Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
On a European and global level, it can be observed that not only corporations but also decision-makers repeatedly resort to terms such as “regenerative” or “agroecological” if they want to avoid verifiable changes to the system and therefore want to avoid the explicit naming of organic farming, because it is clearly defined and leaves no room for interpretation.
What organic farming and agroecology have in common is that they reject synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, use organic fertilizers and stabilize their farming systems through diversity.
In this three part series we present an analysis by Dr. Andrea Beste on the similarities, differences and synergies between the organic, agroecological and regenerative farming movements. Part one here outlines the history and current status of the organic movement.
Hawai‘i is “showing the rest of the country how circular and regenerative and local food systems can support the economy, strengthen cultural heritage, and improve the overall health of the community,”
Time to talk about peasants, who I claim in Chapter 3 of my book A Small Farm Future will soon be returning to tend (or create) a small farm near you. Or may in fact include you or your descendants.
If a local food movement is about consumer empowerment, isolating from the complexity of global forces of injustice, increasing buying choices, or unchecked nostalgia and romanticization, then it is just another space where whiteness is prioritized and reproduced, and it cannot, in good faith, be conflated with ethicality or justice.
The orchard has created bonds where there were none before. Our volunteer network, our relationship with the university, the friendships of people who first met under the mulberry tree — these connections may be vital for our future.
The vision of a food commons seeks to embed economic relations into society and the natural world, through utilising the various forms of ecologically available resources in sustainable ways.
Watch Gaia’s latest film – Llafur Ni (Our Grains)– about a farmer’s 20-year quest to find and revive the Welsh black oats his grandfather once grew.
Small-scale urban farming is a key piece of the food resilience puzzle. In the face of crisis, local growing has proved a reliable ally.
As more and more of us are turned on to the idea of small-scale self-reliance and seek to build resilient local communities, one of the most serious challenges we face is basic access to affordable land.
And so, as we emerge blinking into the light, from behind our lockdown screens, it is with an invigorated vision of the world we’re collectively striving to build. We have much to do, but grounds to be positive.
