Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
As Indigenous writers such as Robin Wall Kimmerer show in Braiding Sweetgrass, indigenous people have much to teach us about holistic thinking, the use of social controls to curtail greed, and how to live with the rest of nature.
The Sustainable Food Trust’s new report, Feeding Britain from the Ground Up, finds that, if we change the way we farm and what we eat, we could improve our health, protect nature, combat climate change and be more food secure as a nation.
In the everyday work of my farm, most of the decisions I make, in one way or another, are driven by the goal of continuing to grow and protect soil.
To increase the distance between humans and the living world which is also our life support system is bound to aggravate the separation between humans and nature with devastating results for both humans and the rest of the living world.
In the 11 years I have been farming, all I can claim credit for is making the conditions right (and sometimes, admittedly, very wrong) for food and flowers to grow.
To not manage land involves letting go, giving that control and responsibility back to nature and instead adopting an approach to work with it – a fundamental shift in practice and mindset.
I gained the impression, perhaps unfairly, that none of the so-called experts who were presenting had any practical knowledge of, or insights into, regenerative farming.
Society must be made aware of the fact that destruction of the world’s soil organic matter is an existential threat to civilization every bit as immediate and serious as climate change or oil depletion.
‘Kiss the Ground’, currently streaming on Netflix, has huge relevance for the massive environmental and health problems we face today. Although mostly looking at American agriculture, it includes inspiring examples from Africa, China and Haiti.
Mohammed Ruzzi is manager of the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA), a network of 51 cooperatives supporting 1200 farmers in the north of Palestine’s West Bank region. PFTA farmers export organic fairtrade olive oil and other products to the UK through Zaytoun, a UK social enterprise.
Fibersheds put it all together into a practical, natural, and hopeful whole. It’s based in the philosophy that nature still knows best, whether it involves the role of animals on the land, promoting life in the soil, keeping the ground covered with plants, building up soil carbon, generating local jobs, and using ingredients sourced from nature.
Nathanael Siemens wants to bring regenerative and organic cotton to the San Joaquin Valley. He spends his mornings just walking the fields, trying to figure out what to do next, how to overcome the challenges that he faces daily from weed control to irrigation to simply getting a hold of enough seeds.
