Regenerative agriculture to reverse climate change, a documentary video

By Catherine Haug, Nov 2015

“Healthy soils are necessary to feed the world; they are also the planet’s largest carbon sink. This task is for all of us: farmers, gardeners and food consumers. Together, we can heal the earth.” (from an Organic Consumers Association email).

While burning fossil fuels sends carbon into the atmosphere, regenerative agriculture stores carbon in the soil, for a more nutritious food supply and a healthier planet. Learn more from  a PBS documentary, “Food Forward, SOS: Save our Soils” (3).

The OCA (Organic Consumers Association) and international partners in the Regeneration International (1) project are gathered in Paris this week to meet with the United Nations CPO21 climate negotiators and get them to act on a simple and urgent message of hope.

The following is a summary of an email from Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA) and Organic Consumers Fund.

The importance of saving our soils

While most of the discussion on climate change has focused on reducing burning of fossil fuels, there is another extremely important thing we must do, not only to reverse climate change, but also improve our health:

If we fix our soils, we can feed the world, and cool the planet.

Healthy soils are necessary to feed the world; they are also the planet’s largest carbon sink. This task is for all of us: farmers, gardeners and food consumers. Together, we can heal the earth.

“For far too long, the big agribusiness corporations have been allowed to pollute and poison with impunity. Their chemical-intensive, degenerative farming methods have moved 50-75 percent of the original carbon content of the soils into our atmosphere and our oceans. At the same time, factoring in transportation, packaging and deforestation, industrial agriculture has contributed an estimated 25-40 percent of the excess CO2 to the atmosphere. …

The solution is to replace our toxic, degenerative agricultural system with regenerative organic agriculture and land management practices.”

These changes will produce enough nutrient-dense foods to nourish and feed the world’s hungry as well as the world’s more fortunate people. “These changes  will regenerate the soil’s capacity to draw down and sequester carbon.”

The OCA urges We the Citizens of the Earth to take action, even if our world’s leaders will not. Study up on regenerative practices. Consider signing the Pact for the Earth (see reference (2), below, for the link).

For more on regenerative practices, watch the PBS video, “SOS: Save Our Soil” (3), a 26 minute documentary. [Click on the Vimeo button below, or use the link in reference (3) if the video player does not appear.]

Summary of video:

“The top six inches of soil are the most precious, yet least understood ecosystem on earth—yet we continue to treat soil like dirt. Get down and dirty with large-scale Midwestern composters, California carbon farmers reversing climate change and a West Virginia poultry farmer creating ‘biochar’ from chicken poop. Explore new frontiers beneath our feet that just might save our soil.”

See also:

References:

  1. regenerationinternational.org
  2. Pact for the Earth: salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=8dJUn2806jh3oOPvVbVcB50LRL2n5pkz
  3. PBS Video: ‘SOS: Save our Soil’ video.pbs.org/video/2365301480
  4. Mercola: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/04/04/soil-health-sustainable-agriculture.aspx
  5. Mercola: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/11/regenerative-agriculture-practices.aspx
  6. Mercola: articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/07/19/poultry-centered-regenerative-agriculture.aspx

This entry was posted on Friday, November 27th, 2015 at 2:00 pm and is filed under Agriculture, Gardening, Home & Ranch, Livestock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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