“As a joyful vegan, I love the fresh, nutritious and delicious foods that Back to Earth prepares. Their commitment to quality shines through their fantastic food and their beautiful, artful presentation. Back to Earth is always my first choice for any catered event.”
– Julia Butterfly Hill, Activist, Author & Founder of Circle of Life
Our Staff
From Left: Vince Peterson, Ari Derfel, Eric Fenster, Stephanie Hibbert
If you would like to learn more about our staff, please scroll down and read their bios. You can also click on an individual below and jump right to her or his bio. We look forward to learning more about you too.
Life truly takes us on a journey, and I am embracing this adventure with every ounce of my spirit.
I never would have thought that my field research deep in the jungle and high in the Rockies, my teaching position at the Edible Schoolyard, or better yet my job guiding mountain trips and running the backpacking program at UCSF would give me the skills and passion to found Back to Earth – but that is exactly what they did, and I cannot be more thankful.
I still remember my first Environment Science course at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, when I learned about the true devastation that our species is causing all over the planet at this moment. I will never forget when my world was shattered open with each story of another rainforest burned, of another language lost forever, of another body of water contaminated with toxic waste, of another species extinct…forever. These realizations broke something open inside me and sent me on a path to find my greatest contribution back to the earth and all its inhabitants.
After long work on this path, I ultimately was drawn to the remote desert of the Owlshead Mountains in Southern California. I went on this journey to be in solitude. To empty my body and clear my mind, so that I could gain clarity on exactly what I was called on this Earth to do. I believe that we each have a purpose in this lifetime and I went on this quest to ground into mine. It was on this excursion in the desert that the vision of Back to Earth was born.
The concept is pretty simple. Until recent times, the people who walked this Earth for thousands of generations lived in close harmony with nature. As our population has soared, our manipulation and impact on nature has multiplied exponentially. The majority of our population has lost their spiritual and mental connections to the Earth, and therefore we have made decisions that harm it. We are causing serious damage to ourselves, our communities and our ecosystems. It is imperative that we shift our awareness Back to Earth and end this path of destruction.
At the present moment, this concept presents a gigantic challenge for those who care about the web of life. We are constantly charging uphill against corporations and individuals who have not become aware of the consequences of their actions.
My goal is to see us educating one another, providing and modeling real solutions that are sustainable, and shifting everyone’s awareness to a new paradigm of natural living. We need to believe in this shift and become active in every moment. From choosing to buy local, organic food to using public transport or bio-fuel for our vehicles, we need to embrace these changes even when it is most challenging.
What is so exciting is that we are part of a global network of individuals and organizations working day and night to make these changes come to life – and the seeds are sprouting everywhere! Right now, there are literally millions of groups engaged in sustainability and social justice work throughout the world.
As Gandhi is so often quoted, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” This is my goal with Back to Earth and I feel honored to be part of such an amazing vision during such interesting times!!
Ari Derfel, Co-Founder
More than anything, I am a teacher. That's what I am here to do. I'm thankful that I have been given a voice and the gift of making complicated things seem simple to people. I am thankful that I have discovered why I am here and I take the responsibility of being a teacher seriously, with a lot of breath, laughter and lightness at the same time.
At the moment, I teach people about self, community, and our beautiful planet, through Back to Earth. I am grateful that Eric and I chose to share our energy, and to create a company that does something good, and has a positive impact on the world. It is difficult today for many to be hopeful and to find joy in the big picture.
Too often we describe the world we live in as marked by war and US imperialism, corporate greed, capitalism turned fascism, globalization at the expense of indigenous peoples, environmental degradation, racism, sexism, classism, ageism, homophobia, and a mass media enterprise that champions the ego, competition, and consumerism over the collective, cooperation, and sustainability. All too often it seems that people lift up their hands in an expression of helplessness and say that it's too big, too powerful to change...it's just the way things are.
If you see someone do this. Give them a great big hug.
Then tell them this is not the only way things are.
Too seldom we describe the world we live in as marked by resistance to US imperialism all over the globe, non-profits for every cause and the birth of the conscious and sustainable corporation, capitalism dismantling, globalization giving voice to all oppressed people around the world, green technologies built in concert with ecosystems, positivism, and an independent media enterprise reaching more and more people everyday, championing revolution, and a return of the world to all of us, from the few who want to be kings at our expense.
I see more people questioning the system than ever before. I see yoga studios popping up all over the country. I see the organic and natural foods industry growing faster than the conventional food economy. I see indigenous people fighting fascist corporations trying to steal their water. I see more hybrid cars and bio-diesels. I see Julia Butterfly and Michael Franti and Amy Goodman. I see gay people on mainstream tv. I see the European Union standing up to the US. I see more people turning on and fewer people turning off. I see my thirteen year old nephew sending me an email, asking me what he can do to change the system. I hear Bob Marley reminding us over and over again, "emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds."
This world exists as much, if not more than the other one. Part of the challenge is that the people who run the other world own most of the media and they know, by no accident, that if they constantly remind us how terrible everything is, people will be scared. And scared people don't rock the boat. Fear is paralyzing.
Love and hope, on the other hand, are energizing, inspiring, and motivating. I choose love and hope, because the glorious thing that distinguishes humans from the other species is our ability to choose. Don't ever forget that. You can choose. And to create the world you want to see instead of succumbing to a world that is unsatisfying, you must choose. Choice is not a right. It is a responsibility. Gandhi wasn't kidding when he said, "be the change you want to see in the world."
I have chosen to bring about change by being an organic chef, a mountain guide, and a conscious, inspired business person, committed to creating a company that positively impacts people's lives, and the world...every time.
I am a white man and I acknowledge that every day. Defaulting into this life as a white male has given me, by the mere fact of the color of my skin and testosterone in my body, access to many things in this world...freedom, education, and open doors to name a few. I have been blessed to study at many of the world's finest Universities and to meet some of the most incredible people along the way. I have worked in many industries and I spent an incredible amount of energy looking for my specific path.
I found it. That brings tears to my eyes almost every day.
This is who I am and what I bring to Back to Earth. With this intention and perspective, I wake up and go about my work. I give it everything I have, every day, and it doesn't exhaust me, it invigorates me. So if you choose to do something with Back to Earth, whether it's inviting us to feed your family at your wedding or to introduce you to the magic of yoga amidst the magnificent mountains of Yosemite, you can be sure that I am bringing this energy to the experience. I treat my work as art, it is more than just an extension and representation of me. It is me.
