“The word sustainable is like a dinosaur now,” Aras Baskauskas, the CEO of Los Angeles label Christy Dawn, tells me on a recent call. “What are we trying to sustain—the fires, the tornadoes, the mass extinction? We don’t need to be sustainable, we need to be regenerative.”
That conversation took place in early March, just before the coronavirus outbreak. Now, Baskauskas’s words feel almost prescient. Those natural disasters he mentioned are the result of our climate emergency, but so is the coronavirus; both are symptomatic of our fast-paced lifestyles and one-sided relationship with the planet. “We’ve forgotten that we are nature, and because of that, we’ve extracted from the earth without giving back,” he adds. “We take and don’t return.”
That’s true of many industries, but especially fashion. Even as we shift towards a more sustainable mindset, we can’t really say that anything we’re doing is “giving back” to the earth.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/towel-1838210_1920.jpg12801920Emily Farrahttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngEmily Farra2020-05-13 16:30:292020-05-13 16:30:29Regenerative Agriculture Can Change the Fashion Industry—And the World. But What Is It?
TOMALES, California – La propagación del coronavirus está causando grandes interrupciones en la cadena de suministro de alimentos de EE. UU. Varias plantas importantes de procesamiento de carne han cerrado sus puertas y los agricultores se ven obligados a desechar leche, romper huevos y arar campos con hortalizas en perfecto estado.
Con el cierre de escuelas, restaurantes y negocios, los agricultores han tenido que encontrar formas nuevas y creativas de hacer llegar sus productos a los consumidores. En el último episodio de nuestra serie de videos “Caminos de Regeneración” hablamos con un ranchero sobre la situación del COVID-19 y su proceso para adaptarse a los desafíos planteados por la pandemia.
Loren y Lisa Poncia son dueños de Stemple Creek Ranch, una granja regenerativa de 400,000 hectáreas ubicada en las colinas costeras del norte de California. En el rancho, el pastoreo rotativo es clave para producir productos animales de alta calidad, y son pastoreados y criados de manera humana. Además, el pastoreo ayuda a la preservación del hábitat de la vida silvestre y la restauración de cuencas naturales, y esto favorece que haya una mayor biodiversidad.
Al igual que muchos agricultores de todo el mundo, los Poncia se han visto muy afectados por el brote de coronavirus. En una entrevista exclusiva con Regeneration International, Loren explica cómo su granja perdió el 95% del negocio que tenían con restaurantes de la noche a la mañana.
Las ventas directas al consumidor, por otro lado, han aumentado significativamente. “Nuestras ventas en línea se están disparando”, dijo Loren a Regeneration International en una entrevista por Zoom. Él y sus 15 empleados, trabajan las 24 horas para cortar y empacar productos que se enviarán directamente a los clientes, siempre respetando el distanciamiento social y usando equipo de protección.
La pareja también ha visto un aumento en las ventas en los mercados de agricultores locales.
“Vendemos en dos mercados de agricultores en el norte de San Francisco que tienen mucha actividad. La gente viene a comprarnos directamente ”, dijo Loren. “Lo que notamos es que las personas están comprando más de lo normal porque ya no comen fuera y se ven obligadas a preparar 21 comidas caseras a la semana y eso requiere de muchos insumos”.
Durante décadas, el movimiento de alimentos regenerativos y orgánicos ha abogado por más ventas directas al consumidor y un mejor acceso a los alimentos locales. Esa visión está ganando impulso en plena pandemia. A medida que la cadena de suministro industrial de alimentos se descompone, la demanda de alimentos producidos localmente ha aumentado.
“En mi comunidad local, las personas están unidas para ayudar y apoyar a sus vecinos, por lo que en realidad estamos viendo un aumento en la solidaridad”, dijo Loren.
Stemple Creek Ranch practica el pastoreo rotativo con la intención de mejorar la salud del suelo
En 2013, se le pidió a Stemple Creek Ranch que participara en un estudio de 10 años con Marin Carbon Project, un consorcio de instituciones agrícolas independientes en el Condado de Marin, California. La misión del proyecto es aumentar el secuestro de carbono en pastizales y suelos agrícolas y forestales para mitigar los efectos del cambio climático.
El Marin Carbon Project requirió que el rancho completara una evaluación del suelo antes de aplicar composta orgánica a una porción de pastizales para aumentar el carbono del suelo. Además, también se implementó el pastoreo de ganado con el propósito de mejorar el suelo, ya que ayuda a pisotear la composta en el suelo y aplica fertilizante natural.
En su sitio web, el rancho dice que está “emocionado de estar a la vanguardia de esta investigación innovadora que muestra cómo las mejores prácticas agrícolas pueden aprovechar el carbono atmosférico para mejorar la composición del suelo en las granjas y mitigar los efectos del calentamiento global”.
Las prácticas regenerativas no solo crean resiliencia en el rancho, sino que también ayudan a educar a los consumidores y a entusiasmarlos acerca del origen de sus alimentos y eso, dijo Loren, es beneficioso tanto para la alimentación y la agricultura, como para la salud humana y el medio ambiente.
“Los pequeños agricultores regenerativos somos un grupo resistente y podemos superar esto gracias a la fertilidad de nuestras granjas”, dijo Loren.
“Con el COVID-19, estamos viendo normativas de insumos como fertilizantes químicos y pesticidas cada vez más estrictas, y su distribución es cada vez más complicada. Con suerte, esto impulsará a algunos a considerar el uso de la composta, los tés de lombricomposta y a reconocer la importancia de la salud del suelo, de manera que se adopten practicas que se usaban antes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial cuando no necesitábamos usar productos químicos “.
A pesar de los desafíos, seguir cultivando durante la pandemia nos ha brindado nuevas oportunidades para que el modelo de negocio de nuestro rancho evolucione. Internet ha sido especialmente útil, ya que permite a los agricultores y ganaderos de todo el mundo compartir sus éxitos y fracasos entre sí.
“Hemos podido aprender unos de otros compartiendo ideas y aprendiendo de los errores de los demás”, dijo Loren. “Creo que hay muchas cosas realmente buenas que podrían ayudar a crecer a los pequeños agricultores de todo el mundo”.
En cuanto a la cuarentena, Loren dijo que no hay otro lugar en el que preferiría estar encerrado que en su rancho con su familia.
“Realmente disfruto el hecho de que estoy confinado con mi familia y que estoy comiendo tres comidas al día con ellos y aprecio que podamos disfrutar de esta abundancia a diario”, dijo Loren.
“Nos estamos adaptando y cambiando ante los desafíos, pruebas y tribulaciones que se nos presentan, son cosas que ni siquiera podemos predecir. Así que el trabajo es muy duro, largo y estresante, pero estamos compartiendo muchos momentos buenos como familia y comemos juntos, lo cual es realmente increíble “.
Oliver Gardiner es el productor y coordinador de medios de comunicación de Regeneración International en Asia y Europa. Para mantenerse al día con las noticias de Regeneration International, suscríbase a nuestro boletín.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/StempleCreekRanch2.jpg8061241Oliver Gardinerhttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngOliver Gardiner2020-05-11 14:08:032020-05-11 14:08:03Caminos de Regeneración: el Rancho Stemple Creek se sobrepone al COVID-19 vendiendo directamente a los consumidores
At its best, each day lately is full of some degree of uncertainty. Stay-at-home orders. Lockdowns. Economic plunges. None of this is normal. Yet, it oddly shares commonality with a different kind of drawn-out pandemic—climate change. Hurricanes, wildfires, extreme temperature shifts are not normal either. These events, unlike the current coronavirus peak, are spread out geographically and seasonally, with the most ravaged effects often occurring beyond our sight.
What if we could stop the next pandemic before it starts? What if we could curtail climate change before it sweeps us aside? Incidentally, both crises share a common cause: our food system.
Repair our food system, repair our health
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that three out of four infectious diseases in people come from animals. That’s 75 percent, of which COVID-19 is one. Others, like SARS, Ebola, swine flu, and bird flu, have similar animal origins.
Until recently, virtually no one was searching for the infamous Spanish Flu of 1918, which killed nearly 50 million people—far more than in World War I. Suddenly, 102 years later, mass Googling began. Why? Like the virus we’re experiencing now, the Spanish Flu originated in an animal—the commonly consumed pig. This is not just a problem of earlier, less medically-advanced eras. In 2009, the swine flu returned, taking between 151,000 and 675,000 lives. Similarly, COVID-19 is suspected to have originated in bats, jumping to humans from another mammal.
While COVID-19 may seem like a foreign disease that we have fallen victim to, it’s just one of many viruses that stem from the extreme confinement of animals being raised for food. In the U.S. alone, 9 billion animals are raised each year on factory farms, posing a massive pandemic risk.
Add to that the risk of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, attributed to the overuse of antibiotics to promote the growth of animals raised for food. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 700,000 people die each year from drug-resistant diseases. They have been warning us that zoonotic diseases are transferred from animals to humans through exposure to animals and/or their products. The guidance is clear. We need to end factory farming or be prepared for an unhealthy future of pandemonium.
Repair our food system, repair the planet
Alongside our current crisis looms the seemingly obscure threat of climate change. There have been glimmers of hope that skies and waterways around the world are clearing, as flights and rush hour traffic all but halted. But pausing human activity for a few weeks is not going to stop the tide of climate change.
While curbing global warming requires change on many levels, one most obvious one is that of animal agriculture. It’s estimated that 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions—not including water and soil pollution—are caused by animal agriculture. More than planes, trains, and motor vehicles combined.
The time couldn’t be more opportune for us to reevaluate our relationship with our planet and the billions of factory-farmed animals who inhabit it against the laws of nature. Crammed into tiny cages. Packed into giant sheds. Instantly taken away from their mothers at birth. Treated like pure products being manufactured for profit. Except, like us, they have heartbeats, emotions, and curiosity. Like us, they get sick, that sickness spreads—through our soil, our water, and directly to humans.
Repair our future
At a time when many of us are looking to regain control of our lives, we can start by taking control of our plates, by reducing our consumption of animal products. Because the truth is—virtually all animals raised for food come from unhealthy factory farms.
We’re lucky to live in an era of plant-based burgers that bleed like meat and latte-foaming milk made from liquified oats. Innovations that allow us to experience food like many have grown accustomed to, with less risk and more benefit.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), substituting plant protein in lieu of animal protein is associated with lower mortality. Just the dose of health we could all use right now.
If you want to transform the health of people and our planet in one shot, stand up against factory farming, and fight for a better food system, by taking action with organizations who are doing just that. It’s time to take control of our health and our future. To define the new normal before our quarantines define us.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/cows-552946_1920-1.jpg12801920Jennifer Barckleyhttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngJennifer Barckley2020-05-06 12:19:182020-05-07 15:45:29What Climate Change and the Coronavirus Have in Common
Consideraciones del modelo ecológico ganadero y el agroclima
El sistema de manejo y la gestión del territorio que caracteriza a la ganadería ecológica lleva aparejado una reducción importante de los inputs y unas menores necesidades de energía que junto con el reciclado de los residuos sólidos y líquidos (mediante adecuadas técnicas de tratamiento), para esparcir compostados no contaminantes (magníficos supresores de agentes bióticos patógenos), contribuyen a reducir los gases inductores del efecto invernadero. Así pues, rebajan los valores de metano (NH4) y Oxido de carbono (CO2), por cuanto la materia orgánica compostada y cubiertas vegetales (bíodiversidad), retienen mayores cantidades de carbono.
La Agricultura Ecológica (AE), puede, en términos generales, atrapar entre el 15-28% del dióxido de carbono (CO2) del suelo (3,7 Tm. CO2/ha/año), según se use o no el estiércol. En este sentido, con el desarrollo de la Ganadería Ecológica recuperamos la Materia Orgánica (MO) de los suelos, y en efecto cuando incrementamos un 1,6% la MO en el 8,5% de la superficie global cultivada, podríamos secuestrar 100 ppm. de CO2.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/sheep-690198_1920-1170x656.jpg6561170Carmelo García Romerohttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngCarmelo García Romero2020-05-06 11:37:542020-05-06 11:37:54Ganadería ecológica y adaptación al cambio climático
Estamos viviendo 3 pandemias simultáneamente. La primera es la Pandemia del coronavirus. La segunda es la Pandemia del Hambre. La tercera es la Pandemia de Destrucción de los Medios de Vida. La pandemia del coronavirus ha infectado a 3.19 millones de personas y ha matado a 228,000 personas. El Programa Mundial de Alimentos de las Naciones Unidas ha advertido a la comunidad mundial de la «pandemia de hambre» que se aproxima, que puede llegar a afectar a más de 250 millones de personas cuyas vidas y medios de vida se verán sumidos en un peligro inmediato.
Según el programa mundial de alimentos, más de un millón de personas están al borde de la hambruna, y 300.000 podrían morir de hambre cada día durante los próximos tres meses. [1][2]
También hay una pandemia de pérdida de medios de vida. Según la OIT «como resultado de la crisis económica creada por la pandemia, casi 1.600 millones de trabajadores de la economía informal (que representan los más vulnerables en el mercado laboral), de un total mundial de 2.000 millones y una fuerza de trabajo mundial de 3.300 millones, han sufrido un daño masivo en su capacidad para ganarse el sustento». Esto se debe a las medidas de bloqueo y/o porque trabajan en los sectores más afectados».
“Para millones de trabajadores, sin ingresos no hay alimentos, ni seguridad, ni futuro. […] A medida que la pandemia y la crisis del empleo evolucionan, la necesidad de proteger a los más vulnerables se hace aún más urgente». Guy Ryder, ILO director general. [3]
Las tres pandemias tienen sus raíces en un modelo económico basado en las ganancias, la codicia y el extractivismo, que ha acelerado la destrucción ecológica, agravado la pérdida de los medios de subsistencia, el aumento de la desigualdad económica, y polarizado y dividido la sociedad en el 1% y el 99%.
En este Día de la trabajadora y el trabajador, en tiempos de la crisis del coronavirus imaginemos y construyamos nuevas economías basadas en la Democracia de la Tierra y en la democracia económica para proteger a la Tierra y a la humanidad. Abordemos las tres crisis a través de la participación democrática y la solidaridad. A través de la compasión asegurémonos de que nadie pase hambre. A través de la solidaridad y la democracia participemos en la creación de las economías futuras para asegurarnos de que ninguna mano se quede sin trabajo, ninguna persona se quede sin voz.
La crisis múltiple es una llamada de alerta de que la economía regida por el 1% no está funcionando para las personas y la naturaleza. El 1% está hablando de que el 99% es «gente inútil» en su idea del futuro basada en la agricultura digital y la agricultura sin agricultores, fábricas automatizadas y producción sin trabajadores.
Tenemos la obligación de crear economías que no destruyan la naturaleza, que no destruyan los medios de vida y los derechos de los trabajadores, economías que no destruyan nuestra salud propagando enfermedades y pandemias, que no destruyan los medios de vida y la libertad, la dignidad y el derecho al trabajo, y que no creen hambre. Vamos a crear economías #CeroHambre protegiendo los medios de subsistencia de los pequeños agricultores que proporcionan el 80% de los alimentos. Pasemos a la agricultura orgánica libre de veneno para proteger la salud humana y la biodiversidad, creemos economías locales solidarias circulares que apoyen los medios de vida de los vendedores y los pequeños comerciantes, creemos comunidad y reduzcamos la huella ecológica. Después de Covid 19, regeneremos la economía con la conciencia de que todas las vidas son iguales, que somos parte de la Tierra, que somos seres ecológicos y biológicos, que el trabajo es nuestro derecho y está en el corazón del ser humano, y que el cuidado de la Tierra y de los demás es el trabajo más importante. No hay personas desechables o inútiles. Somos una sola humanidad en un solo planeta. Autonomía, significado, dignidad, trabajo, libertad, democracia, son nuestros derechos de nacimiento.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/alex-hudson-h_q9c1RUdzc-unsplash-scaled.jpg17072560Vandana Shivahttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngVandana Shiva2020-05-01 19:05:272020-05-01 19:05:27Un mensaje de Vandana Shiva para el Día de la Trabajadora y el Trabajador
“Trails of Regeneration” is covering the effects of COVID-19 and gathering stories from regenerative farmers, ranchers and ecosystem experts on how the world is rapidly changing and what it means for biodiversity and regenerative food, farming and land use.
TOMALES, California — Spread of the coronavirus is causing major disruptions in the U.S. food supply chain, as several major meat processing plants have closedtheir doors and farmers are being forced todump milk,break eggs and plow under perfectly good produce.
With the closing of schools, restaurants and businesses, farmers have had to find new and creative ways to connect their products to consumers. The latest episode in our “Trails of Regeneration” video series features a rancher on the frontline of COVID-19 and his journey in adapting to the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Husband and wife, Loren and Lisa Poncia, ownStemple Creek Ranch, a 1,000-acre regenerative farm located in the coastal hills of Northern California. At the ranch, purposeful rotational grazing is key to producing high-quality pastured and humanely raised animal products. It also works to promote biodiversity by preserving sensitive wildlife habitat and restoring natural watersheds.
Like many farmers around the world, the Poncias have been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. In an exclusive interview with Regeneration International, Loren explains how his farm lost 95 percent of its restaurant business seemingly overnight.
The farm’s direct-to-consumer sales, on the other hand, have increased significantly. “Our online sales are skyrocketing,” Loren told Regeneration International in a Zoom interview. He and his 15 employees—while practicing social distancing and wearing protective gear—are working around the clock to cut and package products to be shipped direct to customers.
The couple has also seen an increase in sales at their local farmer’s markets.
“We sell at two farmers markets in northern San Francisco that are going strong. People are coming out to buy directly from us,” said Loren. “What we noticed is that people are buying more than usual because they are no longer eating out and are forced to prepare 21 homecooked meals a week and that requires a lot of food.”
For decades, the organic regenerative food movement has advocated for more direct-to-consumer sales and better access to local food. That vision is gaining momentum amid the pandemic. As the industrial food supply chain breaks down amid COVID-19, demand for locally produced food has surged.
“In my local community people are united in helping and watching out for their neighbors, so we’re actually seeing a surge in solidarity,” said Loren.
Stemple Creek Ranch practices purposeful grazing to improve soil health
In 2013, Stemple Creek Ranch was asked to participate in a 10-year study with the Marin Carbon Project, a consortium of independent agricultural institutions in Marin County, California. The project’s mission is to increase carbon sequestration in rangeland, agricultural and forest soils to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The Marin Carbon Project required the ranch to complete a soil assessment before applying organic compost to a portion of pastureland in an effort to increase soil carbon. The benefits were enhanced by purposefully grazing livestock, which help stomp the compost into the ground and leave behind natural fertilizer.
On its website, the ranch says it’s “excited to be on the forefront of this ground-breaking research that is showing how best agriculture practices can harness atmospheric carbon to improve soil content on farms, and mitigate the effects of global warming.”
The regenerative practices not only build resilience on the ranch, but they also help educate consumers and get them excited about where their food comes from, said Loren, adding that it’s a win-win for food and farming, human health and the environment.
“Smallhold regenerative farmers are a resilient bunch and we can get through this because we have all the fertility we need on our farm,” Loren said.
“With COVID-19, we are seeing provisions for inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides getting tighter, and their distribution becoming more complicated. Hopefully, it will push some to look at using compost, worm teas and the greatness of soil health, adopting things like they were before World War II when we didn’t need to use chemicals.”
Despite the challenges, farming in a pandemic has presented the ranch with new opportunities to evolve its business model. The internet has been especially helpful, giving farmers and ranchers around the world the ability to share their successes and failures with one another.
“We’ve been able to learn from each other by sharing ideas and learning from one another’s mistakes,” said Loren. “I think there’s a lot of really good things that could take off for small-scale agriculturists around the world.”
As far as the quarantine goes, Loren said there’s no other place he would rather be than confined to his ranch with his family.
“I am really enjoying the fact that I am confined with my family and that I am eating three meals a day with my family and appreciating the bounty we are able to partake on a daily basis,” Loren said.
“We are adapting and changing to the challenges, trials and tribulations that keep heading in our direction, with things we can’t even predict. So work is very hard, long and stressful but we are making more time to break bread as a family and eat together, which is really awesome.”
Oliver Gardiner is Regeneration International’s media producer and coordinator for Asia and Europe. To keep up with Regeneration International news, sign up for our newsletter.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/StempleCreekRanch2.jpg8061241Oliver Gardinerhttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngOliver Gardiner2020-05-01 16:33:582020-11-03 19:07:15Trails of Regeneration: Stemple Creek Ranch Survives COVID-19 by Selling Direct to Consumers
We are witnessing three pandemics simultaneously. The first is the coronavirus pandemic. The second is the hunger pandemic. The third is pandemic of destruction of livelihoods. The coronavirus pandemic has infected 3.19M and killed 228,000. The World Food Program has warned the world community of the looming “hunger pandemic,” which has the potential to engulf over a quarter of a billion people whose lives and livelihoods will be plunged into immediate danger.
According to the world food program more than a million people are on the verge of starvation, and 300,000 could starve to death every single day for the next three months.[1][2]
There is also a pandemic of loss of livelihoods. According to the ILO “as a result of the economic crisis created by the pandemic, almost 1.6 billion informal economy workers (representing the most vulnerable in the labour market), out of a worldwide total of two billion and a global workforce of 3.3 billion, have suffered massive damage to their capacity to earn a living.
This is due to lockdown measures and/or because they work in the hardest-hit sectors.” As pointed out by Guy Ryder, ILO Director-General: “For millions of workers, no income means no food, no security and no future. […] As the pandemic and the jobs crisis evolve, the need to protect the most vulnerable becomes even more urgent.”[3]
All three pandemics have their roots in an economic model based on profits, greed and extractivism, which has accelerated ecological destruction, aggravated loss of livelihoods, increased economic inequality, and polarized and divided society into the 1% and 99%. On this May Day, in times of the coronavirus crisis, let us imagine and create new economies based on Earth Democracy and economic democracy to protect the earth and humanity.
Let us address all three crisis through democratic participation and solidarity. Through compassion let us ensure no one goes hungry. Through solidarity and democracy let us participate in shaping future economies to ensure no hands are without work, no person is without a voice.
The multiple crises are a wake up call that the economy run by the 1% is not working for people and nature. The 1% is talking of 99% being “useless people” in their idea of the future based on digital agriculture and farming without farmers, automated factories and production without workers. We have an obligation to create economies that do not destroy nature, do not destroy livelihoods and the rights of workers, economies that do not destroy our health by spreading disease and pandemics, do not destroy livelihoods and the freedom, dignity and right to work, and do not create hunger.
Let us create #ZeroHunger economies by protecting livelihoods of small farmers who provide 80% of the food. Let us shift to Poison Free organic farming to protect human health and biodiversity. Let us create local circular solidarity economies that support livelihoods of hawkers and small retailers, create community while reducing the ecological footprint.
Post Covid-19, let us regenerate the economy with the consciousness all lives are equal, that we are part of the Earth, we are ecological, biological beings, working is our right and is at the heart of being human, and care for the Earth and eachother is the most important work. There are no disposable or useless people. We are One Humanity on One Planet. Autonomy, meaning, dignity, work, freedom, democracy are our birth-right.
https://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/alex-hudson-h_q9c1RUdzc-unsplash-scaled.jpg17072560Vandana Shivahttps://regenerationinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/RI-Logo-New.pngVandana Shiva2020-05-01 14:48:362020-05-01 15:12:38May Day Message from Dr. Vandana Shiva
