Dirt is not dead; there is life in the soil. Concealed under our feet is an abundant and intricate complex of living things. Billions of tiny creatures continuously perform their complex and elaborate dance of life and death and in the process build soil that is the basis of all life and vitality above ground.
We don’t pay much mind to hand-wringers, those who proclaim the world is dying. We choose instead to labor for its health. It is futile to agonize over the vastness of the task or to weep over losing that which is not yet fully lost.
Even soils degraded by plows and chemicals can be regenerated, restored and revived. Though their vitality and structure have been diminished from relentless mono-cropping, they can again be the silent engine of life they always were.
Regenerative farming focuses on the health of the soil. A good regenerative farm actually creates new layers of topsoil every year. The technique is to stop exploiting and abusing soil and to work with it. With crop rotation and cover crops, no plowing and no chemical or artificial fertilizer inputs, the soils can begin to regenerate. Given the opportunity, the microorganisms multiply into astound abundance and set about regenerating land.
All of life on Earth is possible only because of all the life in the earth. To save the Earth, we must first save the earth. Healthy topsoil sequesters astounding quantities of Co2 – enough that if 20% of the currently cultivated soils were farmed regeneratively we could halt and reverse the buildup of carbon in the sky.
How the food you purchase is grown matters. Your choice of regeneratively farmed food over the produce of industrialized farming has genuine and immediate eco-pertinence.
