#community composting systems

[soilthesimpletruth]

Growing food is a relationship. Part of that relationship is compost.

#compost #food systems #atlanta urban ag #food access #soil food web #soil health #food sovereignty #community composting systems #raised beds #vermicomposting #visionary growing solutions #maurice small

[mauricesmall]

It’s so beneficial, peaceful and important.

#compost #biodiversity #soil health #bio char #urban ag #soil creation #permaculture #soil #soil science #maurice small #soil fertility #soil food web #vermicomposting #community composting systems #food sovereignty #polyculture #biodynamic

[simplefoodsmallfarmz]

It’s a blessing. 🌱

#atlanta urban ag #simple food small farmz #compost #biodynamic #soil #biodiversity #soil biology #soil creation #permaculture #urban ag #soil health #bio char #food systems #food sovereignty #mulch #soil food web #vermicomposting #food not lawns #community composting systems #maurice small

[solarpunkani]

How much am I allowed to post/ramble about the solarpunk zombie apocalypse story I'm working on before it gets annoying.

Bonus points: I haven't actually gotten to the solarpunk part of it.

#out of queue #ani rambles #Ani's Solarpunk Zombie Story #yes there's a tag now im preparing for the inevitable future where i go off on some wildass tangent #ive been working on this shit since like. 2022 i think. and i still only just wrote the end of the first night last week #its one of those 'im stuck on everything else so maybe i can do this' project #and usually when im stuck on everything else im stuck on that too #but yknow what? fuck if I didn't write some paragraphs on it last week so now my braincell's all like #OOH! can they have electricity in a post-apocalyptic solarpunk society? should there be a stream near the community for current generation? #but wait! what would they use electricity for? but wait! can you do viral research without electricity? how'd they do it in the past? #when was electricity invented? were they doing viral research before that? they had to be right but were they? but wait #does the society work as envisioned in my briancell without electricity? what if candlelight? candlelight could be fun! but would it besafe #wildly off topic but waste! what do they do with waste? did they make a wetland system to deal with the waste? but then all the pipes would #need to go to this wastewater system! if they didn't already in the buildings they repurposed then there'd have to be work to reroute them! #would it be more reasonable for everyone to have composting toilets? how do you make composting toilets in the apocalypse??? #is there just a team of people every day who get paid to make the rounds and take away waste buckets every night? but where to? #what's their PPE like? is there PPE in the apocalypse? there has to be right! but how? what from? like my guy has PPE #because Briar worked for a research facility before it got overrun #but how did THEY work? did The NEST have electricity? leathermakers? where'd they get food from? vials? materials? supplies? #god its a lot to think about #on the one hand i can take the 'its sci fi dont think about it too hard' but on the other hand it has to feel REALISTIC #or else I'm a BAD AUTHOR who's CRINGE and NOT POG and am doing BAD SOLARPUNKING

[totesmag]

How to Reduce Food Waste and Support Sustainable Food Sources

Definition of food waste and its impact on the environment Food waste refers to the edible parts of food that are discarded or unused. It is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, landfills, and loss of resources such as water, land, and energy. The production, transportation, and disposal of food waste also have a major impact on the environment. The importance of reducing food…

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#call to action #carbon footprint #community supported agriculture (csa) #composting #farmers markets #food storage #future generations #in-season produce #local farms #planning and organization #reduce food waste #reducing portion sizes #restaurants #seasonal produce #sustainable food sources #sustainable food system #sustainable sourcing #waste reduction practices

[headspace-hotel]

This is approximate since calculations vary, but somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% of carbon emissions since the Industrial Revolution have come from destruction of terrestrial ecosystems—wetland destruction, deforestation, degradation of grasslands and so on

Soil, soil communities, root systems, carbonate rock, wood, living plants, and peat in wetlands—all holds carbon

Now consider what plants do for you

The mere sight of plants and trees improves mental and physical health. I won't elaborate much more upon this, the positive effects are incredible and overwhelming.

Trees and vines that shade your home and outdoor areas: reduce the cost of cooling, meaning less electricity is used. Shade reduces the risk of death in extreme heat events.

(Trees also reduce light and noise pollution)

Edible plants (many wild plants and many plants you can grow): provide you with food reducing your dependence on industrial agriculture and cars to reach supermarkets

Community gardens and orchards: creates resilience and interdependence among small local communities, reducing the power of capitalism and increasing the ability of individuals to organize and create change. Makes more sustainable and plant based diets accessible to people for whom they would ordinarily be inaccessible

Compost piles for gardening: less greenhouse gas emissions than result from waste breaking down anaerobically in landfills

No more traditional lawns: much less use of gas powered lawn mowers, weed whackers etc. which are, by themselves, significant contributions to carbon emissions and urban pollution

Crafting and creating using plants: Locally available wild plant species can be used by local crafters and creators for baskets and containers, yarn, fabrics, dyes, and the like, resulting in less dependence on unsustainable and unethical global industries

More people growing and gathering edible and useful plants and using them = larger body of practical, scientific and technological insights to draw from in order to solve future problems

In conclusion: Plants

#plants #plantarchy #you are a caretaker #climate change #climate change mitigation #climate change adaptation #gardening #community gardens

[thedansemacabres]

Introduction To Supporting Sustainable Agriculture For Witches and Pagans

[ID: An image of yellow grain stocks, soon to be harvested. The several stocks reach towards a blurred open sky, focusing the camera on he grains themselves. The leaves of the grains are green and the cereals are exposed].

PAGANISM AND WITCHCRAFT ARE MOVEMENTS WITHIN A SELF-DESTRUCTIVE CAPITALIST SOCIETY. As the world becomes more aware of the importance of sustainability, so does the duty of humanity to uphold the idea of the steward, stemming from various indigenous worldviews, in the modern era. I make this small introduction as a viticulturist working towards organic and environmentally friendly grape production. I also do work on a food farm, as a second job—a regenerative farm, so I suppose that is my qualifications. Sustainable—or rather regenerative agriculture—grows in recognition. And as paganism and witchcraft continue to blossom, learning and supporting sustainability is naturally a path for us to take. I will say that this is influenced by I living in the USA, however, there are thousands of groups across the world for sustainable agriculture, of which tend to be easy to research.

So let us unite in caring for the world together, and here is an introduction to supporting sustainable/regenerative agriculture. 

A QUICK BRIEF ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE 

Sustainable agriculture, in truth, is a movement to practise agriculture as it has been done for thousands of years—this time, with more innovation from science and microbiology especially. The legal definition in the USA of sustainable agriculture is: 

The term ”sustainable agriculture” (U.S. Code Title 7, Section 3103) means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will over the long-term:

A more common man’s definition would be farming in a way that provides society’s food and textile needs without overuse of natural resources, artificial supplements and pest controls, without compromising the future generation’s needs and ability to produce resources. The agriculture industry has one of the largest and most detrimental impacts on the environment, and sustainable agriculture is the alternative movement to it. 

Sustainable agriculture also has the perk of being physically better for you—the nutrient quality of crops in the USA has dropped by 47%, and the majority of our food goes to waste. Imagine if it was composted and reused? Or even better—we buy only what we need. We as pagans and witches can help change this. 

BUYING ORGANIC (IT REALLY WORKS)

The first step is buying organic. While cliche, it does work: organic operations have certain rules to abide by, which excludes environmentally dangerous chemicals—many of which, such as DDT, which causes ecological genocide and death to people. Organic operations have to use natural ways of fertilising, such as compost, which to many of us—such as myself—revere the cycle of life, rot, and death. Organic standards do vary depending on the country, but the key idea is farming without artificial fertilisers, using organic seeds, supplementing with animal manure, fertility managed through management practices, etc. 

However, organic does have its flaws. Certified organic costs many, of which many small farmers cannot afford. The nutrient quality of organic food, while tending to be better, is still poor compared to regeneratively grown crops. Furthermore, the process to become certified organic is often gruelling—you can practise completely organically, but if you are not certified, it is not organic. Which, while a quality control insurance, is both a bonus and a hurdle. 

JOINING A CSA

Moving from organic is joining a CSA (“Community supported agriculture”). The USDA defines far better than I could: 

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), one type of direct marketing, consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production.

By purchasing a farm share, you receive food from the farm for the agreed upon production year. I personally enjoy CSAs for the relational aspect—choosing a CSA is about having a relationship, not only with the farmer(s), but also the land you receive food from. I volunteer for my CSA and sometimes I get extra cash from it—partaking in the act of caring for the land. Joining a CSA also means taking your precious capital away from the larger food industry and directly supporting growers—and CSAs typically practise sustainable and/or regenerative agriculture. 

CSAs are also found all over the world and many can deliver their products to food deserts and other areas with limited agricultural access. I volunteer from time to time for a food bank that does exactly that with the produce I helped grow on the vegetable farm I work for. 

FARM MARKETS AND STALLS 

Another way of personally connecting to sustainable agriculture is entering the realm of the farm stall. The farmer’s market is one of my personal favourite experiences—people buzzing about searching for ingredients, smiles as farmers sell crops and products such as honey or baked goods, etc. The personal connection stretches into the earth, and into the past it buries—as I purchase my apples from the stall, I cannot help but see a thousand lives unfold. People have been doing this for thousands of years and here I stand, doing it all over again. 

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Farmers’ markets are dependent on your local area, yet in most you can still develop personal community connections. Paganism often stresses community as an ideal and a state of life. And witchcraft often stresses a connection to the soil. What better place, then, is purchasing the products from the locals who commune with the land? 

VOLUNTEERING 

If you are able to, I absolutely recommend volunteering. I have worked with aquaponic systems, food banks, farms, cider-making companies, soil conservation groups, etc. There is so much opportunity—and perhaps employment—in these fields. The knowledge I have gained has been wonderful. As one example, I learned that fertilisers reduce carbon sequestration as plants absorb carbon to help with nutrient intake. If they have all their nutrients ready, they do not need to work to obtain carbon to help absorb it. This does not even get into the symbiotic relationship fungi have with roots, or the world of hyphae. Volunteering provides community and connection. Actions and words change the world, and the world grows ever better with help—including how much or how little you may provide. It also makes a wonderful devotional activity. 

RESOURCING FOOD AND COOKING 

Buying from farmers is not always easy, however. Produce often has to be processed, requiring labour and work with some crops such as carrots. Other times, it is a hard effort to cook and many of us—such as myself—often have very limited energy. There are solutions to this, thankfully:

Many farmers can and will process foods. Some even do canning, which can be good to stock up on food and lessen the energy inputs. 

Value-added products: farms also try to avoid waste, and these products often become dried snacks if fruit, frozen, etc. 

Asking farmers if they would be open to accommodating this. Chances are, they would! The farmer I purchase my CSA share from certainly does. 

Going to farmers markets instead of buying a CSA, aligning with your energy levels. 

And if any of your purchased goods are going unused, you can always freeze them. 

DEMETER, CERES, VEIA, ETC: THE FORGOTTEN AGRICULTURE GODS

Agricultural gods are often neglected. Even gods presiding over agriculture often do not have those aspects venerated—Dionysos is a god of viticulture and Apollon a god of cattle. While I myself love Dionysos as a party and wine god, the core of him remains firmly in the vineyards and fields, branching into the expanses of the wild. I find him far more in the curling vines as I prune them than in the simple delights of the wine I ferment. Even more obscure gods, such as Veia, the Etruscan goddess of agriculture, are seldom known.

Persephone receives the worst of this: I enjoy her too as a dread queen, and people do acknowledge her as Kore, but she is far more popular as the queen of the underworld instead of the dear daughter of Demeter. I do understand this, though—I did not feel the might of Demeter and Persephone until I began to move soil with my own hands. A complete difference to the ancient world, where the Eleusinian mysteries appealed to thousands. Times change, and while some things should be left to the past, our link to these gods have been severed. After all, how many of us reading know where our food comes from? I did not until I began to purchase from the land I grew to know personally. The grocery store has become a land of tearing us from the land, instead of the food hub it should be.

Yet, while paganism forgets agriculture gods, they have not forgotten us. The new world of farming is more conductive and welcoming than ever. I find that while older, bigoted people exist, the majority of new farmers tend to be LGBT+. My own boss is trans and aro, and I myself am transgender and gay. The other young farmers I know are some flavour of LGBT+, or mixed/poc. There’s a growing movement for Black farmers, elaborated in a lovely text called We Are Each Other’s Harvest. 

Indigenous farming is also growing and I absolutely recommend buying from indigenous farmers. At this point, I consider Demeter to be a patron of LGBT+ people in this regard—she gives an escape to farmers such as myself. Bigotry is far from my mind under her tender care, as divine Helios shines above and Okeanos’ daughters bring fresh water to the crops. Paganism is also more commonly accepted—I find that farmers find out that I am pagan and tell me to do rituals for their crops instead of reacting poorly. Or they’re pagan themselves; a farmer I know turned out to be Wiccan and uses the wheel of the year to keep track of production. 

Incorporating these divinities—or concepts surrounding them—into our crafts and altars is the spiritual step towards better agriculture. Holy Demeter continues to guide me, even before I knew it. 

WANT CHANGE? DO IT YOURSELF! 

If you want change in the world, you have to act. And if you wish for better agriculture, there is always the chance to do it yourself. Sustainable agriculture is often far more accessible than people think: like witchcraft and divination, it is a practice. Homesteading is often appealing to many of us, including myself, and there are plenty of resources to begin. There are even grants to help one improve their home to be more sustainable, i.e. solar panels. Gardening is another, smaller option. Many of us find that plants we grow and nourish are far more potentant in craft, and more receptive to magical workings. 

Caring for plants is fundamental to our natures and there are a thousand ways to delve into it. I personally have joined conservation groups, my local soil conservation group, work with the NRCs in the USA, and more. The path to fully reconnecting to nature and agriculture is personal—united in a common cause to fight for this beautiful world. To immerse yourself in sustainable agriculture, I honestly recommend researching and finding your own path. Mine lies in soil and rot, grapevines and fruit trees. Others do vegetables and cereal grains, or perhaps join unions and legislators. Everyone has a share in the beauty of life, our lives stemming from the land’s gentle sprouts. 

Questions and or help may be given through my ask box on tumblr—if there is a way I can help, let me know. My knowledge is invaluable I believe, as I continue to learn and grow in the grey-clothed arms of Demeter, Dionysos, and Kore. 

FURTHER READING:

Baszile, N. (2021). We are each other’s harvest. HarperCollins.

Hatley, J. (2016). Robin Wall Kimmerer. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Environmental Philosophy, 13(1), 143–145. https://doi.org/10.5840/envirophil201613137

Regenerative Agriculture 101. (2021, November 29). https://www.nrdc.org/stories/regenerative-agriculture-101#what-is

And in truth, far more than I could count. 

References

Community Supported Agriculture | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/community-supported-agriculture

Navazio, J. (2012). The Organic seed Grower: A Farmer’s Guide to Vegetable Seed Production. Chelsea Green Publishing.

Plaster, E. (2008). Soil Science and Management. Cengage Learning.

Sheaffer, C. C., & Moncada, K. M. (2012). Introduction to agronomy: food, crops, and environment. Cengage Learning.

Sheldrake, M. (2020). Entangled life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures. Random House.

Sustainable Agriculture | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). https://www.nal.usda.gov/farms-and-agricultural-production-systems/sustainable-agriculture

#dragonis.txt #witchcraft #paganism #hellenic polytheism #witchblr #pagan #helpol #hellenic pagan #hellenic worship #hellenic paganism #hellenic polytheist #demeter deity #demeter worship #persephone deity #kore deity #raspol #etrupol #etruscan polytheist #etruscan polytheism #rasenna polytheism #rasenna polytheist #rasenna paganism

[practicalsolarpunk]

Hi, I've only just got into solarpunk and find it really cool.

I was wondering, what sort of simple lifestyle changes would you suggest to start with when trying to live in a more solarpunk/sustainable way?

Hi! So glad you're getting into solarpunk! We think it's pretty cool, too, and we're happy you're looking for ways to integrate it into your life. Since you haven't included anything specific about your situation or what you're interested in, this list is pretty general - if you want more specific ideas, feel free to send in another ask!

In the meantime, here are a few recommendations for getting started:

Grow something. Depending on your situation, you may not be able to put in a huge outdoor garden. But there are many plants that will be perfectly happy in a pot on a windowsill, and still others that are happy to grow in low-light situations. Find something that works for your space and get some hands-on experience with growing things. (If you have a window, I highly recommend herbs - many of them are happy in pots and there's something incredibly satisfying about eating things you've grown.)

Compost. Unless your space is extremely tiny, you probably have room for a small composting system. Some can even go under a sink or in a closet. See this post for a general discussion, this post for vermicomposting ideas, and this one for info on bokashi composting. Also check out our #compost tag.

Mending. Mending is a great skill to have. The life of most clothing (and a lot of non-clothing fabric items) can be extended dramatically with some basic sewing skills. I've made entire dresses and quilts and I still find most of my sewing is repairing and mending other stuff. We have a mending tag, but I also love YouTube for this. Searching "how to mend X" (e.g. "how to mend hole in crotch of jeans") gives you a bunch of awesome tutorials. You can get even more use out of things if you're willing to embrace visible mending.

Reduce energy use. Try to use natural light where you can. Set your thermostat high in summer and low in winter and use the principle "heat/cool the person, not the space." Flush the toliet with graywater by removing the p-trap from your sink and dumping the collected wash water into your toilet tank (or directly into the bowl if you have an American-style greedy cup siphon toilet). Experiment with solar energy. What you can do depends on your situation, but see what kind of options you have.

Integrate the 7 R's: There are more R's to sustainable living than just "Reduce Reuse Recycle". See this post for a primer.

Build community: One of the foundations of solarpunk is that it's about community. Even if you start out doing it by yourself, eventually you need a community to do bigger things. My favorite way to start is by meeting the neighbors. Taking over some food (cookies are great) and introducing yourself is a great way to open a relationship. We also have a community building tag for more ideas.

You can find even more ideas in these tags, depending on what you specifically want to do:

#apartment solarpunk

#dorms and small spaces

#community building

#activism

#fiber crafts

#diy

There's also some additional tips in this post and this post, which are earlier responses to similar asks.

I hope this helps! Followers, feel free to chime in with your best tips!

- Mod J

#asked and answered #basics and getting started

[sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog]

Welcome back to tumblr! In the post on Friday that linked to your interview about Awesome Coffee, you said that k-cups are coming soon. If you don’t mind me asking, what was the reasoning behind adding k-cups to the product lineup? Everything else seems environmentally friendly so I found it odd, so now I’m curious.

This is a great question. I don't know how to make my answer any shorter than this.

K-Cups ARE bad for the environment--not only because they contain plastic, but also because even thoughtfully farmed coffee has negative impacts on certain ecosystems, which is a very high cost for something that isn't necessity for human existence.

Anything that is a luxury for humans, from chocolate to books, has costs that are paid by the Earth and its inhabitants in exchange for things we don't actually need. Luxuries costs carbon. They cost land. They cost biodiversity. They may also, even if unintentionally, perpetuate and empower unjust systems of resource distribution. I think being aware of these costs is essential.

Luxuries also have benefits, of course. I am a big fan of books and chocolate (and coffee); they bring me joy. Coffee, at least when collectives are well-organized are paid directly, is also good for coffee farmers and the communities where they work.

The Awesome Coffee Club does not seek to eliminate the costs associated with consumption, because I don't believe they can be eliminated by selling coffee. Instead, the ACC seeks to DECREASE existing costs to biodiversity and systems of injustice. We do this by trying to reduce harm. In the case of our coffee beans, this means paying farmers directly and supporting collectives that are actively working to reverse deforestation. In the case of our packaging, this means packaging that keeps our coffee fresh while also being biodegradable. And in the case of our profit, that means investing all of it into healthcare systems in the world's poorest communities.

Unfortunately, around 30% of all coffee consumed in the United States is consumed via K-Cup. Many K-Cup manufacturers have no real interest in their costs to the environment. They may claim to be "recyclable," but this implies that they are commonly recycled, which they aren't. We have waited to make K-Cups because we wanted to understand what would actually reduce environmental harm in the K-Cup market, and we think we've found a K-Cup partner that reduces--but does not eliminate--the harm that comes from K-Cups by producing backyard compostable K-Cups. That is to say, these K-Cups do not need to be shipped to an industrial composting or recycling facility in order to be reused; they will break down in a backyard composting environment.

We think that offices (and it is mostly offices) that currently use K-Cups will serve the world and their workers better by switching to Awesome Coffee Club K-Cups. But to be clear, if you do not use K-Cups to drink coffee, you should not start. And if you do use K-Cups to drink coffee, you should switch to a whole bean or ground solution if it's practical for you to do so. But if you are married to K-Cups, we want to reduce the harm they cause.

#k cups #coffee #coffee company #the awesome coffee club

[thehopefuljournalist]

weird question, but do you know if regenerative agriculture is growing, and by what rate? it's important to me but looking for articles on my own can trigger a panic attack :[ no worries if not !

Hey! Thank you so much for asking. Honestly, agriculture and sustainable agriculture specifically are very close to my heart as well, so I was glad for the excuse to do some research :) 

Also, thank you for your patience, I know you sent this Ask a bit ago. It’s good that you’re listening to yourself and not going around searching for things that might cause you harm, so thanks again for reaching out!

So, what is regenerative agriculture? 

Regenerative agriculture is a way of farming that focuses on soil health. When soil is healthy, it produces more food and nutrition, stores more carbon and increases biodiversity – the variety of species. Healthy soil supports other water, land and air environments and ecosystems through natural processes including water drainage and pollination – the fertilization of plants.

Regenerative agriculture is a defining term for sustainability in our food system - while there is no one true definition of regenerative agriculture, the concept has been around for centuries, taking root in Indigenous growing practices. Regenerative approaches can bolster soil health and watershed health. They can also add to climate mitigation and potentially tie into regulatory or commercial incentives for a more sustainable diet. 

Regenerative farming methods include minimizing the ploughing of land. This keeps CO2 in the soil, improves its water absorbency and leaves vital fungal communities in the earth undisturbed.

Rotating crops to vary the types of crop planted improves biodiversity, while using animal manure and compost helps to return nutrients to the soil. 

Continuously grazing animals on the same piece of land can also degrade soil, explains the Regenerative agriculture in Europe report from the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council. So regenerative agriculture methods include moving grazing animals to different pastures.

How can it help?

Regenerative farming can improve crop yields – the volume of crops produced – by improving the health of soil and its ability to retain water, as well as reducing soil erosion. If regenerative farming was implemented in Africa, crop yields could rise 13% by 2040 and up to 40% in the future, according to a Regenerative Farming in Africa report by conservation organization the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the UN.

Regenerative farming can also reduce emissions from agriculture and turn the croplands and pastures, which cover up to 40% of Earth’s ice-free land area, into carbon sinks. These are environments that naturally absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, according to climate solutions organization Project Drawdown.

5 ways to scale regenerative agriculture:

1. Agree on common metrics for environmental outcomes. Today, there are many disparate efforts to define and measure environmental outcomes. We must move to a set of metrics adopted by the whole food industry, making it easier for farmers to adjust their practices and for positive changes to be rewarded. 2. Build farmers’ income from environmental outcomes such as carbon reduction and removal. We need a well-functioning market with a credible system of payments for environmental outcomes, trusted by buyers and sellers, that creates a new, durable, income stream for farmers. 3. Create mechanisms to share the cost of transition with farmers. Today, all the risk and cost sits with the farmers. 4. Ensure government policy enables and rewards farmers for transition. Too many government policies are in fact supporting the status quo of farming. The food sector must come together and work jointly with regulators to address this. 5. Develop new sourcing models to spread the cost of transition. We must move from sourcing models that take crops from anywhere to models that involve collaboration between off-takers from different sectors to take crops from areas converting to regenerative farming.

The rise of regenerative agriculture

In 2019, General Mills, the manufacturer of Cheerios, Yoplait and Annie’s Mac and Cheese (among other products), announced it would begin sourcing a portion of its corn, wheat, dairy and sugar from farmers who were engaged in regenerative agriculture practices and committed to advancing the practice of regenerative agriculture on one million acres of land by 2030. In early 2020, Whole Foods announced regenerative agriculture would be the No. 1 food trend and, in spite of the pandemic and the rapid growth of online shopping overshadowing the trend, business interest in the field still spiked by 138%. 

More recently, PepsiCo announced it was adopting regenerative agriculture practices among 7 million acres of its farmland. Cargill declared it intends to do the same on 10 million acres by 2030, and Walmart has committed to advancing the practice on 50 million acres. Other companies pursuing regenerative agriculture include Danone, Unilever, Hormel, Target and Land O’ Lakes.

According to Nielsen, 75% of millennials are altering their buying habits with the environment in mind. This sentiment, of course, does not always materialize into tangible actions on behalf of every consumer. However, it is clear from the actions of PepsiCo, General Mills, Walmart, Unilever and others that they believe consumers’ expectations of what is environmentally friendly are shifting and that they will soon be looking to purchase regeneratively-produced foods because of the many benefits they produce.

The next step in the transition to regenerative agriculture is certification. The goal is to create labeling that will allow the consumer to connect to the full suite of their values. Some companies are partnering with nonprofit conveners and certifiers. The Savory Institute is one such partner, convening producers and brands around regenerative agriculture and more holistic land management practices.

In 2020, the Savory Institute granted its first “Ecological OutCome Verification (EOV) seal to Epic’s latest high protein bars by certifying that its featured beef was raised with regenerative agriculture practices. 

The program was developed to let the land speak for itself by showing improvement through both leading and lagging functions such as plant diversity and water holding capacity. There are now thousands of products that have been Land to Market verified, with over 80 brand partnerships with companies such as Epic Provisions, Eileen Fisher and Applegate.  Daily Harvest is giving growers in that space three-year contracts as well as markets and price premiums for the transitional crop. It's focusing on that transitional organic process as a stepping stone toward a regenerative organic food system.

Daily Harvest’s Almond Project creates an alliance with the Savory Institute and a group of stakeholders - including Simple Mills and Cappello’s - to bring regenerative practices to almonds in the Central Valley of California.

These companies are working with Treehouse California Almonds, their shared almond supplier, to lead soil health research on 160 acres of farmland. Over five years, the Project will focus on measuring outcomes around the ecosystem and soil health of regenerative practices – comparing those side by side with neighboring conventional baselines.

“We need industry partnership; we need pre-competitive collaboration,” says Rebecca Gildiner, Director of Sustainability at Daily Harvest, of the Almond Project. “Sustainability cannot be competitive. We are all sharing suppliers, we are all sharing supply – rising tides truly lift all boats. The industry has to understand our responsibility in investing, where historically investments have disproportionately focused on yields with a sole focus of feeding the world. We know this has been critical in the past but it has overlooked other forms of capital, other than financial. We need to look towards experimenting in holistic systems that have other outcomes than yield and profit - instead of saying organic can’t feed the world, we have to invest in figuring out how organic can feed the world because it’s critical.”

////

In short!!!

Many articles are stating regenerative agriculture as a defining, and rising “buzz word” in the industry. It seems that consumers are becoming more and more aware and are demanding more sustainable approaches to agriculture. 

We, of course, have a way to go, but it seems from the data that I’ve gathered, that regenerative agriculture is, in fact, on the rise. Demand is rising, and many are working on ways to globalize those methods.

Source Source Source Source

#climate change #climate #hope #good news #climate news #climate crisis #more to come #climate emergency #news #climate justice #agriculture #ecosystem #farming #conservation #biodiversity #regenerative agriculture

[cipheramnesia]

My job on the commune is to make zero waste composting bins that are extremely tiny and then teach all the squirrels and rabbits about how to compost their food waste in order to use it for the community garden. They are taking well to the chemical free no-flush toilet system, I think, although I have yet to see any of them use it for sure. Still it's important every member contributes, and in short that is why there are currently three dozen squirrels and two large hares running around the communal kitchen.

[soilthesimpletruth]

Happy solstice and liberation.

Giving thanks for the day.

#winter solstice #solstice #compost #food systems #atlanta urban ag #food access #soil food web #soil health #food sovereignty #vermicomposting #community composting systems #visionarygrowingsolutions #tending to the herbs #simple food small farmz #airbnbexperience #herbs #maurice small

[mauricesmall]

Best advice:

“Always be patient with your compost and yourself.”

#compost #soil #soil creation #community composting systems #soil health #biodiversity #biodynamic #polyculture #food systems #atlanta urban ag #soil fertility #soil food web #maurice small

[anarchotahdigism]

I will unfollow/mute/block/otherwise ignore people who use ableist or saneist terms about others and those who mock, joke about, or otherwise minimize the severity of COVID. Thousands of people like me are dying a week because of ableism driving the pandemic and I have zero fucking tolerance for it. If you're in any way complicit with the fascist Big Lie of "back to normal," I'm probably gonna block you. Wear a fucking mask the entire time you're in public and give up COVID-spreading activities because your personal pleasure does not trump the need for communal safety and fighting the eugenics and fascism that has been normalized through mandated COVID spread. It's not lost on me how many so-called radicals and leftists are openly accepting of the eugenics of ableism as they claim to oppose the various mechanisms of genocide. If you're still using things like "crazy," "stupid," "dumb," "insane," or other ableist terms to describe other people or things, do better. Fix your heart and your vocabulary.

I've been in complete isolation for going on 5 years now due to COVID and the fall of society into completely open, unabashed, unmitigated, unashamed eugenics. I'm an elder millenial Persian anarchist in so-called PNW who posts about how fucked it is that people still reproduce systems of harm while ostensibly fighting oppression. I'm significantly disabled, heavily traumatized, food insecure, medically neglected, queer as hell, AuDHD. Sometimes I post about media from this lens, mostly I feel like I'm screaming. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free None of us is free til we're all free Jin, jiyan, azadi Wear a mask TERFs, SWERFs, Tankies, Zionists, Radlibs can all be composted If you want to help me survive, v/m/o is mordantivore

#free palestine #genocide #anticapitalism #anarchism #eugenics #wear a mask #covid #ableism #death to america #anarchotahdigism #death to the west #death to all states #queer cripple

[whyeverr]

Of course it's not all family fun and games around here. Lately, Tyler has been working on building vermiculture bins*, a composting technique he learned about from a visitor at the welcome center.

"See, you put the food scraps in at the top here, and then the worms eat the waste and poop out compost—"

"And this is better than regular composting because...?"

"Apparently it makes the best compost. And we get to meet new lil' bug friends!"

"Riiiight. Well, it's worth a shot!"

*Is this how the Eco Lifestyle insect farms work? No. Do the Eco Lifestyle insect farms actually work to begin with? Apparently not.

I have a lot of love for Eco Lifestyle and will defend the vision for this pack to the end of the earth missing terrain blue void. But some of the choices made are... questionable.

Insect protein may be a "thing" but nobody is out here milling cricket flour in their own home. A home composting system that redirects food waste into a super-powered plant fertilizer would have made so much more sense with the Reduce and Recycle lot trait and, of course, gardening.

I guess it's possible New Promise will get around to eating insects as a community but vermicomposting seems like the most plausible introduction to working with insects as part of the food cycle.

Unless you're Dawson. Dawson's ready to eat bugs.

#relegating my gripes about a 4 year old pack to below the cut #rebuild a city #ts4 bacc #3_18 #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #tyler fuentes #cherry woodard

[chicuahtliteotl]

Notes as an indigenous farmer for other farmers, gardeners, looking to seek to perform land remediation, restorative agroforestry, etc.

First, look up historical weather and current weather zoning, climate change is real, the area may no longer be suitable for specific plants anymore.

Consider invasive plants, animals, worms(yes like bees there are invasive worms) , etc

Assess potential soil and water pollution sources then create a remediation plan depending on time and feasibility.

Work with the land, not against it, this is pretty simple, if you plan to create rain collecting channels for your small garden, then it's to slope where the land slopes for you.

Composting is great but you also need to understand microbial/fungal symbiosis and creating microbiomes that allow for effective compost break down.

You can buy cheap microbial solutions that are epa or environmental sound, back reference any microbial cultures with academic papers, if unsure how to do the research then it is fine with a variety as this simulates closely to nature.

Look into outdoor mushroom farming, this is pretty common in my community in our Chināmitl /mīlpan system, it's not as hard as most resources online will tell you, especially if you're sticking with native to your area mushrooms.

Avoid commercial strains for cultures especially if they're non native as this can lead to potential invasives.

Yes fungus /mushrooms can be invasive, please never put golden oyster outside.

You can also buy microremediating solutions for soil/water contamination.

Many universities offer resources to help find soil or water testing companies for accessible to no costs even, this is useful if you want to assess variety of conditions.

Additionally microbe /fungal based solutions are most used in our community as it helps reduced overall pests and diseases to our plants.

If you have tons of untreated wood ash (burn untreated wood, get wood ash) this is useful for variety of things, as this ties into controlled burning, true slash and burn, etc. Essentially nutrients are allowed to disperse back in the ground, be aware of heavy metal and other contamination considerations as always.

Indigenous seed banks do exist for non indigenous people, also look into seed conservation projects and seed banks that look to preserve seed lineages. While heirloom is nifty, it does only go so far back around an early colonial era.

#indigenous #Farmer #Gardening #Permaculture #Land back