Human agricultural methods have evolved over thousands of years. While a thorough investigation of the human relationship with farming methods is beyond the scope of this spotlight, suffice it to say:
Our modern methods are not what they used to be. They are, in fact, harming the Earth.
Killing it, even. We take from the soil and we don’t give back. We add nutrients that will enable monoculture crops to grow, but we don’t truly nourish the land. We strip the soil through obliterative farming practices that leave it barren for future generations.
*cough* dust bowl *cough*
Well, good news: Regenerative agriculture is a type of stewardship that has the power to change all that.
We talked about this in our post on the Soil Carbon Cowboys, renegade ranchers who are using innovative techniques to improve rather than deplete the soil their cattle roam. (Highly recommend that post if you haven’t read it yet, by the way!)
The thing is, these methods aren’t new. Humans used to practice regenerative ag without ever having heard the term.
For instance, ancient Amazonian burning practices might have a lot to teach us about soil enrichment and carbon sequestration. And the ranchers above use an age-old rotational ranching method, moving the cows frequently, that preserves the land and significantly increases water absorption.
We’ll leave you with this:
Regeneration is possible. Things aren’t hopeless. But nothing will get done if we don’t do it. You can start supporting farms that use good practices by shopping at farmer’s markets or even growing more of your own food in the backyard.
If that sounds like a bit too much, we recommend you just get in touch with us about creating green systems on top of your building or in your own backyard!