Liz Brown Morgan, M.A., Esq.
Founder, Backyard Agrarian
Liz is the founder of Backyard Agrarian, the inventor of TareWare and the author of the Falcon Guide to Foraging in the Rocky Mountains (expected publication Spring 2013 by Pequot Press).
Liz holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Colgate University with a specialty in Native American cultures. She also attended Vermont Law School where she earned both a J.D. and a master's degree in Environmental Law and Policy with a specialty in food, health and agriculture issues.
Liz is regularly asked to speak about issues of sustainability and water in Colorado. She has been quoted in articles for the Boulder Daily Camera and the Denver Post, has been a guest on KGNU radio, Boulder's Channel 8 TV, the Boulder County Ecosystems Symposium, the University of Colorado INVST program, and has written articles published in elephant journal, The Blue Line, Living Green Magazine, Women of Green, Leisure Travel Magazine and others.
Liz lives in the hills outside of Boulder, Colorado with her husband Rich and dogs Basil and Buster. She tries to heed the sage advice of Edward Abby and save plenty of time for foraging, rafting, skiing, and enjoying life, family and friends.
Liz holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from Colgate University with a specialty in Native American cultures. She also attended Vermont Law School where she earned both a J.D. and a master's degree in Environmental Law and Policy with a specialty in food, health and agriculture issues.
Liz is regularly asked to speak about issues of sustainability and water in Colorado. She has been quoted in articles for the Boulder Daily Camera and the Denver Post, has been a guest on KGNU radio, Boulder's Channel 8 TV, the Boulder County Ecosystems Symposium, the University of Colorado INVST program, and has written articles published in elephant journal, The Blue Line, Living Green Magazine, Women of Green, Leisure Travel Magazine and others.
Liz lives in the hills outside of Boulder, Colorado with her husband Rich and dogs Basil and Buster. She tries to heed the sage advice of Edward Abby and save plenty of time for foraging, rafting, skiing, and enjoying life, family and friends.
“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am--a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.” ~ Edward Abby
What is an Agrarian?
Sustainability starts with the land - and our connection to it. An agrarian mindset is the understanding about where we stand in this world, of what we stand on, and of how we are connected to it. It is living a life that promotes peace with the land. That does not struggle, but enjoys. That does not destroy, but rejuvenates. It is life in all ways in accordance with the higher commands of nature.
If a flock of birds, or a glacier disappeared, an agrarian would consider whether his actions caused that imbalance. And if it did, that agrarian would cease that action and would reorganize his actions and his society into a way that would not cause that destruction of his world. And so on and so forth as he goes through life there would be constant adjustments. An agrarian spends his life learning the laws of nature - and his connection to it.
An agrarian is aware of what makes him feel good and what makes him feel bad. He notices that when he eats foods that are far from nature, he feels bad. He notices that when he wakes up to an alarm clock or stays sedentary and inside too much, he feels stressed and his body hurts. He finds that when he eats and wakes and works in accordance with nature, amazingly, he feels good. He feels happy. He feels content and in love with his world and his life.
An agrarian is deeply hurt by injustice and the sicknesses caused by an environment polluted for greed. An agrarian hopes that his small actions, some consciousness in his every day life, will help bring some sanity back into the world. Will help clean up this mess, and will at least allow him to live well during his stay on this big blue planet.
If a flock of birds, or a glacier disappeared, an agrarian would consider whether his actions caused that imbalance. And if it did, that agrarian would cease that action and would reorganize his actions and his society into a way that would not cause that destruction of his world. And so on and so forth as he goes through life there would be constant adjustments. An agrarian spends his life learning the laws of nature - and his connection to it.
An agrarian is aware of what makes him feel good and what makes him feel bad. He notices that when he eats foods that are far from nature, he feels bad. He notices that when he wakes up to an alarm clock or stays sedentary and inside too much, he feels stressed and his body hurts. He finds that when he eats and wakes and works in accordance with nature, amazingly, he feels good. He feels happy. He feels content and in love with his world and his life.
An agrarian is deeply hurt by injustice and the sicknesses caused by an environment polluted for greed. An agrarian hopes that his small actions, some consciousness in his every day life, will help bring some sanity back into the world. Will help clean up this mess, and will at least allow him to live well during his stay on this big blue planet.
