Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The idea that regenerative grazing systems have the capacity to restore carbon to the soil has been proven by Rebecca Burgess in California. Fibershed’s Climate Beneficial Wool Program measures soil carbon storage so that wool coming from regenerative grazing landscapes can be verified as climate-beneficial.
On this episode, Nate is joined by Daniel Zetah, who practices regenerative agriculture on his family farm in Minnesota. Daniel shares his experiences in becoming aware of the global challenges we face and his journey back to his family farm, where he has been instrumental in naturally cultivating the land back to life again.
It is time for “regenerative food systems” to radicalize or get out of the way, to step aside and allow human-scale, disruptive, actually diverse and localized collectives to emerge and feed the world, one community by one community at a time.
Despite regenerative agriculture’s popularity and its focus on sustainable food production, it fails to tackle systemic social and political issues. As a result, the movement may perpetuate business-as-usual in the food system, rather than transform it.
It was clear that there was power in the idea that together we can improve the productivity and viability of sustainable farming and local manufacturing, especially when we share the goals of healthy land, abundant food, successful farm businesses, and invigorated local economies.
Using the same land for the production of both agriculture and solar energy is a win-win for the climate and farmers.
By taking a longer view, we can see the arc of the horizon of our agricultural past, which gives us the ability to put our endeavors in context and to see what’s possible for the future just over the horizon.
Dorn Cox is a family farmer who has long been in the vanguard of improving regenerative agriculture with open source technologies.
Focusing on compassion and personal transformation as a prerequisite for external, wider-world change, Commonland’s use of Theory U processes sets its approach apart from traditional landscape restoration projects, which typically focus on biodiversity alone.
Founded in 2010, SCF is run as a community benefit society, a type of co-operative, whereby the farm business is owned by roughly 400 members of the public and counting.
This is why I would like to end this letter with a request I made last year as part of the COP26 process and I continue making. Please visit a farmer – we are looking forward to receiving you to our farms and sharing our stories with you!
In this episode, Nate is joined by environmental and social activist Betsy Taylor. She and Nate have a wide ranging conversation about climate, consumption, culture, nuclear war, agriculture and the future.
