Regenerating Rural Opportunities

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I have been given this amazing opportunity to travel Canada and interview agricultural producers about regenerative agriculture for the Rural Routes to Climate Solutions podcast. I’ve never done anything like this before, so when this opportunity came knocking about six months ago, turning it down didn’t cross my mind. I recognize most people don’t get opportunities like this. Heck, I’ll probably never get another one like this. I thought while I am on the road for the podcast, I could and maybe even should share with folks what I am seeing in terms of regenerative agriculture across the country.

This podcast series is part of a larger project called Stories of Regeneration led by Regeneration Canada. Over the summer, Regeneration Canada is hosting farm-to-table events (Alberta, yours is coming up on September 23) and creating short films on the same producers I am interviewing for the series.

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A 4th-Generation Farmer’s 3 Tips For A Farm-Like Lifestyle Wherever You Live

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While growing your own produce and raising livestock surrounded by fresh air and acres of open space sounds like a dream, it’s not a reality for many of us. But according to Will Harris, a fourth-generation farmer and owner of White Oak Pastures—a family farm utilizing regenerative agriculture and humane animal husbandry practices—it is possible to follow a farm-like lifestyle wherever you reside.

City dwellers, take note! On this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast, Harris shares helpful tips to take ownership of your personal food system and live a healthier life. (As a result, we may even shift the future of agriculture.)

1. Choose grass-fed meat, if you’re able

If you can, Harris recommends always opting for grass-fed meat. Now, grass-fed has become a bit of a buzzword in health and well-being conversations, but Harris provides some thought-provoking insight into the cattle-raising process: On Harris’ farm, it takes cows about two years on the pasture to reach what he calls their “slaughter weight,” which is about 1,200 pounds.

“The life of an industrial creature is very, very different,” he explains. “It is all about how fast you can grow the animal and how cheaply you can do it.” In the industrial model, he says it takes around 18 months for the cow to reach 1,500 or 1,600 pounds. “It produces an unnaturally obese creature that would never occur in nature,” he explains.

And unnaturally obese creatures have a much shorter life expectancy: Says Harris, the average natural life span of a cow is around 20 to 24 years, but if you left an industrial cow to live out its days in that feedlot, “[it] wouldn’t live to be much older than that 24 months old,” Harris notes. “The creature is dying of all the diseases [from] obesity and lack of exercise that kill most of us.”

 

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When Discussing Flora and Fauna, Don’t Forget ‘Funga’

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Fungi. They grow between toes, on bread and in the shower. But the organisms also produce food and medicine and act as ecosystem maids by decomposing dead matter — benefits that are sometimes overlooked (SN: 11/17/20). That’s why the Fungi Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to fungi education and conservation, advocates for adding “funga” to the popular phrase “flora and fauna.”

The mushrooming movement is also backed by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which in August called for the addition of “a third ‘F’ — funga — to address the planetary challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.” More than 20 countries already use the term, including Australia, Iceland and Brazil.

Historically, fungi have been left out of most conservation discussions and plans, says mycologist Giuliana Furci, founder of the Fungi Foundation, which was created in Chile and is now based in the United States. While flora refers to an area’s plant diversity and fauna its animal diversity, fungi don’t fit into either category.

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AFSA Urges African Climate Leaders: Prioritise Agroecology, Food Sovereignty and Biodiversity Conservation Now!

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As members of the Africa Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA), we represent the largest social movement made up of farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous communities and societal organizations civil society across the continent. As the 2023 Africa Climate Week (ACW) takes place from September 4-8, 2023 in Nairobi, and runs alongside the September 4-6 African Climate Summit, both hosted by the Government of Kenya, we take this moment to highlight the importance of sustainable, people-centered and African-led solutions to address the urgent climate crisis.

While these platforms provide vital opportunities to discuss climate solutions across various sectors, it is disheartening to recognize that the relentless impacts of the climate emergency continue to reverberate across Africa. Every day, rising temperatures, floods, storms, droughts and land degradation disproportionately affect small-scale food producers and communities, amplifying their vulnerabilities. Faced with the urgency of adapting and preserving their livelihoods and the subsistence of their families, the need for increased support becomes essential.

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Organic September: What Actually Makes a Food Organic?

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This year marks the 50th anniversary of organic certification in the UK.

In 1973, accreditation schemes were launched, allowing farmers to gain certification proving they don’t use harmful chemicals in their growing or production methods.

These were the salad days of climate activism – Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth were founded two years earlier – and the movement has gone from strength to strength ever since.

“It’s something that’s been going for half a century and couldn’t be more searingly relevant for what we need our food system to be for the next 50 years ahead,” says Alex Cullen, commercial and marketing director at the Soil Association, one of eight approved certification bodies.

“Both in the EU and now in the UK post-Brexit, it’s really strictly legislated – organic food essentially needs to be independently verified and inspected.”

To mark Organic September, we asked experts to describe what organic really means when it comes to food, and why it’s beneficial for us and the environment…

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Genetically Engineered Soil Microbes: Risks and Concerns

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Biotech companies are developing genetically engineered microbes for use in agriculture, including the largest agrichemical corporations — Bayer-Monsanto, Syngenta, and BASF. The first of these products are already being used across millions of acres of U.S. farmland.   

The release of live genetically engineered microbes in agriculture represents an unprecedented open-air genetic experiment. The scale of release is far larger and the odds of containment far smaller than for genetically engineered crops. 

This report provides historical context for this novel technology, insight into future trends, a summary of potential risks, and policy recommendations that would ensure robust assessment and oversight as more genetically engineered microbes move from the lab to the field.  

What types of microbes are being genetically engineered for agriculture?  

Bacteria, viruses and fungi are being genetically engineered for agricultural uses with bacteria being the most common.   

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Review 552: Glyphosate And Other Pesticides, Sustainable Alternatives

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Welcome to Review 552, which covers a lot of news and new research on glyphosate-based herbicides such as Roundup, as well as other GMO-related pesticides, and the sustainable alternatives to poisoning ourselves and our environment. Topics include Roundup cancer lawsuits, the European Food Safety Authority’s perverse decision to greenlight glyphosate’s re-approval in the EU, the concerns of health scientists about exposure to glyphosate and other pesticides, new studies on glyphosate and its commercial formulations, damage to ecosystems from the use of GMO-related pesticides, actions of citizens resisting pesticide spraying in their localities, and innovations that provide effective non-toxic alternatives to weedkilling chemicals.

Bayer: Weedkiller maker to take $2.8bn hit as sales fall

Bayer says it expects to take a €2.5bn ($2.8bn; £2.2bn) hit from a slower demand for its glyphosate-based products, including the controversial weedkiller Roundup. The announcement came as the company lowered its outlook for the year as it braces for a persistent fall in demand and lower prices.

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Agroecological Practices Are Widely Used by African Farmers

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Agroecology is a body of knowledge, practices and political movements that aims to support transformation of food and agricultural systems to long-term social and environmental sustainability. African farmers face multiple challenges, and agroecology has been proposed as contributing to solutions and hence is being supported and promoted on the continent. However, the viability of agroecological practices for African farmers has been questioned.
The project that produced the results in this paper was set up to understand more about the viability of agroecological practices at farm and household level, identifying the lockins and drivers of use of agroecology and paying particular attention to labour and work. A case study approach was used, with 11 cases across eight countries from Tunisia to Madagascar contributing evidence. A common framework was used in all cases but with adaptation of details to local contexts. After two years collecting data, case-study and coordinating teams met in December 2022 to look at results and plan detailed analyses.

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‘This Way of Farming Is Really Sexy’: The Rise of Regenerative Agriculture

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Hollie Fallick looks over Brading on the Isle of Wight, at a patchwork of fields bordered by ancient oaks, which stretches to the Solent. “We still have to pinch ourselves every day,” says the 30-year-old, as she surveys the 50 hectares (125 acres) she farms with her best friend, Francesca Cooper, 34.

The friends – who have five young children between them, were both vegan for a period, and are lifelong environmental activists – are not typical livestock farmers. And they don’t practise typical farming: instead they are part of a growing global movement practising regenerative agriculture – or regen ag for short.

“Really simply, regenerative agriculture is nature-friendly farming,” says Fallick, who says she stopped being vegan when her health suffered. “It’s thinking about the health of soil, animals, humans and how they all link together.”

On Nunwell home farm, which sits alongside land the pair manage for the Wildlife Trust…

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Us Escalates Mexico Corn Trade Spat With Dispute Panel Request

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The United States on Thursday escalated its objections to Mexico’s curbs on genetically modified corn imports, requesting a dispute settlement panel under the North American trade pact, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said.

The request to send the dispute to arbitrators was announced after formal consultations failed to resolve deep divisions between the two close trading partners over use of genetically modified (GM) corn, widely produced by U.S. farmers.

Mexico’s Economy Ministry said it would defend its GM corn policies before the dispute panel, saying on the social media platform X that they “are consistent with trade obligations.”

Washington alleges that Mexico’s decree banning imports of GM corn used in dough and tortillas for human consumption is not based on science and violates its commitments under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade launched in 2020.

If the panel rules in favor of the U.S. and Mexico fails to comply with its directives, USTR could ultimately win the right to impose punitive tariffs on Mexican goods, which could spark a rare North American trade war.

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