18th Jun 2024 Gemini 1.5 Pro
Kimbal Musk, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and founder of Big Green, joins The Regeneration Will Be Funded podcast to discuss how his organization aims to get everyone in America growing food. Musk believes that the act of growing food is transformative, leading to improved nutrition, mental health, and a deeper connection to nature.
Musk's passion for food stems from his childhood and was further ignited during his time as a chef. He recounts his experience cooking for firefighters after 9/11, where he witnessed the restorative power of food. This experience inspired him to open The Kitchen, a restaurant in Boulder, Colorado, in 2004. Driven by a desire to give back to his community, Musk founded Big Green in 2010 with the mission to make growing food a part of every American's life.
There's so much about gardening where when I think of growing food changes lives, There's one of the most powerful things is if you look after your garden, it thrives. Right. And the less you look after it, the worse it gets. And if you don't look after it at all, it dies. And that is just a powerful lesson for our kids when they can take with them in every aspect of their life. You've got to look after a relationship or you've got to look after a pet. Really, it's like this beautiful... relationship to the world that they get at a young age.
Initially, Big Green focused on building outdoor classrooms and gardens in schools across the country, reaching an impressive 650 schools by 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced a significant shift in their approach. With schools closed and access restricted, Big Green pivoted to directly funding teachers, providing them with $2,000 grants to support food-growing initiatives.
This change proved surprisingly successful, revealing a need for more flexible funding models in education. Musk notes that while Big Green's initial model had a significant impact, it was limited in scale. By directly funding teachers, the organization could reach more schools and empower educators to tailor programs to their specific needs.
The process of distributing funds to teachers highlighted the inefficiencies of traditional financial systems. Musk turned to Web3 technology as a potential solution, drawn to its promise of decentralized, transparent, and efficient transactions. This exploration led to the creation of Big Green DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization aimed at revolutionizing philanthropic giving.
So I saw Web3 as this beautiful way to leverage the knowledge of the front lines of philanthropy in what we work on, which is helping everyone in America grow food at some point in their life. It's a beautiful goal, very attainable. I believe that it's always hard work, but this is an attainable goal. We can get every American growing food. And I was able to use Web3 to recruit hundreds and eventually thousands of nonprofits to join the cause. They were already doing it, but they were doing it individually.
Central to Big Green DAO's structure is the concept of decentralized power. Instead of a traditional top-down approach, decision-making power is distributed among DAO members, who include donors and grant recipients. This democratic model ensures that a diversity of voices is heard and that funding decisions are made collaboratively. Musk, drawing inspiration from the US Constitution, envisioned a system where no single entity could accumulate excessive power, ensuring the DAO's longevity and impact.
So, they designed something and I put my 10,000 hours in, I've become a citizen. That alone is a, you have to study for that. But also in 2021, designing the DAO, that as well as the parliamentary systems and others where how can you create something that does not allow an individual to accumulate power?
Beyond its financial mechanisms, Big Green DAO has fostered a vibrant community of nonprofits dedicated to food security. The DAO's online platform, Discord, serves as a hub for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and mutual support. This sense of community, Musk argues, is one of the DAO's most significant achievements. By breaking down silos and encouraging open dialogue, Big Green DAO is creating a more connected and effective network of changemakers.
So I think the the long-term goals of efficiency effectiveness sure that matters what we're seeing immediately is this community that we've that's been formed and Every October now we'll do an in-person gathering and that to me is could survive me, could go beyond, could just keep going because there's no, it's not reliant on one person.
Airtable