Ben Greenfield Interviews His Mom: Homeschooling, Coffee Shops, Writing, Music & More With Pat Greenfield!

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Family, Lifestyle, Parenting, Parenting, People, Podcast, Podcast-new

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17 March 2022

My interview with my father Gary Greenfield (“Why Water, Sunlight, Grounding & Relationships Are The Keys To Your Health & How To Feed, Clean & Protect Your Body Forever: An Interview With Ben Greenfield’s Father Gary Greenfield) was such a hit that today I am bringing to you the official interview in which I put my own mother, Pat Greenfield, in the hot seat.

My mom currently lives in Moscow, Idaho, and runs Bucer's Coffeehouse & Pub (if you're ever in the area and have a craving for some house-roasted coffee, homemade pastries, hearty sandwiches, amazing local draught beers, or fine wines).

Get ready for a wild ride and amazing conversation with my mom, in which we discuss my own upbringing, diets, health food, coffee, her move to Idaho, trauma, homeschooling, and much, much more!

During our discussion, you'll discover:

-Pat's upbringing and adopting a vegetarian diet as a child…09:00

  • Alpena, Michigan, right on Lake Huron
  • Youngest of nine girls (akin to having nine mothers)
  • Father was a pitcher for a minor league baseball team but had to retire due to a freak injury
  • Father began girl's little league baseball in the town
  • The town's field was named after him

-Moving out of the house, striking out on her own…13:40

-Moving to Idaho…40:00

-What kind of student was Ben Greenfield?…46:33

  • “Couldn't imagine sending them off when I could teach them myself”
  • Ben was always an autodidact (a self-taught person)
  • Every educational system has its weakness; have to make do with the best that works for you
  • Pat knew that Ben would end up reading/writing as an adult
  • Mom's perennial red pen was a heavy influence on Ben's wordsmithing abilities
  • Institute for Excellence in Writing

-Gushing over Rosie, the adopted child…53:23

  • “Wouldn't it be great if God dropped a biracial kid in our lap”

-How Pat spends her days in Moscow, ID currently…1:00:35

-Pat's food philosophy raising her children…1:04:14

  • Veggies and meat; giant vats of soups and stews
  • Would also stock up on McDonald's and other fast foods

-How the Greenfield kids got into music, athletics, and fitness…1:06:47

  • The discipline of learning musical instruments and reading music

-What is it like to be a grandma?…1:09:38

-And much more!

Upcoming Events:

Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode

Resources from this episode:

– Pat Greenfield:

– Podcasts & Articles:

– Other Resources:

Episode sponsors:

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Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for my mom Pat Greenfield or me? Leave your comments below and one of us will reply!

Ask Ben a Podcast Question

13 thoughts on “Ben Greenfield Interviews His Mom: Homeschooling, Coffee Shops, Writing, Music & More With Pat Greenfield!

  1. Jacob Abbott says:

    My mom is also from Alpena, I love that place!

  2. cee says:

    God Bess your Mom!!!!

  3. Trudy Petersen says:

    Wow Ben. Your mom’s story is incredible. She has a book in her for sure. Thank you for sharing her with us.

  4. Victor A says:

    Ben, I was/am addicted to your fitness podcast, but, I really love the new direction you’ve taken with the new podcast.
    The interview with your mother was incredible.. That was not the interview I was expecting from you interviewing your mom.. Your mother is/was very brave to recount and share that horrific event that happened in her past.
    The episode made me laugh, and cry. And it was very interesting to get an insight in your upbringing and how you became the man, husband, father that you are today.

  5. Ben, I very much enjoyed the podcast with your mom. It made me want to go back and visit Moscow again just for nostalgia… I was delighted to hear that your boys are enjoying the SSS video courses. Please give them my best regards. And thanks for linking to IEW in the show notes! If you ever do a podcast specifically on writing or teaching writing, I’d love to be a sponsor. I’ve learned so much from listening to you this past year and am benefitting (I believe) from the Kion products I’ve tried. God bless you!

    1. Awww…thanks man! I’m loving the fact that my sons get to go through your course just like me!

  6. Rosario says:

    Wow. I truly enjoyed the podcast with mama Greenfield. It was filled with every emotion imaginable; from happiness to sadness and Thank You Jesús in between. It made me cry and it made me rejoice. Always knowing how power that Name really is. Thank you for sharing those moments of vulnerability with your audience- Ben!

    Ps. Hopefully the grammar and punctuation in this short review – made the cut. 😁😉

    1. this is Ben Greenfield and I approve this message 😉

  7. Heidi Crawford says:

    You’ve had a lot of great podcasts but this one is my favorite. I love hearing from women. Especially ones who unapologetically put their families first and fully embrace motherhood. As a woman it feels like most of what we hear from society is that a woman’s true value is based on how much money we earn, how many procedures we can afford to look younger, and how well we can prove that we don’t need a man. Yuck! Pat is a shining example of the incredible value moms & women bring to this world 💞

  8. Very powerful podcast Ben and Pat. It’s inspired me to record interviews with my family as they get older.

    I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about the community you mentioned at the end Ben? We’ve got some similarities in our life (strength coach, unschool our kids, desire for strong community, etc) and I’ve been wanting to create a village-like intentional community here in Canada for awhile. Just curious about the one you might be moving to.

    Thanks and again, appreciate the episode from both of you!

    Paul Hemsworth

    1. Viola Idaho…that is the name of the community I'm likely moving to if I can sell my Spokane WA home or turn it into a retreat center…

  9. Dale aka Healthnut says:

    Ben,

    What a sweet and warm soul of a mother you have been blessed to have

    in your life. I was adopted at birth. I never had a connection of

    love or happiness with my adopted parents. I felt neglected

    and still working though it today.

    I really enjoyed the entire podcast.

    Have a wonderful day ahead and thank you for sharing!

    P.S. I hope someday your products will be available on iHerb.

    I moved out of the USA over 16 months ago and would love to continue

    to support you and your quality products of KION.

  10. KRISTAL OSWALT says:

    Kudos to you for having your Mom on the Podcast. I loved hearing about Gods Omnipresence in her life. You were very respectful with her in the tender moments of her life testimony. Keep being a light to your audience!

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