 Okay, so I don't have a PowerPoint or anything like that. I just have some notes and here I have to share the podium with the entrails of the pig, a good company. So I guess I'd just like to begin the way I begin really most of the speaking that I do and just sort of address the question, what is fermentation anyway and why is it so significant? So broadly speaking, fermentation is the transformative action of microorganisms. If you have a biology background, you might already be shaking your head. Biologists definitely have a more specific notion of fermentation and that is that it is the production of energy without oxygen, anaerobic metabolism. And indeed most of the most widespread ferments that people enjoy are products of anaerobic microbial processes, the production of alcohol from different kinds of sugars, the production of yogurt and many cheeses from milk, but there are some ferments that require oxygen. They're sort of the oxymoronic ferments. And some examples of this would be vinegar, kombucha, tempeh, certain kinds of cheeses. And really everybody on the ground understands that these also are examples of fermentation. So I prefer to work with this broader lay definition that fermentation is the transformative action of microorganisms, but it's really important to understand and we all understand this in a very visceral way that not every transformative action of microorganisms results in something delicious that we wish to put into our mouths. And in fact, most of the food that we discard, we are discarding precisely because of the transformative action of microorganisms. And generally we reserve this word fermentation to describe desirable or intentional microbial transformations. But I think that the fact that microbial transformation can go many different ways gives us a little bit of insight into the inevitability of microbial change. And so as Herbert laid out, our human bodies are these complex microbial ecosystems. And the number of cells that we each possess that reflects our own unique individual DNA code are actually outnumbered 10 to one by bacteria that we are host to. And human beings are certainly not unique in this regard. Every biological creation is covered with microorganisms. And the evolving consensus in evolutionary biology is that all life is evolved from bacteria. And the flip side of this, which doesn't get talked about quite as much, is that no form of life has ever lived without bacteria. We all, from a carrot to a bee, to a bird, to an animal, to this pig, we all are these complex microbial ecosystems. And our physiology interacts with all of these bacteria. So this complex biological reality, this biological imperative that we must coexist with bacteria contrasts sharply, I think, with the indoctrination that certainly we receive it very, very strongly in the United States, but I suspect that through the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st century and most of the rest of the world, there is this cultural project that I like to call the War on Bacteria. And that's this indoctrination that bacteria are bad, bacteria are to be avoided, bacteria are to be killed. And I haven't really observed this here but that I can't really read Danish, but in the United States, in public restrooms everywhere, you find these soaps that are antibacterial soaps that sort of market themselves on the premise that they kill 99.9% of bacteria. And it's really come to the point where there's nothing more alluring that you could write on a container of soap than the promise that it kills 99.9% of bacteria as if that were a desirable thing. Because I don't wanna deny that it's possible to become ill from bacteria. There are bacterial infections and bacterial illnesses, but the reality is that what protects us from the relatively small number of bacteria that have the potential to make us sick are the 99.9% of bacteria that we can coexist with perfectly well. And beyond coexisting with them, we are utterly dependent upon them. Many aspects of our functionality depend upon bacteria. Beginning with our reproduction, human beings cannot effectively reproduce without bacteria and women's bodies produce a glycogen or carbohydrate that supports a population of lactic acid bacteria that create an acidic environment that enables us to effectively reproduce and without those bacteria, we wouldn't be able to do that. And then the trillions of bacteria in our digestive system enable us to effectively digest food and assimilate nutrients from the food that we eat. And they also synthesize certain essential nutrients on our behalf so that we don't have to find them in our food. And we're learning more and more really every year, but what we call our immune function is actually regulated by these trillions of bacteria in our gut. And other aspects of our physiology too, just in the last year or so there's been exciting research looking at how serotonin and other chemical compounds in our bodies that regulate how we feel and how we think are actually regulated by bacteria in our gut. So they're just utterly essential for so many aspects of our functionality. And so there's this sharp contrast between the biological reality and the ideological indoctrination that the age of microbiology has yielded, which is it's this fear of bacteria. Now, I first began playing around with fermentation about 20 years ago. I'm certainly not a professional chef. I love to cook. I always have loved to figure out how to make anything from scratch. 20 years ago I moved from New York City where I grew up to a community in rural Tennessee where I got involved in keeping a garden. And the reasons for that were many, but among them was concern about my health. And in 1991, 22 years ago, I tested HIV positive. And it just made me start thinking about my health and thinking about my life and how I could change my life to support my health. And the idea of sort of moving out of a big, busy, polluted city to a rural area where there was spring water and I could grow my own food just seemed like a healthier way of life. So that was a big piece of what sort of made me ready to make a change like that in my life. And when I got involved in keeping a garden, well, I was such a naive city kid that I had never really thought about the idea that like each vegetable would all be ready at the same time. So when my row of cabbages were already at about the same time, I thought to myself, well, I better learn how to make sauerkraut. Now I knew that I loved sauerkraut and even more than sauerkraut, sauer pickles, fermented cucumber, garlic and dill pickles which are really commonly found in New York City. And so I always was like drawn to this flavor of lactic acid, but I had never done it myself. So I mean, I really just opened up a couple of cookbooks and saw the process. It is incredibly, incredibly simple to make sauerkraut. And I chopped up my cabbage, I lightly salted it, I squeezed it and mashed it a little bit to get it all juicy. I stuffed it into an old crock that I found in the barn in the community. And I kind of got obsessed with sauerkraut. I mean, probably at all times since then, I've had some sauerkraut going. And then I started playing around with making yogurt and cheese making and making elderberry wine and blueberry wine and blackberry wine and what we in Tennessee call country wines. And then I started baking with a sourdough starter and then I started investigating some more exotic ferments. I learned how to make miso, I learned how to make tempeh and it just became a sort of all out personal obsession and my friends started calling me Sandor Kraut because I was always showing up with sauerkraut. And then I started getting invited to teach small workshops. I had some friends in Tennessee who were turning their family homestead into a sort of eco-education center and they invited me to teach a sauerkraut making workshop. And the first time I taught a sauerkraut making workshop which was in 1998, 15 years ago. What I learned is that there is, you know, before those of us, you know, raised in the context of the war on bacteria and this idea that bacteria are so dangerous, there's a huge fear that many people have. So, you know, the biggest question that came up that day and that has been sort of repeated to me hundreds of times through the workshops that I've done and through my website, you know, is how can I be sure that I'm getting good bacteria growing and not bad bacteria? You know, what about botulism? I don't want to kill my children. You know, people are, you know, many people are just paralyzed by fears like this. And, you know, basically, you know, fermentation, you know, because of this, you know, inevitability of microbial change in our food, you know, for people all over the world. People had to learn how to work with the presence of microorganisms on their food because otherwise it would sort of decompose their food into something that nobody wants to put in their mouths. So, you know, millennia before, you know, we had the tools to identify specific microorganisms, you know, people in every part of the world learned to work with these invisible life forces that are present on all food. And, you know, the practical applications of fermentation, you know, beyond the most widespread form of fermentation, which is the production of alcohol, which, you know, is a transcendent experience that, you know, sort of was really, has been used as a sacrament, you know, by, you know, varied cultural traditions, really, all around the world. But beyond alcohol, you know, the practical applications of fermentation are food preservation. I mean, for us in the 21st century, we have a warped perspective on food preservation. And we all have a fermentation slowing device in our kitchen. That's what a refrigerator amounts to. But, and, you know, canning, they did have sterilizing food in a can. I mean, you know, that was invented in France in the 1800s by Nicolas Appert. It's called Appertization in France. But really, like, up until then, you know, there were basically, you know, three methods of food preservation known to humanity. You know, one would be drying, one would be heavy salting to, you know, prevent microbial growth, and the third would be fermentation. So, fermentation is just an incredibly important mode of preservation, you know, sauerkraut, the general idea of fermenting vegetables, which really spread all across the Eurasian land mass and many other places. You know, particularly in temperate environments with limited growing seasons, this was how people could have the nutrients, notably vitamin C, that are, you know, primarily found in plant foods that aren't available for much of the year. You know, take a highly perishable food like milk. I mean, it's hard for us to even imagine milk outside of the context of refrigeration. And indeed, fresh milk, you know, what I imagine most of us grew up with is really a phenomenon of the 20th century and the emergence of widespread refrigeration. But, you know, soured milk, you know, yogurt, kefir, cheeses, you know, hard cheeses. Like, that's a very stable form of milk that, you know, we might be used to putting it in our refrigerator, but you don't need to. Cured meats, you know, slommies, you know, this is a way to, you know, if you're a family that's been raising, you know, the pig that Dario was gutting this morning, you know, that's how you're going to preserve it if you don't have a freezer and a refrigerator is by curing the meat. So there's a really practical application for, you know, and really not only for preservation. I mean, it's also certain foods are detoxified by fermentation, you know, they're poisonous or contain, you know, toxic compounds and the fermentation breaks those compounds down. Fermentation makes foods more digestible and it gives them flavor. Like, if you look around at, you know, gourmet food stores anywhere in the world, you know, the foods that we elevate on this pedestal and celebrate as gourmet foods, really the highest expressions of pretty much every culinary tradition are products of fermentation. So they create extraordinary flavors, not always flavors that everybody can agree on. You know, some of the flavors of fermentation are, you know, what we might call acquired tastes. You know, okay, so this is a pretty self-selected group. Like, how many people in this room would identify with the idea, you know, the further away I can smell a cheese, the more excited I am to eat it. Okay, but okay, so even for this self-selected group, that is a minority. So, you know, sometimes I'll buy a piece of really stinky cheese and I invite some friends over and like some of my friends will, you know, come into the door and be all excited to eat it and then other people will get to the door, open the door and they'll say, did something die in here? And, you know, and they would never for a minute think about putting it into their mouths. And, you know, all around the world, there are examples of fermentation that, you know, people who grew up with them love to eat and frequently people from outside the culture find them extremely inaccessible. Last night at dinner I was hearing about some of the traditions of fermenting meat and fish on the Faroe Islands. And it sounds like that's certainly an example of that. When I've tried Swedish surströmming, that's an example of that. Japanese natto, that's an example of that. But in a way, these foods that frequently people outside of the culture find, you know, even repellent, you know, serve to reinforce cultural identity because it is this sort of, you know, shared experience that people who share it recognize that most people outside of their group have a hard time sharing. So there's this disconnect. But increasingly, you know, what I've learned, teaching about fermentation, trying to demystify it and empower people with skills to make these incredibly easy and safe foods, is that people are getting interested in it for the perceived health benefits of fermented foods. And certainly, you know, fermentation transforms foods nutritionally in some dramatic ways. I mean, you know, fermentation can be thought of as predigestion. It breaks down dense compound nutrients into sort of simpler, more elemental forms that it's easier for our bodies to assimilate. It removes certain toxins from foods. It contributes additional nutrients, you know, a few of which, you know, have been investigated and these are like metabolic byproducts of specific microorganisms that have turned out to have extremely beneficial qualities for human beings. But, you know, what I would say is the most profound nutritional benefit of fermented foods is not really found in all fermented foods, but it's in the fermented foods that haven't been cooked after their fermentation and that is the live bacterial cultures themselves. And historically, nobody ever had to think about replenishing or diversifying the bacteria in their gut, but because we're living in the midst of the war on bacteria and more than an ideology, it's chemical warfare. It's, you know, antibiotic drugs. It's antibacterial cleansing products. It's chlorine in the water. I mean, it's all of these compounds that are used specifically to kill bacteria. And when we're ingesting these compounds and really even if you never take antibiotic drugs, we all are ingesting antibiotic drugs because they're accumulating in the water table because of their heavy use. But basically the gut bacteria in all of us are under continual assault and so, you know, in the 21st century, much more than in times past, it's become, you know, important to consciously replenish the bacteria in our gut. And one way people do that is little capsules called probiotics, but because, you know, all of the, you know, greatest delicacies of the world are products of fermentation. There are lots of incredibly delicious, bacterially rich foods and really a variety of bacterially rich foods is a much more effective probiotic than any single strain that somebody manufactures in a capsule. So there's this, like, there's this disconnect. Let me talk about one other disconnection. And that is, you know, it's very exciting for me to be, you know, invited here. You know, I am not a chef. I live in a rural area. I don't have many fine dining opportunities. But it's very exciting to me that, you know, many chefs around the world are getting more interested in practicing fermentation in their restaurants. But I get all this feedback, you know, both from people who are trying to start small local fermentation enterprises, and also from chefs who are, you know, wishing to incorporate fermentation into the practices in their kitchen. Well, that all of the, you know, because the central dogma of food safety in our historical moment is this idea that it's dangerous to eat food that sits sort of out for, you know, more than a few hours at temperatures above refrigeration temperatures. And, you know, well, you know, I can appreciate the general idea that, you know, keeping food under refrigeration as long as possible in general is a healthy practice in a food service situation. If it were intrinsically dangerous to eat food that had sat for more than four hours outside of refrigeration temperatures, we wouldn't be sitting here talking today because our species never could have perpetuated itself because we've only had the ability to keep food at refrigerated temperatures for a couple of generations. And really that, and then only in the most affluent parts of the world. So, you know, many of the people attempting to sort of negotiate with their sort of inspectors who are trying to enforce health codes, you know, this is just a disconnect, you know, because these foods fall outside of sort of the central dogma of food safety and how it is sort of frequently applied by, you know, enforcement agents. So, you know, many food manufacturers trying to get into fermentation have to basically educate their inspectors. You know, some restaurants, you know, just try to make sure their inspectors don't notice the things that they're leaving out to ferment because really, you know, all ferments, you know, occur in, you know, what the sort of food safety dogma would describe as the danger zone of temperature. So I think that this is a really interesting disconnect that, you know, as fermented foods become, you know, more popular again and the production of them becomes more mainstreamed and disperses beyond the factories where they have been, you know, taking place in recent decades. You know, I think we have to address this disconnect. So now I just want to talk for a moment about reconnection. You know, actually, you know, let me just back up and say one thing. Like I told you all that I tested HIV positive. I wrote on the back of wild fermentation that fermented foods have been important part of my healing. Many people have misinterpreted that and think that I said that, you know, I cured AIDS by eating sauerkraut. And let me be very clear that, like I do not want to, I mean, I think that, you know, there are definitely some snake oil salesmen who are sort of, you know, trying to convince people that, you know, different specific fermented foods, you know, will cure different specific things. You know, there are anti-carcinogenic compounds in sauerkraut. Does that mean that if you're diagnosed with a brain tumor, all you need to do is eat a big plate of sauerkraut every day? I don't think so. You know, our health exists in a much broader context. I think, you know, these foods as a group by enabling us to improve digestion, improve nutrient assimilation, improve overall immune functioning, that is huge. And, you know, for someone suffering from a chronic disease process, for someone with a brand new health crisis that they're dealing with, for someone who feels like they're the most strapping specimen walking the earth, for someone who's just feeling the effects of aging, you know, improving digestion and nutrient assimilation and immune functioning is amazing for anyone. So I think that I sincerely believe that fermented foods are part of what keep me, you know, healthy and vibrant. But I think that it's misguided to assume that they're going to be the cure for any specific disease process. Now, I just want to talk for a moment about reconnection. I mean, you know, food is something that, you know, sort of connects us, you know, with biology, with culture, you know, with history, you know, with desire. It's the embodiment of all these different things. Now, the word fermentation comes from Latin ferveri, which means to boil. And it's because the visible action of fermentation in liquids is bubbles, the same as the visible action of boiling. And the word yeast comes from Greek zestos, which also means to boil. So our vocabulary fermentation is all about, sort of, it's analogy to heating food and the bubbles that are created. But there's a metaphorical connotation of the word fermentation. And people talk about cultural ferment, political ferment, social ferment, intellectual ferment, spiritual ferment. And really, this is a metaphorical application of the same idea, like the bubbles, because when people get excited, you know, periods of change, periods of excitement, when people believe in change, when people believe in, you know, ideas that get them excited, they get bubbly. And when you feel bubbly about ideas that are inspiring you and you wanna talk about them, you wanna share them. So, you know, really what I wanna leave you with is the idea that, you know, in addition to being, you know, this amazing mode of food transformation that is used, you know, really in every part of the world, you know, that fermentation is also an important engine of social change. So I thank you today and let's have a great rest of the time.