How did Gaz Oakley go from city-life burnout to a calmer, more authentic life connected to nature?
Gaz Oakley, the chef, author and creator joins John Vincent for a powerful conversation about plant based food, burnout, fermentation, herbalism, homesteading, nature deficiency, social media, city life, anxiety, authentic living and the spiritual power of reconnecting with the land.
From starting work in professional kitchens at 15, to burning out after years of 80 hour weeks, building a huge YouTube and Instagram audience, leaving London, growing his own food in Wales and discovering the wisdom hidden in plants, Gaz explains why modern life has disconnected so many of us from the food we eat, the seasons we live through and the natural world around us.
In this episode you'll learn:
◼ Why Gaz Oakley believes society is suffering from “nature deficiency”, and how growing food helped him feel grounded, present and more himself
◼ How burnout in professional kitchens pushed him away from restaurant life and eventually led to YouTube, plant based cooking and millions of followers
◼ Why social media followers stopped feeling like success, and how Gaz realised he had been living an inauthentic life by chasing trends online
◼ How fermentation, sauerkraut, chilli hot sauce and preserving harvests can help people reduce reliance on supermarkets and reconnect with food
◼ Why Gaz believes the lawn is “the greatest scam that’s ever existed”, and why balconies, gardens, windowsills, allotments and community growing spaces can all become sources of food
◼ What herbs such as mullein, yarrow, southernwood and lemon balm taught Gaz about plant wisdom, folklore, natural remedies and the people who lived before us
◼ Why city life can make us forget birdsong, trees, seasons, soil and community, and how people in London and other cities can still start foraging, growing and noticing nature
◼ How love, fatherhood, family, community and living closer to the land have reshaped Gaz’s ideas of success, survival, happiness and what it means to provide
Key Moments:
0:00 Intro to The John Vincent Podcast
1:26 Fermentation, sauerkraut and preserving the harvest
3:12 Gaz Oakley on YouTube, Instagram and why followers no longer define success
3:53 Living an inauthentic life, chasing trends and feeling ungrounded
4:36 Growing up in Cardiff, wanting to play rugby for Wales and discovering cooking
6:02 Starting in professional kitchens at 15
6:57 Burnout, 80 hour weeks and not looking after himself
10:04 Leaving restaurants, working in a builder’s yard and finding food again
12:06 Going plant based, sharing recipes and launching on social media
13:58 Becoming a new person through growing food
15:49 Nature deficiency as a physical and spiritual problem
16:02 Seasons, indigenous wisdom, weeds, folklore and feeling rooted
17:42 City convenience and forgetting the natural world
19:56 Mullein, lung health, tinctures and ancient plant uses
22:38 Southernwood, folklore and “lads love”
23:31 Yarrow, Achilles and the plant wisdom hidden in common weeds
24:58 Lemon balm, stress and the calming ritual of making tea
25:51 Opening your eyes to nature in the city
30:35 The fisherman story and redefining success
33:05 Why the countryside felt less lonely than London
34:43 Social media as a servant, not a master
38:38 The power of learning where your food comes from
39:03 Turn your balcony, windowsill or lawn into a farm
40:35 Local, seasonal, unpackaged food and avoiding plastic
41:48 Why culinary herbs are also part of medicinal plant traditions
42:44 Birdsong, lost wisdom and reconnecting with the natural world
44:13 Foraging, scything, soil, serotonin and getting dirt under your nails
46:42 Community, land, shared skills and intergenerational living
48:23 Opening a farm shop in Abergavenny and rebuilding local community
51:33 Plants, music, water, weeds and the healing power of nature
53:59 Finding your authentic voice online
56:33 Love, fatherhood and why Gaz now wants to provide presence, not just money