2019/01/07

Regenerative agriculture - Wikipedia

Regenerative agriculture - Wikipedia

Regenerative agriculture

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Biodiversity
Regenerative agriculture (RA) is an approach to food and farming systems which aims to regenerate topsoil, increase biodiversity,[1]improve water cycles,[2] enhance ecosystem services, support biosequestration, increase resilience to climate fluctuation, and strengthen the health and vitality of farm soil, by recycling as much farm waste as possible, as well as adding compost material from outside the farm.[3][4][5][6]
Regenerative agriculture on small farms and gardens is often based on ideologies like permaculture, agroecology, agroforestry, restoration ecology, Keyline design and holistic management, whereas large farms tend to be less ideology driven, and often utilize "no till" and/or "low till" aided by the use of herbicide tolerant genetically modified seed.
Ideally, on a regenerative farm, yield production should grow more ample over time. As the soil deepens, yields may increase and external composting inputs decrease. Actual output is however dependent on the nutritional value of the composting materials, and the nutritional status of the soil. [7] [8]

Hoverfly at work

Roots[edit]


Rodale Institute, Test Garden
Regenerative agricuture is based on various agricultural and agroecologic practices, and a particular emphasis is on minimal soil disturbance and the practice of composting. [9]Maynard Murray (1910–1983)had similar ideas, but with sea minerals. [10] [11] [12] [13] Her work led to other innovations in no-till practices, such as slash and mulch in the tropics. [14]


Field Hamois Belgium Luc Viatour

Agroforestry on a grazing farm, Taylors Run
[15] [16] [17] </ref> The lasagna method feeds the soil biota from above and encourages the soil food web to do the work of aerating and mixing the nutrients into the soil below.[18] [19] They created a video, Farming With Nature: A Case Study of Successful Temperate Permaculture.[20]
Microbiologist Elaine Ingham popularized the importance of soil health and the soil food web.[21]

In the 1980s, the Rodale Institute began using the term ‘regenerative agriculture’.[23] Rodale Publishing formed the Regenerative Agriculture Association, which published books in 1987 and 1988.[24]
By marching forward under the banner of sustainability we are, in effect, continuing to hamper ourselves by not accepting a challenging enough goal. I am not against the word sustainable, rather I favor regenerative agriculture.
— Robert Rodale
However, the Institute stopped using the term in the late 1980s and it appeared sparingly (in 2005[25] and 2008) until they released a white paper titled "Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change" in 2014.[26] Its summary states, “we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO2 emissions with a switch to widely available and inexpensive organic management practices, which we term 'regenerative organic agriculture.'” The agricultural practices described are crop rotation, compost application and reduced tillage,[26] similar to most organic agriculture.
From 1990 to 2010, RA was most explicitly practiced within the permaculture community. Influenced by Carol Sanford and the design and development work of Regenesis,[27] the ecological systems approach of permaculture led regenerative agriculture to incorporate whole farm design, multi-story agroforestry and rotational livestock integration.[28]
Author and restorative development consultant Storm Cunningham (b. 1951) documented the rise of what he then called "restorative agriculture" in his first book, The Restoration Economy. He defined it as a technique that rebuilds the quantity and quality of topsoil while restoring local biodiversity (especially native pollinators) and watershed functionality. Carbon sequestration has more recently been added to that definition, to help achieve climate restoration. Restorative agriculture was one of the eight sectors of restorative development industries / disciplines in The Restoration Economy's taxonomy. The other seven were watershed restoration, ecological restoration, fisheries restoration, brownfields remediation, heritage restoration, infrastructure renewal and catastrophe reconstruction. [29]

2010s onward[edit]

Sheep grower, historian, regenerative agriculture consultant and advocate Charles Massy published Call of the Reed Warbler: a new agriculture - a new earth, based on his PhD studies.[30] The book frames regenerative agriculture as a savior for the earth using case studies.[31]
Darren J. Doherty (1967-) founded Regrarians Ltd. in 2013, a non-profit promoting RA.[32]His Regrarians Platform extends Yeomans’ 'Keyline Scale of Permanence', layering social and economic lenses on top of the original agricultural ones.[33] They include climate, geography, water, access, forestry, buildings, fencing, soils, economy and energy.
John Ikerd advocates for the "small" family farm and farmers and for sustainability in the US food system.[34] Ikerd is author of The essentials of economic sustainability,[35] Small Farms are Real Farms: Sustaining People through Agriculture[36] and Sustainable Capitalism (2005).[37]
Vermont farmer and farm consultant Abe Collins created LandStream to monitor ecosystem performance in RA farms.[38]
Mark Shepard founded New Forest Farms in Viola, Wisconsin, and Forest Agriculture Enterprises and wrote Restoration Agriculture: Real World Permaculture for Farmers. He demonstrated how to grow more calories per acre than corn and soy without inputs. He does this through a mix of RA practices, balancing nut crops, livestock and keyline.
Ethan Roland Soloviev and Gregory Landua, cofounded Terra Genesis International (a regenerative agriculture and supply company), published Levels of Regenerative Agriculture (2016). In this paper, they describe a four-fold framework consisting of:
  • Functional Regenerative Agriculture: "humans can do good through their agricultural production"
  • Integrative Regenerative Agriculture: "grow the health and vitality of the whole ecosystem"
  • Systemic Regenerative Agriculture: "farms are woven into an ecosystem of enterprises operating in their bioregion"
  • Evolutionary Regenerative Agriculture: "harmonize with the potential of a place," and "develop a diversity of global and local regenerative producer webs"
Permaculture designer and researcher Eric Toensmeier[39] wrote The Carbon Farming Solution: A Global Toolkit of Perennial Crops and Regenerative Agriculture Practices for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security (2016).[40] Toensmeier claimed that regenerative practices hold the potential to sequester massive amounts of CO
2 into the soil, all while providing adaptive and resilient solutions given a changing climate.[41]

Principles and practices[edit]

Regenerative agriculture is guided by a set of principles and practices.[5]

Principles[edit]

Principles include:[3][5][42]
  • Increase soil fertility
  • Work with wholes, not parts
  • Progressively improve whole agro-ecosystems (soil, water and biodiversity)
  • Connect the farm to its larger agroecosystem and bioregion
  • Create context-specific designs and make holistic decisions that express the essence of each farm
  • Express the essence of each person, farm and place
  • Make holistic decisions aimed at specific systems change
  • Ensure and develop just and reciprocal relationships among all stakeholders
  • Design for non-linear, multi-capital reciprocity
  • Continually grow and evolve individuals, farms and communities to express their potential
  • Continually evolve agro-ecological processes and cultures
  • Agriculture shifts the world

Practices[edit]

Practices include:[5][3][43]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Our Sustainable Future - Regenerative Ag Description". www.csuchico.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  2. ^ Underground, The Carbon; Initiative, Regenerative Agriculture; CSU (2017-02-24). "What is Regenerative Agriculture?". Regeneration International. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  3. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Regenerative Agriculture". regenerativeagriculturedefinition.com. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  4. ^ "Regenerative Agriculture | Regenerative Agriculture Foundation". regenerativeagriculturefoundation.org. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i j k "Definition — The Carbon Underground : The Carbon Underground". thecarbonunderground.org. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  6. ^ "Regenerative Organic Agriculture | ORGANIC INDIA". us.organicindia.com. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  7. ^ Falk, Ben (2013). The Resilient Farm and Homestead: An Innovative Permaculture and Whole Systems Design Approach. Chelsea Green Publishing. p. 280. ISBN 978-1-60358-444-9.
  8. ^ "Dr. William A. Albrecht - IFOAM". www.ifoam.org.
  9. ^ Hensel, Julius. Bread From Stones: A New and Rational System of Land Fertilization and Physical Regeneration. Republished by Acres USA, Austin, Texas, 1991. 102p.
  10. ^ Murray, Maynard. Sea energy agriculture. 2nd ed. revised. Austin, TX: Acres, USA, 2003. vii, 109p. Nauta, Phil. Building soils naturally. Austin, TX: Acres, USA, 2012. xvi, 303p.
  11. ^ Howard, Sir Albert. An Agricultural Testament. London: Oxford University Press, 1943.
  12. ^ Balfour, Lady Eve. 9,600 Miles Through The U.S.A. in a Station Wagon. London: The Soil Association, 1954.
  13. ^ Stout, Ruth. Gardening without Work.
  14. ^ Yeomans, P.A. The Australian Keyline Plan. Sydney: P.A. Yeomans, 1954. [Source: The Holistic Agriculture Library and The Challenge of Landscape - The Development and Practice of Keyline. Sydney: Keyline Publishing PTY, Ltd., 1958. [Source: The Holistic Agriculture Library]
  15. ^ Fukuoka, Masanobu et. al. The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural FarmingNew York Review Books, 2009 and Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy. Other India Press, 1985. 284p.
  16. ^ Hamaker, John D. and Donald Weaver. The Survival of Civilization. Hamaker-Weaver Publishers, 1982. 234p. Reprinted, 2002.
  17. ^ Whatley, Booker T. How to Make $100,000 Farming 25 Acres. Emmaus, Pennsylvania, Regenerative Agriculture Association, 1987. 180 pages.
  18. ^ Lanza, Patricia. Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling,No Weeding, No Kidding! Rodale Books, 1999. 256p.
  19. ^ Holzer, Sepp. Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A practical guide to small-scale, integrative farming and gardening. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2011. xix, 246p.
  20. ^ ecofilm (15 August 2009). "PERMACULTURE - CULTIVER AVEC LA NATURE - Sepp Holzer TRAILER" – via YouTube.
  21. ^ Ingram, Elaine. (2000) Soil Biology Primer. USDA.
  22. ^ Mollison, Bill. Permaculture: A Designer's Manual. Tagari Publications, 1988. 576p; Holmgren, David. Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability. Holmgren Design Services, 2002. 320p. .
  23. ^ "AFSIC History Timeline | Alternative Farming Systems Information Center| NAL | USDA". Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  24. ^ "Tracing the Evolution of Organic / Sustainable Agriculture (TESA1980) | Alternative Farming Systems Information Center| NAL | USDA". Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  25. ^ "A truly regenerative agriculture | Rodale Institute". rodaleinstitute.org. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  26. ^ Jump up to:a b "Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change | Rodale Institute". rodaleinstitute.org. Retrieved 2017-03-09.
  27. ^ Regenesis Group, 2016. Regenerative Development and Design: A Framework for Evolving Sustainability: Wiley Publishing, Hoboken, NJ.
  28. ^ Mollison, B. 1988. Permaculture: A Designers Manual: Tagari Press, ISBN 0-908228-01-5.
  29. ^ Cunningham, Storm. The Restoration Economy. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2002. 340p.
  30. ^ Massy, Charles (2017). Call of the reed warbler: a new agriculture- a new earth. Queensland University Press.
  31. ^ "Author talk with Charles Massy call of the reed warbler". Trove.
  32. ^ "Darren J. Doherty CV – Regrarians". www.regrarians.org. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  33. ^ "The Regrarians Platform® – Regrarians". www.regrarians.org. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  34. ^ "Home". www.johnikerd.com.
  35. ^ The essentials of economic sustainability Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012.
  36. ^ "Small Farms Are Real Farms". Acres USA.
  37. ^ Sustainable Capitalism: A Matter of Common Sense. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2005.
  38. ^http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/sites/harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/files/grazing/Collins_Harvard%20Forest%202.pdf
  39. ^ "» Books, Articles, and DVDs". Perennial Solutions. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  40. ^ "Book Review: The Carbon Farming Solution - Ecological Landscape Alliance". www.ecolandscaping.org. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
  41. ^ Toensmeier, Eric (2016). The Carbon Farming Solution. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green. ISBN 978-1-60358-571-2.
  42. ^ Soloviev, E. and Landua, G. Levels of Regenerative Agriculture. Terra Genesis International, High Falls, NY, 2016.
  43. ^ "The 9 Most Important Techniques In Regenerative Agriculture". Archived from the original on 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  44. ^ "Mark Shepard's Proven Technique - "Sheer, Total, and Utter Neglect"". 7 June 2013.
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Living Soils Symposium - About



(4) Living Soils Symposium - About
Our Work Ahead of Us

LIVING SOILS SYMPOSIUM·THURSDAY, 4 JANUARY 2018
Instagram.
It all started there.
I saw the evolution of this photo sharing site morphing into another networking tool with a freedom of communication that many other social sites didn’t have.
I started following people from all walks of agriculture- vegetables, orchards, cannabis, organic, regenerative, permaculture, homestead, advocates, whatever and whoever……
The amazing ability to connect with agriculturists across the country or even the world blew my mind.
“Let’s bring those people together in one room together and continue the conversation offline.”
The synergy would be unreal, I hoped.
That’s how the Living Soils Symposium was born.
Currently we have two Symposiums under our belt and we are looking forward to the third.
We feel like we have grabbed the attention of a really amazing community of people. We want to use that attention and push our creative skills forward to grow the community and find more folks that can collaborate with us as presenters and participants. Both are equally important in our eyes.
Over the coming months, you’ll see us grow our online presence experimenting with all of the social avenues to reach out and figure out what the “story” of this Living Soils movement really is.
And that is a small (yet immense) detail that I want to point out-
The Living Soils movement is not a movement at all. It’s just how things are. We’re just looking to describe, grasp, understand, share, and find what it’s really about- the story beneath us. In the soil. In our lives. In the plants. Those intricate interactions are what drive and support each of us on this planet daily.
That’s what our LSS team is going to be hunting for and documenting throughout the year and then presenting with others at the 2018 symposium.
📷Blue Fox Farm — Applegate, Oregon
Besides the narrative of the LSS team, you will also hear my voice from the viewpoint of my life on my farm in Oregon, of my travels around the country working with other farmers and business people, and in some new amazing arenas that are just starting to unfold. All told with the idea that for there to be a healthy biotic soil layer continuing beneath our feet, we have to find solutions that are regenerative in nature.
This term- regenerative- you will see pop up a lot in our narrative. It may be (and probably is) the hottest and newest catchphrase out there. And many will end up using it as a catchphrase that is used solely for marketing and to drive another layer to our already over-labeled lives.
The beauty of true regeneration is that it has no final destination, metric, or definition. It is and will be a continuing evolving process of learning how we can actually approach our lives and our stewardship with the land beneath us in a systematic way that can be a win-win for everyone.
True regenerative agriculture is accepting that farming and agriculture is not about reaching a destination but being forever on the journey. This journey is one of trial and error, continued iterations of cropping techniques, ongoing observation, scientific reasoning, cursing, laughter, continuing education, social awareness, community involvement, and the list goes on.
The answers will always be nuanced. But if we keep in mind that the soil must remain intact and holistically alive, then we have a chance to see a net positive result in our lifetimes.
I am really excited to see what we as a community can do with these tools set in front of us.
Chris Jagger Founder, Living Soils Symposium
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Seeking meaning, not happiness, will make you happier



Seeking meaning, not happiness, will make you happier


Seeking meaning, not happiness, will make you happier

Antidotes for ChimpsFollow
Dec 16, 2018

Photo by Peter Lloyd on Unsplash

One of the most stinging ironies of our species is the pursuit of happiness, an idea that is tragically self-defeating. Like the donkey being pushed forward by a glistening carrot that will forever elude him, pursuing happiness will position it just out of reach, but close enough for us to continue striving. It’s right there to be taken — so near and yet so far — if our grasping mitts were just a little longer.

As it turns out, happiness is incidental. It cannot be obtained by striving, and by doing so you’re making an ass of yourself. This is known as the paradox of hedonism, the idea that seeking happiness/pleasure only serves to hinder it, and in fact, you’re more likely to be happier if you quit your foolish efforts.

An example from Wikipedia illustrates the concept perfectly:
“Suppose Paul likes to collect stamps. According to most models of behaviour, including not only utilitarianism, but most economic, psychological and social conceptions of behaviour, it is believed that Paul collects stamps because he gets pleasure from it. Stamp collecting is an avenue towards acquiring pleasure. However, if you tell Paul this, he will likely disagree. He does get pleasure from collecting stamps, but this is not the process that explains why he collects stamps. It is not as though he says, “I must collect stamps so I, Paul, can obtain pleasure”. Collecting stamps is not just a means toward pleasure. He simply likes collecting stamps, therefore acquiring pleasure indirectly.
This paradox is often spun around backwards, to illustrate that pleasure and happiness cannot be reverse-engineered. If for example you heard that collecting stamps was very pleasurable, and began a stamp collection as a means towards this happiness, it would inevitably be in vain. To achieve happiness, you must not seek happiness directly, you must strangely motivate yourself towards things unrelated to happiness, like the collection of stamps.” — Wikipedia, The Paradox of Hedonism

Social psychologist Daniel Gilbert discovered that we’re notoriously bad at predicting what will make us happy — a term known as affective forecasting. Our ability to perform these projections is significant because it shapes our decisions, including those concerning our happiness. We’re like incompetent gamblers, hoping to hit the happiness jackpot, but ending up disappointed and in debt. We cannot attain this state of mind by aiming for it.
“Happiness is like a cat, if you try to coax it or call it, it will avoid you; it will never come. But if you pay no attention to it and go about your business, you’ll find it rubbing against your legs and jumping into your lap” — William Bennett

Some experts go even further to claim that chasing happiness can actually make you depressed. Brock Bastian — a social psychologist based in Melbourne — identified higher depression rates in countries that place a premium on happiness, a effect created by the damaging idea that negative emotion can be forever evaded. When such feelings occur, a person might feel that there’s something wrong with them. This is exacerbated by the nauseating look at me I’m always happy illusion of social media, in which everybody appears to be better off than you, but in reality are suffering just as much.

It’s critical to understand that happiness is not our birthright, despite the bleatings of Thomas Jefferson. Our emotional range is to be fully traversed — end to end. It’s an unbreakable scale in which sacrificing sadness would mean doing the same for happiness — their existence is only possible because of the contrast between them. There’s no happiness without sadness; no lightwithout dark; no up without down.
“What if pleasure and displeasure were so tied together that whoever wanted to have as much as possible of one must also have as much as possible of the other — that whoever wanted to learn to ‘jubilate up to the heavens’ would also have to be prepared for ‘depression unto death?’ — Friedrich Nietzsche
“Sadness isn’t a disorder that needs to be cured.” — Alain De Botton

In addition to being naturally varied, our emotions are also fleeting. Happiness cannot be purchased and battened down to prevent its escape, but instead enters our emotional fray, hugs us for a little while, and then leaves without warning. Our emotional state is in a constant state of flux, and ironically, the sooner we realise that happiness cannot be coveted, the happier we’ll be.
“Most people think that happiness is something we attain, like a possession, and that once we have it, we get to keep it. But happiness is not a place we can live. It is a place we can visit” — Daniel Gilbert

We’re not the only one’s suffering — our planet is having a bad time too, being pushed to its limits in part by our greedy, rapacious materialism. Irony strikes once again — amassing mountains of stuff does nothing to increase our happiness or well-being. As we suffocate the world, we also suffocate ourselves.

So what should you focus on, if not happiness? How can we obtain happiness indirectly?

The answer lies in our estimation of what is meaningful; the parts of our lives that we personally deem to be valuable. For Paul, this was stamp collecting, a simple hobby in which he unearthed happiness; a hobby that others might find insufferably boring. We are the authors of our own fate, with a selection of tastes and values that are unique. Our personal sense of meaning will be different to someone else’s, and we’re blessed with the freedom to pursue our values. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of Liberalism — the idea that each of us is wonderfully unique, which should be recognised, celebrated, and encouraged.

In Emily Esfahani Smith’s book The Power of Meaning, she analysed hundreds of scientific studies on meaningfulness, concluding that the characteristic features of a meaningful life are connecting to something greater than yourself, rather than a misplaced notion of hunting happiness. What we consider to be worthy can make us happy.
“Happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.” — Viktor Frankl
“Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.” — Helen Keller

In addition to offering happiness, research has shown that having purpose and meaning in life can enhance your mental and physical health, resiliency, self-esteem, and reduce the possibility of depression. Meaning is a solid, long-lasting base on which to build your life. Happiness, by contrast, vanishes quicker than a genie after a third wish.
“You don’t become happy by pursuing happiness. You become happy by living a life that means something” — Harold S. Kushner
“You use your highest strengths and talents to belong to and serve something you believe is larger than the self.” — Martin E. P. Seligman

What is it that you personally value; that you find meaningful? What is it that draws you in, not because you assume it’ll make you happy, but because you consider it to be worthwhile?

Figuring this out might be the most important thing you ever do.


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What Does It Mean to be Spiritual? A Rational Answer.



What Does It Mean to be Spiritual? A Rational Answer.

What Does It Mean to be Spiritual? A Rational Answer.

Zat RanaFollow
Jan 7



The year 1745 wasn’t the best to be David Hume. This man, who many now consider to be the greatest philosopher to write in the English language, had over the years made enemies in the wrong places. In an epoch dominated by dogmatism, Hume was an outlier, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. And so, when he sought the chair of Ethics and Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh, people were outraged.

How can we possibly let a man who has undermined the will of God and religion in his writing teach about ethics, they wondered; a man who went out of his way to preach the wonders of extreme skepticism and cold atheism. As per their interpretation, this was a man who clearly sought to crush the foundation of morality they had built their society on.

Now, these charges, of course, lacked merit, and Hume saw it to himself to correct them in an essay he wrote to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh titled A Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend in Edinburgh. He noted each charge and then wrote a rebuttal comparing it to his real position. Unfortunately, however, this didn’t help. The clergy was overwhelming against his appointment, which he eventually withdrew. He continued to be chastised for the rest of his life due to the content of his work.

As someone reading this in the 21st century, someone who is familiar with Hume’s work, I find this particularly interesting. Hume was a famous skeptic, no doubt, and he certainly did deliver some devastating critiques in regards to the existence of God and the religions built in his name, but the people’s core charges, it seems, suggest that he was a man entirely devoid of any kind of faith, that he was advocating some kind of nihilism — claims that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, as I see it, Hume’s later work, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, is perhaps the most spiritual work of philosophy written in the Western world.

Today, the term spirituality has one of two connotations: the first is a classic religious one; the second is inspired by New Age culture. Both of them seem to diverge away from a world where science and reason dominate. Broadly speaking, I think it’s correct to suggest that both categories embody spirituality better than cold, hard reason and that they are right in doing so. Many smart and thoughtful religious people, for example, have a relationship with truth that most scientifically-minded people should be envious of. But at the same time, some of the most religious and New Age-oriented people I have ever encountered are also among the least spiritual people around. Why? Because spirituality goes beyond dogma—something Hume showed perhaps better than anybody.

Anyone who has spent enough time reading and thinking and living will come to the same conclusion that Hume did when he exercised his famous skepticism: In a world where we have complete information about everything, reason can give us certain answers; in the real world, however, where we are not even close to having all the answers — a world where words are fallible, where perception is fallible, where imagination is fallible, reason is more of a guide than it is a hallmark of truth. An example: Those who confidently claim that life is meaningless in the name of reason defeat themselves by doing so, because that claim can’t be made logically in a world we don’t fully understand — it’s an example of the intellect dumbing itself down with language when our experience so obviously tells us otherwise.

Now, by doubting everything from his opponents’ arguments and the promises of religion and even the principle of causality (an especially devastating critique that some philosophers believe we might never recover from) to even his own positions, Hume showed that we all mostly operate on faith and habit in ways that aren’t obvious. The point was never to illustrate that we can’t know anything, but more so, it was to humbly suggest that there are limitations to what the human mind can comprehend and understand, and we have to learn to operate in this complex world in spite of that fact without getting tangled away in our minds.

Maybe one-day scientific instruments will remove the limitations that hold us back, and that’s possible, but the chances are that the mysteries of both the Universe and our conscious experience are simply too complex to be confined to words and formulas. The confidence that many science-minded people (who often ironically don’t understand how science works, mistaking it for the dogma of scientism) have in science’s ability to comprehend and disprove what lies beyond the laws of physics are just as lacking in concrete evidence as the certainty of the narratives that some religious-minded people are intent on imposing on others.

In this vein, true spirituality is defined by skepticism — of both self and of authority, of both today’s religions and of today’s science. It’s individualistic, and thus, it’s the opposite of dogmatism. As soon as you use a phrase or a story to reduce away the complexity of life without acknowledgement, you are closing a gap left by reality with something that hides the uncertainty that is inherent in everything from our knowledge to our perception. True rationality is open-ended, and it’s skeptical about itself even as it does its best, knowing that an undiscovered mystery still lies ahead.

The hallmark of any dogma, whether religious or scientific, is the attempt to use today’s information to do away with the unknown unknowns of a future without accepting that this future could very well prove us wrong, just as the past has been proven wrong, again and again, whenever we have entered a new paradigm. Today’s truths do indeed allow us to project the patterns we can expect to see tomorrow to a healthy degree, but this truth is always probabilistic, and even a high probability truth can be wrong in unanticipated ways due to our own fallibility.

Right now, the knowledge we use to assert the laws of physics is based on only 5 percent of the Universe, with the remaining 95 percent being clouded away by dark matter and dark energy — entities that we don’t have good assumptions about. Somehow, complex systems produce sums of wholes that are greater than their parts in ways that we don’t understand. We call this emergence, which makes it sound like we know something we definitely don’t, and it can be observed everywhere in nature. Gödel’s incompleteness theorem suggests that, due to the self-reference problem, logical systems will always be incomplete. And of course, again, Hume’s critique of causality gives us a reason to doubt the very foundation that we use to build all of our scientific knowledge on, and if not that (as the great Karl Popper almost convincingly argued), then it at least tells us that there might be knowledge out there that science can’t uncover in its current form.

When it comes to metaphysics, traditionally, philosophy has leaned towards either theism or materialism. The former reasons the existence of God and has usually monopolized spirituality, and the latter is concerned with the sub-atomic particles that it assumes makes up everything. This materialism is also the implicit assumption that guides most scientists and thus conditions people living in the modern era, which is mostly fine, except for one thing: Given where we are right now, materialism is just as much of a dogma as most materialists assume theism is. In fact, I’d argue that these categories are both wrong and that a rational skeptic practices science or religion as they do, in the relevant domain, but doesn’t make any confident claims about the future, thus embracing what I define as spirituality by default.

The question then, of course, is: What does this spirituality represent beyond skepticism? The answer is: A healthy respect for an uncertain reality; a mysterious future looked upon without assumptions and with only awe; a search for truth with open-ended rationality and a mind willing to entertain the absurd without pretending that the mask of language can define the unknown without the corroborating knowledge. Spirituality, in this sense, doesn’t rule out what reasonable people think of as God or the supernatural, nor does it ignore what science currently tells us; it lets you be you and me be me, as we both honor the uncertainty that reminds us that there is something bigger than us to be discovered.

Whenever I reflect on this spirituality in my own life, I am brought back to late-summer nights spent with people I love at an old German-style cottage in the country. Even driving away from the city, it would feel like we were being compelled by a force of nature to move away from the sounds, the lights, the people, to something more honest, more pure in its expression. We would drive until the highways were replaced by broken roads, the high-rise apartments by enveloping trees, the web of pressures and expectations in our lives by the openness of freedom and potentiality.

On these nights, as we settled in, as time began to dance to a different beat, we would sneak out of the back door and walk down to the dock and sit ourselves right where its wooden structure met the water. It would be quiet. The lake would be still. The moonlight would radiate. At first, the conversations that began inside would carry on outside, but eventually, our silence would match the silence of nature.

In this silence, we would stare. We would stare at the ripples in the lake, and we would stare at the movement of the forest beside us, but mostly, we stare up. We would stare at the unpolluted sky, at a million little dots of brightness, with each one of them representing a different center of reality, with each constellation telling a different story. And in these moments, I would be reminded of something I am otherwise quick to forget: I may be infinite in the complexity of my experience, but I am finite in the Universe. And with that, I would only smile — lightly, humbly, knowing that there’s more, knowing that this isn’t it.


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Zat Rana
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Playing at the intersection of science, art, and philosophy. Trying to be less wrong. I share my more intimate thoughts at www.designluck.com/community.
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Working With Living Soils In The Market Garden Talk- JM Fortier 31 min

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Living Soils Symposium Montreal: Restore the Climate, Feed the World

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(PDF) The Greening of the ‘Barrios': Urban Agriculture for Food Security in Cuba

(PDF) The Greening of the ‘Barrios': Urban Agriculture for Food Security in Cuba



Urban agriculture in Cuba has rapidly become a significant source of fresh produce for the urban and suburban populations. A large number of urban gardens in Havana and other major cities have emerged as a grassroots movement in response to the crisis brought about by the loss of trade, with the collapse of the socialist bloc in 1989. These gardens are helping to stabilize the supply of fresh produce to Cuba's urban centers. During 1996, Havana's urban farms provided the city's urban population with 8,500 tons of agricultural produce, 4 million dozens of flowers, 7.5 million eggs, and 3,650 tons of meat. This system of urban agriculture, composed of about 8,000 gardens nationwide has been developed and managed along agroecological principles, which eliminate the use of synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers, emphasizing diversification, recycling, and the use of local resources. This article explores the systems utilized by Cuba's urban farmers, and the impact that this movement has had on Cuban food security.

(PDF) The Greening of the ‘Barrios': Urban Agriculture for Food Security in Cuba. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226603269_The_Greening_of_the_'Barrios'_Urban_Agriculture_for_Food_Security_in_Cuba [accessed Jan 07 2019].
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The Greening of the Revolution: Cuba's Experiment with Organic Agriculture: Peter Rosset, Medea Benjamin: 9781875284801: Amazon.com: Books



The Greening of the Revolution: Cuba's Experiment with Organic Agriculture: Peter Rosset, Medea Benjamin: 9781875284801: Amazon.com: Books






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The Greening of the Revolution: Cuba's Experiment with Organic AgriculturePaperback – July 1, 2002
by Peter Rosset (Editor), Medea Benjamin (Editor)
3.0 out of 5 stars 3 customer reviews

The first detailed account of Cuba's turn to a system of organic agriculture prepared on an international scientific delegation and fact-finding mission on low-input sustainable agriculture which visited Cuba in late 1992.



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Paperback: 85 pages
Publisher: Ocean Press (July 1, 2002)
Language: English
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3 customer reviews
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dd
5.0 out of 5 starsshould be required textApril 17, 2001
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

for any environmental studies program. Ideas put to the test on an island with very little outside resources. Excellent discussion material. Unique insight into the revolution.

6 people found this helpful

5.0 out of 5 starsFirst-rate scientific and social examination of Cuba's agricJanuary 24, 1999
Format: Paperback

Cuba's social and economic systems have been in crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The prime concern of the country is how to feed its citizens so that every member has an adequate and nutritious diet. Rosset and Benjamin's scientific delegation to Cuba examined the history leading up to the current crisis, and the social, political and economic factors which maintain the food shortage up to this day. They then launch on an encyclopedic survey of the agricultural and social reform programs launched by Cuba's government to remedy the crisis. 

The country has adopted a Low Input, Sustainable Agriculture (LISA) style of food production in order to cope with drastically reduced inputs of chemicals, fertilizer, fuel, and capital since the USSR collapsed. Research programs abound, with several hundred research and development facilities in a country little larger than Vancouver Island, B.C. 
They are studying and implementing programs in non-chemical control of insects, weeds, and disease; soil remediation and fertility; labour distribution; post-harvest physiology and storage; and the distributions of production and population centers. The Greening of the Revolution combines the expertise of a 20 member delegation who spent a week in 1992 travelling the country. It reads like a comprehensive Annual Review article, with insightful analysis throughout, but not for the faint-of-heart looking for a light read. The 1992 date is now 7 years past, it would be of great interest to have a second edition of the book published in a repeat of the 1992 surveys. The book could also use some close editing; although logically laid out and of strong scientific style, there were reduncies and inconsistencies sprinkled throughout the text. In all, though, an excellent and compelling analysis of a country in transition.
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Dalton C. Rocha
1.0 out of 5 starsPure castrist propaganda.March 27, 2006
Format: Paperback

Some years ago, a brazilian lend this book to me.It's a small and concise book.
In fact the only quality of this bad book is his small size.

All the rest are ridiculous Castro's propaganda.

Well, I'm an (unemployed) brazilian agronomist.I must tell you that Cuba has nothing to teach about agriculture.In fact Castro's Cuba is, a complete agriculture failure.The big Cuba's crop is sugar.Well, in 1912, Cuba produced more sugar then in 2003,2004 and 2005.

Cuba's experimente with organic agriculture was and is a failure.In fact, in Cuba, the general people has no flowing water, eletricity,etc.

Outside privileges and money support to latin american marxists, Cuba's money goes to propaganda.And this is pure castrist propaganda.

3 people found this helpful

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Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture – A New Earth eBook: Charles Massy: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store



Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture – A New Earth eBook: Charles Massy: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store




Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture – A New Earth 1st Edition, Kindle Edition
by Charles Massy (Author)


4.3 out of 5 stars 6 customer reviews

#1 Best Sellerin Food Science

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Length: 588 pages Enhanced Typesetting:Enabled Page Flip: Enabled
Language: English



Is it too late to regenerate the earth? Call of the Reed Warbler shows the way forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape and our planet. This ground-breaking book will change the way we think of, farm and grow food. Author and radical farmer Charles Massy explores transformative and regenerative agriculture and the vital connection between our soil and our health. It is a story of how a grassroots revolution – a true underground insurgency – can save the planet, help turn climate change around, and build healthy people and healthy communities, pivoting significantly on our relationship with growing and consuming food. Using his personal experience as a touchstone – from an unknowing, chemical-using farmer with dead soils to a radical ecologist farmer carefully regenerating a 2000-hectare property to a state of natural health – Massy tells the real story behind industrial agriculture and the global profit-obsessed corporations driving it. He shows – through evocative stories – how innovative farmers are finding a new way and interweaves his own local landscape, its seasons and biological richness. At stake is not only a revolution in human health and our communities but the very survival of the planet. For farmer, backyard gardener, food buyer, health worker, policy maker and public leader alike, Call of the Reed Warbler offers a tangible path forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape and our earth. It comprises a powerful and moving paean of hope.

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File Size: 1770 KB
Print Length: 588 pages
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Kirkus Reviews--

"An Australian sheepherder and range specialist looks at his home's biotic communities and how to improve their health with a more thoughtful kind of agriculture. Arachnophobes take note: There's a reason you want to see a lot of spiders in the tall grass, for, as Massy (Breaking the Sheep's Back, 2011, etc.) instructs, it means that good things are happening. 'To sustain millions of spiders, ' he writes, 'there must be a corresponding diversity in the food chain, and healthy landscape function above and below ground.' Such a healthy landscape, argues the author in considerable detail, cannot come about through what he calls the 'more-on' approach to agriculture, piling chemicals atop increasingly unproductive soil, but instead is the result of a 'regenerative' agriculture that necessarily happens at a small scale. The larger scale is what modern agronomists insist is needed in order to feed a growing world population, but at a cost that may be too great. As Massy observes, a livestock grower will always seek to save the herd before saving the range, no matter how shortsighted that strategy may be in the end. The author's prose can be arid and technical at times, as when he writes, 'at a global level, non-regeneratively grazed livestock emissions are a huge source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.' At others, he sounds like a modern butterflies-are-free avatar of Charles Reich: 'an Emergent mind combines elements of the previous Organic and Mechanical minds, but its true difference is an openness to the ongoing processes of emergence and self-organization.' The circularity aside, Massy's book is a useful small-is-beautiful argument for appropriate-level farming that people can do without massive machines or petrochemical inputs. Though less elegant than Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson, he certainly falls into their camp, and their readers will want to know Massy's work as well. A solid case for taking better care of the ground on which we stand."



"Part lyrical nature writing, part storytelling, part solid scientific evidence, part scholarly research, part memoir, [this] book is an elegant manifesto, an urgent call to stop trashing the Earth and start healing it."--The Guardian



"Charles Massy has written a definitive masterpiece that takes its place along with the writings of Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, Masanobu Fukuoka, Humberto Maturana, and Michael Pollan. No work has more brilliantly defined regenerative agriculture and the breadth of its restorative impact upon human health, biodiversity, climate, and ecological intelligence. There is profound insight here, realized by thirty-five years of farming on the ancient, fragile soils of the Australian continent, discernment expressed with exquisite clarity, seasoned wisdom, and some breathtaking prose of poetic elegance. I believe it takes its place as the single most important book on agriculture today, one that will become a classic text."--Paul Hawken, author of Blessed Unrest; editor of Drawdown



"I first met Charles Massy in 2015 when he visited the ranch of the Africa Centre for Holistic Management in Zimbabwe. Building on the work of many people, Massy has now written a compelling and comprehensive book on the importance of management being holistic--and how that will ultimately lead to a regenerative agriculture capable of restoring even the most degraded ecosystems and marginalized land in any climate and at any scale. He has done this with wonderful stories that take us on a journey of ecological literacy, supported by evocative insights into landscapes, science, and practical farming and living. Call of the Reed Warbler is a massive accomplishment and contribution to our collective work of building a new agriculture, a new Earth, and renewed human society and health."--Allan Savory, president of the Savory Institute



"This book will change the way you think about food, farming, and the place of humans on the planet. Introducing us to leaders of the regenerative agriculture movement, Massy offers real hope that we may yet fashion a society that gives more than it takes."--Liz Carlisle, author of Lentil Underground; lecturer, School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University



"Conceptually rich and filled with examples of diverse innovators, Call of the Reed Warbler is the most comprehensive and engaging book I've read on regenerative agriculture. Charlie Massy contends humans have morphed from an 'Organic mind' into a 'Mechanical mind, ' which is now evolving into an 'Emergent mind'--a change in consciousness that embraces self-organizing processes. He shows how the minds of the innovators in his book were opened to three key processes: First, they began to understand how landscapes function, how ecological system work, and how they are indivisibly connected. Second, they got out of the way to let nature repair, self-organize, and regenerate these functions. Third, they had the humility to 'listen to their land, ' change, and continue to learn with that same openness. Massy concludes we can heal Earth, but only by transforming ourselves and our connections with the landscapes and communities in which we live. This book is a thoughtful step in that direction."--Fred Provenza, professor emeritus, Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University; author of Nourishment



"Charles Massy is a leader in the regenerative agriculture movement in Australia with a message of hope for everyone. Using his arid homeland as a touchstone, Massy thoughtfully counterbalances the damage done by industrial agriculture to our land and our prospects with evocative examples from around the world of a hopeful way forward. His beliefs are grounded in practical experience, his vision clear, and his words inspiring. Call of the Reed Warbler is a must-read!"--Courtney White, author of Grass, Soil, Hope



"Call of the Reed Warbler not only heralds the sound of an ecosystem functioning but also of a world awakening to regenerative agriculture. Charlie Massy is Australia's equivalent to Thoreau and Leopold and a practical regenerative farmer to boot. I can't think of anyone better equipped to pen a book like this, and to do so with such scholarship, integrity, and rollicking prose is a credit to Charlie and those whose journey he's portrayed. Easily my 'Book of the Year.'"--Darren J. Doherty, founder, Regrarians Limited



Booklist--

"In the last few decades, a growing movement toward pesticide and GMO-free farming practices has been blossoming throughout the world as a counterbalance to corporate-driven agribusinesses. Piggybacking on terms like sustainability and permaculture, veteran sheepherder and author Massy refers to these environmentally friendly methods as "regenerative agriculture," and he offers inspiring testimony here on how he and many of his fellow food-growing Australians have transformed their farmlands by respecting the native ecosystems that surround them. In three richly informative sections, Massy recounts the background story of how aboriginal sustainable land use eventually gave way to what he calls mechanical agriculture practices; demonstrates how balancing five landscape functions, such as solar energy and water cycles, can revitalize the soil; and gives abundant examples of Aussie farmers, including himself, using these practices with great success....[Massy's] message about the dire need for sustainability is one that all readers concerned about food and the environment should closely heed."

Book Description
Is it too late to regenerate the earth? Call of the Reed Warbler shows the way forward for the future of our food supply, our Australian landscape and our planet.

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Jim Higgins
5.0 out of 5 starsA vision of what can be10 September 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Charles Massy has written a story that captures the essence of what is required to face our future with confidence and hope. This is not just a message for farming and how we can regenerate the health of land, it is a message for all on how we can build a healthy future by collaboration with each other and cooperation with the life sustaining energies of Mother Earth. Thank you, Charles, I hope more will come to share your vision.


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Mr. William H. Gore
3.0 out of 5 starsThe ideas are great, but the lack of doubt concerns me6 June 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Needed editing. it was too long for me. The ideas are great, but the lack of doubt concerns me. i am no expert.


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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsGreat book by someone with a wealth of knowledge and understanding experience28 July 2018
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Loved this book and all the insights into how regenerative agriculture is playing out across Australia. Very inspiring read.


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DS
5.0 out of 5 starsImportant book6 December 2018
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Excellent analysis of the subject


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Retrac
3.0 out of 5 starsPassionate but narrow view of Agriculture's Future14 May 2018
Format: Kindle Edition

Charles Massy’s book looks impressive and includes some great stories- parables about how things should be done. It is a compilation of case studies that promotes pesticide and fertiliser free; low input - low output agriculture. Lacking in data but full of emotional responses to the larger agricultural industries in Australia.

It is a good overview of current alternative agricultural thinking- promoting a suite of non- mainstream ideology based approaches to agriculture.

The thesis is well developed but dismisses mainstream agriculture without much data. Are the other 95% of our farmers that bad? Massey portrayed farmers who replace nutrients exported in commodities with fertiliser and those who use phosphorus fertiliser to boost legumes as bad. He highlights examples of people who have adopted low input approaches- but there is no economic data.

Buy the book to see alternative views, but don’t buy it as a guide to how to farm or develop farm policy.

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Martin Kerr
5.0 out of 5 starsHe can survive and prosper as he and many other farmers like him have shown8 March 2018
Format: Kindle Edition

March 8, 2018
Martin Kerr

A call to arms

Call of the Reed Warbler: A New Agriculture on Earth
By Charles Massy
University of Queensland Press 2017, 569pp

Charles Massy has learned the hard way; off a hard farm, working sheep, pastures, laying fences, studying agriculture, earning a living and raising a family. His early interests were birds, birds he rarely saw and birds who re-established themselves such as the reed warbler first described on a farm in the upper Hunter Valley. Peter Andrews a friend of entrepreneur Gerry Harvey had filled his creek with logs and sometimes car tyres, to slow the flow of water. Water spread its benefits into the surrounding farmland, brought back birds and insects and regenerated his horse breeding property. I watched a TV documentary about Andrews’ efforts and was impressed. So were a few academics and scientists. Likewise, Charles Massy called on many specialists for assistance but remained grounded in the idea of the self-rectifying and balancing forces of nature.
Spun out of his PhD at ANU, Call of the Reed Warbler is a more than a Henry David Thoreau (Walden, 1854), a Tim Flannery (The Future Eaters,1994), a Jared Diamond (Guns, Germs and Steel, 1997, Collapse, 2005) or more recently, a Bill Gammage (The Biggest Estate on Earth, 2011). Charles Massy combines trial and error, insight, research, deep thinking, creativity, connectedness to nature; investigating farm management in all its forms. His thinking is based essentially on managing pasture and its surrounds through the use of grazing animals. Regeneration of degraded (often salt affected) land is proved possible time and time again, in Africa, Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia.
What is more, regenerative agriculture captures more carbon and requires less manufactured inputs – insecticides and herbicides. Output may be less, but quality and taste in meat, grains, pulses and root crops potentially improves the health of its consumers.
This book must be a standard text for anyone interested in agriculture, regeneration of landscape, forestry and seeking to eat herbicide and insecticide free food.
If Massy is a greenie then he is truly entitled to this term. He’s putting something back into the world as we know it. He can survive and prosper as he and many other farmers like him have shown. He shows that industrial agriculture in some cases has adapted to similar researches and investigations. New (once traditional) grazing techniques require the constant moving of stock to fresh pasture to avoid clear foraging. Grass growth is thereby encouraged with the help of cloven feet and manure. In the case of Australia native grasses re-appear recognising Aboriginal fire stick regeneration. Settler pastoralists lived off the sheep’s back but only for a time; depriving soils of moisture and their biological and mineral balance.
Dr Massy is hard on companies such as Monsanto. He’s sent farm advisers peddling new seeds, manufactured fertilisers, insecticides and insidious glyphosate on their way. He pauses from time to time to assay his land, consider his family and his responsibilities. Here is a working farmer who to survive has to make decisions, more often not making them. Nature over many years plays its role given the co-generative benefits of variety – water, sun, animals and its vast biome in the guts and soil.
Science and the ‘Mechanical Mind’ led to high yields at the expense of the health qualities of product and the land long term. Massy demonstrates through five functions the re-generation of landscapes. But transforming the earth means transforming ourselves. A new holistic psychology is required. A sick mind leads to bad decisions. Unrewarding farm land leads to depression and worse. Charles Massy experienced the worst at a very young age. His book with its beautiful descriptions and balanced awareness, backed up by extensive reading lists and endnotes is a more than a text book. It’s a grand feat of creativity infused with practical and principled observations.

Martin Kerr’s New Guinea Patrol was first published in 1973. His cult memoir, short stories and seven novels are available on Kindle.
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