the you see it in nature. You know, there's a you have like a mobile there's a there's a holistic diagram, I guess, that shows that it has like a mobile with all these different arms and all these different things, like just balancing and, you know, and the instructor will say he'll tap one of those, one of those elements on that mobile and the whole entire thing shakes.
00:52:18:00 - 00:52:36:06
Sean
And some of them get wrapped around each other. And he said, you can't you can't touch something over here and not have it affect the whole you can't change your diet and not have it affect your hairline. It's your body wants to be whole and healthy. Just give it a chance and understanding, you know, what are those triggers?
00:52:36:06 - 00:52:54:23
Sean
And that's the difficult part is what is deeply nourishing. It's so confusing today with all the different marketing and all the different stuff. Going back to the beginning, the podcast, when you asked about, you know, how do people how do people walk through the grocery store and and choose what to buy because everything has a health claim on it right?
00:52:54:23 - 00:53:33:12
Sean
But that's not I think it's really difficult to on, you know, undo your mind from pursuing the different health claims and pursuing whole food ingredients. You know, just just eat it. Just get a potato and some meat, you know, get some carrots and some meat or some whatever it may be, bone broth or, you know, don't eat, you know, don't grab a protein bar that has 19 different ingredients and claims this, this and this that's overly processed and not not bioavailable.
00:53:33:12 - 00:54:00:11
Sean
So just eating whole foods and simple foods and let your body tell you if if it's working or not, because that's the ultimate test. Right? You can't fool your body and it will respond in a way that probably is going to shock you, you know, as it has for me, even, you know, at 36 years old, that, you know, I'm in better shape now than I ever even dreamed I probably would be in my life because I was living 35 years of of my life and saying, well, this is the way it's been.
00:54:00:11 - 00:54:27:05
Sean
And, you know, my 20s were my prime and that was bogus. You know, my my diet was like in my body was a reflection of my diet, really. And I didn't recognize that to the degree that I do now. And so there's there's there's deeply held beliefs. I think that we have the laws of of diet that we don't even recognize shape, you know, the way that we make subconscious food decisions.
00:54:28:04 - 00:54:49:01
Sean
So it's really, really hard to to break out of that mold and have the faith to step out and eat something so crazy as an Old World Blend and eat a pound of at a time. I just you know, I typically make a literally a one-pound burger and drizzle some bone broth over it and a little bit of, you know, maybe some sauteed onions and mushrooms on it. And my goodness, that's a good meal.
00:54:49:10 - 00:55:04:13
Laura
Oh my gosh. We just had it yesterday and we could eat it every day. I can't wait till my body registers. You did. You did it. You. You fulfilled this now.
00:55:05:00 - 00:55:30:18
Sean
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. And, you know, going back to, like, the vitamin C thing, too, it's amazing. You start looking at, you know, the the regeneratively raised organs and the nutrient profile that comes with those organs. You start checking off all these all these supplements and these vitamins that people are taking because there's missing elements. Well, it's not missing in nature.
00:55:30:18 - 00:55:59:18
Sean
We just produce it wrong, right? We're eating it. We're we're like bypassing or producing for volume. And we're we're fast tracking right past slow, nourishing food. And if we just slow down a little bit and eat, you know, slow, nourishing food, it's amazing. All these other symptoms and all these other things that we can leave behind that are highly lucrative, lucrative industries. But they drain our health and they drain our bank account, unfortunately.
00:56:00:22 - 00:56:51:23
Laura
So that is where I also, like encourage you, this is so inspiring, but I encourage you to go to Northstar Bison, sign up for the email list. Any just like ToxyFree. Anything you purchase at Northstar Bison comes with a guarantee like health. Like it’s just like it’s all built into the products but get on Sean’s email list because that I tell people all the time like I learned so much from it and really like you are like, you know, in such a small percentage of what you’re doing for all of our nutrition. But you're a really good writer.
00:56:52:05 - 00:57:07:04
Sean
I have zero training, it's just all passion for trying to, trying to help people, right. And write it in a way that's interesting enough that they can enjoy what they read.
00:57:07:14 - 00:57:46:01
Laura
Yes. And so that is such a resource, like anything with the Northstar Bison is is going to enhance your life. And so I really recommend and following you on social media telling other people what else can we do as a consumer to help support you? Because like, it's so rare and what you're doing and we don't we want to support you and make sure that because you're I know you're not making tons of money like other people in the industry. Oh, how can we,
00:57:46:01 - 00:57:46:20
Sean
Yeah. That's not.
00:57:46:21 - 00:57:47:10
Laura
support you.
00:57:48:18 - 00:58:07:20
Sean
Yeah, that's not the that's not our goal. You know, like I said, just before we got on the podcast here, you know, money is oxygen for us to be able to do more of what we what we what our ultimate mission is, right? We're not chasing dollars but dollars or the fuel, you know, that that the world runs by.
00:58:07:20 - 00:58:35:07
Sean
And so it's it's necessary. But how can you help us? You know, honestly, just I think educating yourself and really embracing what we talked about a little bit here on the podcast and there's so much more there's so much more to learn and to really expand your mind and challenge some of your own paradigms. Think about things differently, you know, think about the world around you differently in the way that you eat and the way you interact with people.
00:58:36:16 - 00:58:57:07
Sean
And once you start down that journey a little bit more, you can't help but share it with other people. And I think that's the ultimate thing is, you know, asking the right questions of yourself and then helping other people. Once you get a little bit down that journey because you can't lead unless you've been there. So leading people, you know, helping other people along on that journey and and there's there's other brands out there.
00:58:57:20 - 00:59:13:06
Sean
I'm not going to say, Northstar we’re, we're so passionate about producing, you know, the way that we don't we don't cut a corner anywhere in the process. We start from, okay, what's the right decision here? And you just keep making right decisions all the way until you get to the end, you know, to the consumer's door.
00:59:14:02 - 00:59:32:19
Sean
And we say, okay, so what does that cost? Okay, so that's the price. And it's not we don't have a box, you know, like I said, that we fit in that says, okay, this is the price, this is the this is the ideal. Now we're going to produce something as efficiently as possible. We're vertically integrated to where we don't have middlemen and all this kind of stuff.
00:59:32:19 - 01:00:00:19
Sean
We're trying to shave expense all through the process and and control. It's two different aspects there, you know, that we're trying to that's what are beneficial. And so, yeah, we definitely want consumers to, to be blessed, you know, to be deeply nourished by our products and then to tell other people too. Because ultimately, yeah, it is it is changing lives.
01:00:00:19 - 01:00:23:03
Sean
And that's what we're here for. And we do want to have a conversation with you. We do call email, ask the questions. You know, like Laura said in the beginning, you know, ask all the hard questions. We love discerning, conscious consumers that are asking hard questions because we know those are the ones that get us so excited, answered that you found what you're looking for.
01:00:23:19 - 01:00:46:09
Sean
You know, we're just have we have a humble confidence, I guess, and that's one of our core values is humble confidence like know your stuff, you know, but not boastful. We're helpful in a way that we don't there's not too many things that that stump us, you know, or that that we're we're not we're there's nothing we don't have things to hide.
01:00:46:12 - 01:01:04:12
Sean
We have an open gate policy that's kind of our or we're not certified organic. We're we have an open gate policy where we're where we just say, come, you know, Laura comes out to the ranch and, you know, we don't do anything special. That is just another day. And the other day in the life of the ranch. But you get to see it all and it's inspiring.
01:01:04:15 - 01:01:34:12
Sean
Like we have tours that, you know, people that come out and say, I had no idea. I thought this was just going to be something in seeing some bison. And I've almost left in a way that changes my life. And I think that's the way that's the way it needs to be, right? That's what it should be if you’re doing things right, not because of being right, but because of being right but just being a steward and a a grateful steward of the resources that you have influence over.
01:01:36:02 - 01:02:08:21
Laura
So thank you so much. What you just heard from Sean is my exact experience. Any time I come into contact with anyone from your family and even the people who work at your company, you just have you just displayed it perfectly and it's like you are the roots of your native plants in your soil. Like what you just displayed was exactly.
01:02:08:21 - 01:02:21:16
Laura
It was like hearing your mom from that very first call all those years or so. Thank you so much for being here and I can't wait til the next time we get together and do this again.
01:02:22:05 - 01:02:32:06
Sean
Yeah, yeah, for sure. There's yeah there’s. There is, but we have seriously so much to talk about and it's just enjoyable to hang out with you guys.
