Chris Kerston About Building the World’s First Regenerative Wool Supply Chain

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Author: Elisabeth van Delden | Published: March 8, 2018

Chris Kerston is the Market Engagement and Public Outreach at the Savory Institute. In this episode, Chris introduces us to Allan Savory and the work of the Savory Institute. Chris explains how desertification happens and what role sheep and wool play to reverse desertification. You also get to learn details about the Land to Market certification scheme Chris and his team are working on to build a regenerative supply chain.

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This Revolution Will Be Farmed

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With roots in the Occupy Movement, the Experimental Farm Network seeks participatory plant breeding on a massive scale.

Author: Lela Nargi | Published: March 7, 2018

A long-bearded, bespectacled Nathan Kleinman is standing inside a hoophouse in Southern New Jersey he proudly announces he got for free from a local farmer. Excitedly, he holds up plastic baggies containing his latest accessions of seeds. “These are Chinquapin chestnuts—they’re sweet and small,” he says, pouring what look like dark brown cap-less acorns into his palm. Back into their bag they go so he can show off the rest of his prizes: “Korean stone pines—they’re really rare. Bittenfelder apples, which are good to use for rootstock. Oh, these are cool; they’re from monkey puzzle trees, which are native to Chile.”

The tree seeds are all part of Kleinman’s ever-growing collection of perennials—plants that grow for more than two years and, critical for Kleinman’s purposes, have the ability to combat the effects of climate change. Later today, he will mix these and others with soil, vermiculite, and water, then set them in his fridge to germinate.

Outside, it’s a brutally windy winter’s day, with nothing in the frost-crusted fields beyond the hoophouse except a sprinkling of miraculously still-green sedum and moss, and the barren, woody stalks of a beheaded sorghum crop. But Kleinman is already thinking of spring and the potential it affords for a new season of agricultural activism.

Kleinman is co-founder of the Experimental Farm Network (EFN), a five-year-old nonprofit that aims to start what he calls a farming revolution. On the one hand, EFN is an open-source seed company, with about 80 hardy varietals of tomatoes, beans, squash, and peppers currently for sale on its website. More broadly, it’s a sustainable farming community with a mission to identify and breed carbon-sequestering perennials, relying for labor on a volunteer army of experienced and newbie agriculturists across the country.

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Nature Can Reduce Pesticide Use, Environment Impact

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Author: Michigan State University | Published: March 1, 2018

Farmers around the world are turning to nature to help them reduce pesticide use, environmental impact and, subsequently, and in some cases, increasing yields.

Specifically, they’re attracting birds and other vertebrates, which keep pests and other invasive species away from their crops. The study, led by Michigan State University and appearing in the current issue of the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, showcases some of the best global examples.

“Our review of research shows that vertebrates consume numerous crop pests and reduce crop damage, which is a key ecosystem service,” said Catherine Lindell, MSU integrative biologist who led the study. “These pest-consuming vertebrates can be attracted to agricultural areas through several landscape enhancements.”

For example, Lindell and graduate student Megan Shave led earlier research to bring more American kestrels to Michigan orchards. Installing nest boxes attracted the small falcons, the most-common predatory bird in the U.S., to cherry orchards and blueberry fields. The feathered hunters consume many species that cause damage to crops, including grasshoppers, rodents and European starlings. In cherry orchards, kestrels significantly reduced the abundance of birds that eat fruit. (Results from blueberry fields are pending.)

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What Does the New Regenerative Organic Certification Mean for the Future of Good Food?

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Several new labels introduced last week seek to move beyond USDA organic. Can they shore up sustainable practices, or will they sow consumer confusion?

Author: Ariana Reguzzoni | Published: March 12, 2018

Organic is not enough. Or that’s the thinking behind the new Regenerative Organic Certification(ROC) that was officially launched at the Natural Products Expo West trade show last week. The Regenerative Organic Alliance, a coalition of organizations and businesses led by the Rodale Institute, Patagonia, and Dr. Bronner’s, have joined the seemingly unstoppable engine propelling sustainable agriculture beyond the term “organic,” or, as some believe, bringing it back to its original meaning.

“[The USDA] Organic [label] is super important—thank goodness it was put into play,” says Birgit Cameron, senior director of Patagonia Provisions, an arm of Patagonia that aims to solve environmental issues by supporting climate-friendly food producers. “The ROC is absolutely never meant to replace it, but rather to keep it strong to the original intention.”

Like other newly proposed certifications—including the “The Real Organic Project,” which was also announced last week—one of the Alliance’s primary goals is to require growers to focus on soil health and carbon sequestration. But, as Cameron explains, it is also an attempt to be a “north star” for the industry as a certification that encompasses the health of the planet, animal welfare, and social fairness.

As producers move up through its tier system (bronze, silver, and gold) they will eventually set an even “higher bar” than any other labels offered right now. According to Jeff Moyer, executive director of the Rodale Institute, this built-in incentive to constantly improve on-farm practices is something the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic requirements lack.

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The Crop of the Future

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Harvesting carbon could offer a solution to climate change.

Author: Tharran Gaines | Published: March 9, 2018

Whether you call it global warming or climate change, the emotionally charged topic generally associated with greenhouse gases brings an array of reactions – from genuine concern to belief in a conspiracy. Granted, natural shifts in global temperatures have occurred throughout human history. However, the fact remains that Earth’s average surface temperature has increased 1.3ºF. over the past century and is projected to increase by an additional 3.2ºF. to 7.2ºF. over the 21st century. It is happening at a faster rate than ever before.

Fortunately, U.S. farmers and ranchers are poised to make a difference. In fact, they have already adopted technologies in many instances that are helping to slow greenhouse gas emissions – even if it has been inadvertent – in the quest for reduced soil erosion, lower input costs, or improved water conservation.

Temperature Change is Both Good and Bad

While the global temperature change may seem slight and insignificant, it does pose implications – both good and bad – for farmers and ranchers. According to the EPA, it can lead to a longer growing season in some regions, yet have an adverse effect on crops where summer heat already limits production.

Global warming can also lead to an increase in soil evaporation rates, as well as the chances of severe drought. It’s believed that climate change may encourage a northern migration of weeds and greater disease pressure in crops and livestock, due to warmer winters and earlier springs.

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Regenerative Certification Meant Add to USDA Organic, Not Supplant It, Developers Say

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Author: Hank Schultz | Published: March 7, 2018

A new Regenerative Organic Certification program launching this week at Expo West is a meaningful extension of the base USDA Organic certification rather than a symptom of the tensions within the movement, proponents say. However, some observers have taken a wait and see attitude about whether the idea has legs.

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Plans Take Shape for Regeneration Midwest

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Last month, Regeneration International and our partner organizations hosted a meeting at the MOSES Organic Farming Conference in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to gauge interest in forming a 12-state Regeneration Midwest Alliance in the heart of America’s “breadbasket.” (The 12-state region includes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri).

Our team showed up expecting some interest—only to be met by an enthusiastic crowd ready for a regeneration revolution!

The coalition of RI partners, which included Main Street Project, Organic Consumers Association (OCA), Regenerate Nebraska and Midwest Organic Services Association(MOSA) presented a vision for what the Midwest could look like if we were to take a systems-change approach to redesigning the future of how our food is produced.

We asked what the future of Midwest agriculture would look like if instead of food production being the underlying cause of economic, social and ecological destruction, we redesigned it to be the source of clean water, healthy soil, and a toxin-free environment.

What if family farms began to thrive again? What if agriculture became part of the climate solution, instead of a big contributor to the problem?  

For several hours we shared ideas for realizing our vision of a food system that builds resilient and prosperous farms while regenerating our economies and communities.

“We’re learning more every day about how regenerative farmers and ranchers around the world are contributing to climate and food security by building soil health,” said Patrick Kerrigan, who represented OCA at the meeting. “The question is, how do we connect consumers who want to buy healthy local and regional foods with these farmers? And how do we build the systems infrastructure to ensure that these farmers are successful economically?”  

So what’s next for the newly forming Regeneration Midwest (RMW)? Here’s the scoop moving forward:

  • We’re recruiting state representatives from the 12 states that will form the Regeneration Midwest Alliance.
  • Once we confirm the 12 state representatives, we’ll invite all interested parties in each of the 12 states to help build out their state alliances by reaching out to neighbors, organizations they work with, church leaders, businesses—anyone who will listen! As these state coalitions grow, so will our ability to find the farmers, the business partnerships and resources we’ll need to achieve lift-off in the coming year.
  • RMW representatives from the 12 states will first participate in a joint planning session by phone, then follow up (probably in June) with an in-person meeting to plan the official RMW launch (probably in October). Each state representative will walk away from that meeting with a clear set of priorities for how to organize key industry sectors in each state so that we can coordinate at the regional level.

This state-by-state coordination will give us a clear picture of the resources we have and the challenges we face as we build the infrastructure needed to scale up regeneration at the regional level.

A huge priority in the coming months is for the 12-state alliance to agree on how regenerative products will be differentiated in the marketplace. We will want to hear from all of you on to accomplish this without compromising or “whitewashing” the foundation of regenerative farming.

In the coming months, we’ll collaborate to create rules and standards by which RMW can abide and by which we will differentiate the agriculture system we hope to deploy throughout the region. We must avoid what happened with “sustainability” as industrial agriculture co-opted that term—as it is already trying to do with “regeneration.”

A final note on our vision for the RMW: We want all farmers who have already gone beyond organic and those who are organic certified but are not willing to bend to the industrial corruption of our organic standard to have a new platform, one created to support and scale regenerative farming and reward those who want to reclaim the idea of grassroots-based movements.

RMW will focus on unclogging the rivers of regeneration, which have been clogged for far too long. We will stand not for purity, but for integrity, our platform will be non-negotiable because it will be nature-based and people-centered—around consumers, farmers and workers.  (especially consumers, farmers and workers).

Stay tuned for more news as the Regeneration Midwest Alliance prepares for lift-off!

Watch this video from the Regeneration Midwest Alliance planning meeting (Watch on YouTube, or on Facebook).

Interested in learning more about the Regenerative Midwest Alliance? Fill out this short form with your contact information and we will send you updates.

To keep up with future developments, please sign up here for the Regeneration International newsletter.

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin is chief strategy officer for the Main Street Project and a member of the Regeneration International steering committee. Sign up here for news and updates from Regeneration International.

La agroecología es una larga aspiración de los mapuches

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PorEduardo Henríquez P. · Publicado: 11 de marzo 2018

Las comunidades avanzan en los enfoques de soberanía alimentaria y producción de alimentos sanos con inteligencia frente al sistema dominante que produce pobreza y hambre, y que tras el cambio de organización económica se deben adoptar todos los conocimientos que se han producido a través del tiempo para producir con inteligencia el alimento.

El principal conductor del MUCECH, el líder mapuche, Manuel Llao, recuerda que hace mucho tiempo su pueblo, viene llamando la atención reiteradamente ante las autoridades políticas sobre la necesidad de tener una visión estratégica de largo alcance para proteger los recursos naturales que producen el alimento de los chilenos. Después de un largo período sin respuesta, nos cuenta que hoy emerge con fuerza una iniciativa propuesta desde la FAO para privilegiar la agroecología.
El presidente del MUCECH, dice que los mapuches desde tiempos históricos muy lejanos, inspirados por su cosmovisión, “siempre hemos sido respetuosos con la madre tierra, porque ella es muy generosa con los pueblos que cuidan el medio ambiente y mantienen los equilibrios biológicos”.
“A esta actividad que los mapuches la practicamos desde tiempos remotos, los especialistas de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para alimentación y la agricultura (FAO) la denominan agroecología”, explica Manuel Llao.
“La agroecología para el pueblo mapuche – explica el dirigente- es una alterativa al modelo económico impuesto al mundo campesino e indígena, siempre cuando hay pertinencia cultural y es llevada a cabo como un modelo de vida y por supuesto económica en nuestra AFC Indígena”.
Y luego Manuel Llao precisa que “Para el pueblo mapuche y su AFC, la agroecología, implica también un desafió con el (Buen Vivir) concepto que tiene que ver con la proyección de los Pueblos Indígenas a nivel Continental”.
“Para ser más claro es diferente la Agroecología vista solo del punto de vista Económico que la Agroecología vista desde el punto de vista Indígena, cabe recordar que nuestra gente no produce a gran escala y es diversificadora en sus tierras; papas, tomates, cilantros, puerros, porotos, trigo, avena en fin.” Subraya el principal conductor del MUCECH.

 

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El ambiente sano es un derecho

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Por Darío Aranda · Publicado: 10 de marzo 2018

Los Estados están obligados a respetar los derechos humanos vinculados con el cuidado del medio ambiente, esta es la primera vez que la Corte Interamericana lo señala.

Agua sin cianuro de minería, aire sin agrotóxicos, lagos sin hidrocarburos, ríos sin contaminación de pasteras: un ambiente sano, entendido como parte de los derechos humanos. Así lo exigen desde hace décadas asambleas socioambientales, campesinos e indígenas. En una medida inédita, la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (Corte IDH) acaba de expedirse en línea similar: afirmó que existe una “relación innegable entre la protección del medio ambiente y la realización de otros derechos humanos”. El máximo tribunal destacó que los Estados deben respetar y garantizar estos derechos humanos y que tiene la obligación de evitar los daños transfronterizos.

La Corte IDH es el órgano judicial de la Organización de los Estados Americanos (OEA) y tiene como objetivo aplicar la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos (que entró en vigencia en 1978) y los convenios sobre la temática. En febrero emitió una resolución inédita mediante su “opinión consultiva OC-23/17”, donde destacó la relación de interdependencia e indivisibilidad que existe entre los derechos humanos, el medio ambiente y el desarrollo sostenible. “Por primera vez la Corte Interamericana desarrolló el contenido del derecho al medio ambiente sano”, destacó el comunicado oficial.

 

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El cambio climático y sus efectos en la agricultura

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Publicado: 8 de marzo 2018

Las cosechas se llenan de plagas, las sequías cada vez más son más frecuentes y las poblaciones que viven en laderas y suelos inestables son los más vulnerables, así lo reporta el último informe de la FAO.

Huracanes y las inundaciones subsecuentes, extendidos tiempos de ausencia de lluvia, temperaturas superiores a los 40 grados, fríos que hacen paleta el maíz, la espinaca, las frutas: el sur de México y Centroamérica son regiones especialmente vulnerables, y, de no mejorar las semillas, se podrían perder el 50 % de los cultivos.

“Nuestros estudios indican que la agricultura, efectivamente, es la actividad más afectada por el cambio climático. En muchos países ya han comenzado a ajustar sus calendarios agrícolas en función de la variación climática”, explicó Jorge Meza, oficial forestal de FAO para América Latina y el Caribe.

Y agregó: “El modelo agrícola que tenemos en este momento, el que da de comer a miles de personas, es un modelo no sostenido”.

Pero nuestros métodos para producir alimento no son completamente víctimas. EL 24% de los gases de efecto invernadero en el mundo provienen de la agricultura.

El 68% del agua dulce del planeta se utiliza en agricultura y de ese volumen se desperdicia el 45%.

La agricultura tradicional ha acabado con 75% de la agrobiodiversidad en bosques y selvas.

El modelo masivo agrícola se centra en muy pocas especies. Arroz, maíz, trigo y soya, literales dueños de nuestras mesas y del planeta.

 

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