I’ve written a little bit here about regenerative land management. Specifically, I mentioned permaculture and soil biology.
But what is regenerative land management, and why is it important?
Since the dawn of time, the human race has been supported by the earth. In the beginning, there were hunter/gatherers. Later, people settled down a little and began cultivating their own crops. When they depleted the soil in their village, they would clear another swath of forest (often cutting trees down or just burning them). Then they would start fresh. Early on, it was easy enough for people to continue this cycle. Twenty years after they depleted the first plot of land, they could come back and use it again, because they’d left it alone to recover.
But now, it’s not so simple. Factors like population and consumption require larger farms, and they demand more consistent yield. This book talks all about how entire civilizations have collapsed when their land could no longer support them. That’s a depressing thought. For ancient civilizations, it took thousands of years for them to deplete their land to the point of collapse. Now, it’s taking just centuries.
Conventional farming practices are using heavy machinery and toxic chemicals, and they’re leaving their soil exposed to the elements. This is killing the life in the soil and turning it into dirt. That’s why chem-ag companies have had to genetically modify common crops like corn, wheat, and soy, (crops that depend on chemicals to survive) and that’s why they’re using more potent and toxic chemicals like Roundup. The consequences of depleting the soil and using these chemicals extend far beyond environmental health. They impact you and me directly.
Thankfully, people are trying many different methods to avoid or counteract the ripple effect of soil depletion. For instance, organic produce has become more important to consumers, and therefore more important to farmers. “Organic” means produce was grown without the use of artificial chemicals. It’s a great start because the chemicals conventionally used have been linked to an avalanche of health risks. Avoiding these chemicals directly eliminates these health risks, and it also slows the depletion of the soil, because the organisms are no longer being directly killed.
However, organic farming is still far from perfect. Just because you eliminate the chemicals does not mean you’ve eliminated the problem. The soil is still depleted and unhealthy. Unhealthy soil bears unhealthy plants, and unhealthy plants create unhealthy humans. There are vital nutrients missing from this chain, and that’s how you get diseases associated with a lack of certain nutrients. So, while organic farming is a step in the right direction, it’s not the solution.
Here’s where regenerative land management comes in. Organic farming focuses on what is not used. A similar concept is present in environmentalism. Oftentimes, protecting the environment is translated to leaving it alone, but that only holds the degradation process still or slows it down. We want to reverse the degradation process completely. By using cover crops, rotational/intensive grazing, strategic conservative water consumption, companion plants, and understanding the biology under our feet, we can rehabilitate entire ecosystems, and yes, reverse environmental degradation completely.
When all of the systems and levels of an ecosystem are working smoothly, and everything is healthy, we become healthy. That’s because you have all the nutrients you need, and there are no toxins destroying your health. It’s an ideal goal to shoot for, but it will take lots of work and education to get there.
The biggest mistake we can make is assuming that nature exists in a vacuum. It’s not as simple as planting a seed and harvesting a plant. Every action has a ripple effect on this earth, and there is no single solution. Everything must work together.
People like Allan Savory, Geoff Lawton, Joel Salatin, Brad Lancaster and Elaine Ingham are actively restoring the earth. In later posts, I’ll describe exactly how they’re doing this.
Leave a Reply