The Land Needs Us!

By ADAM TURTLE

Historically every place/time an “advanced” (urban-based) culture has undertaken agriculture (see the book “Dirt” by David Montgomery), the land has suffered reduction in diversity, then carrying capacity, and even volume. In large part, this derives from our attitude that “we must conquer the land.”

We are actively creating deserts with our large-scale export mindset. The resilience of the ecosystems, the water pollution and draw down, even the nutrient content of our food are all casualties of our commodification … of almost everything. Indigenous cultures see themselves as being “of the land” and view the Earth and her ecosystems as sacred. Consequentially they seek to live within local carrying capacity and sustainably as stewards. Our society and the Biosphere would benefit tremendously if we revised our cultural worldview. We are not the only ones here … thank goodness!

As kids we are taught that “you can’t change the world” – NOT! We are dynamic entities, we can’t not impact the world! It is the thoughtless nature and degree of those impacts that have led to our environmental decline … and those we can change.

Recently the concept of “Earthing” (spending time outdoors) and the Japanese “Forest Bathing” underline our growing awareness of the need for actual physical contact with the Earth. This behavior is considered beneficial to us individually. Contemporary medicine has recently acknowledged that being raised in “too sterile” conditions, i.e. too little contact with our ambient environment, has been a major factor in the increasing prevalence of both childhood and adult immunodeficiencies … helpful for us to know. But what are we doing about it?

Our materialistic competitive culture … based on Abrahamic Cosmology that posits Creator/Deity as a separate and mysterious persona which positions other beings, objects, and systems as not spiritually significant … contributes largely to the resultant extractive (rather than use) economy. We all (or nearly all) acknowledge that we use way too much oil and petroleum products, but it is in our abusive treatment of the land and accompanying systems like water and air that we not only make our biggest cumulative faux pas, but also have our best opportunity to not just slow but actually reverse our carbon crisis. With widespread application of Regenerative Organic Agriculture, including intensively managed grazing and Agroforestry, we can actually build top soil and bank or sequester carbon in living systems – i.e. soil and forests and do it quickly and effectively.

But first we need to see differently … and care … and then learn and apply the lessons. We can best accomplish this with multiple small-scale local efforts by people who are on and of the land. Of course, they would need the socioeconomic support of the society at large!

An ancient Chinese axiom states that “the footsteps of the farmer are the finest fertilizer.” In 1911, Dr. F.H. King published “Farmers of Forty Centuries: Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan.” It is still in print and still relevant.

Soil scientists are finally becoming aware of the possibilities available with “Terra Preta do Indios” (the black earth of the Indians of Brazil) which has confirmed and made possible new studies in the processes of microbial humus creation applicable for our need to “bank” carbon.

Currently, diverse regional small holders, often on as little as five acres (sometimes less), are providing over 70% of the world’s people food … with very little poison or other purchased inputs including fuel … yielding a positive net return on energy inputs. Contemporary mainstream agriculture shows net energy loss when we factor in all externally produced inputs, including machinery, fuel, synthetic fertilizers, various “cides” and long transport distances. How do we identify and calculate the various negative impacts contributing to run away ecosystem disruption? For insight into how the politics of our prevailing economic system impacts both the quality and availability of food, I highly recommend the recent book “A Foodie’s Guide to Capitalism” by Eric Holt-Gimenez.

So we need more “feet on the ground” (eyes & hands & minds too) … the degree of sensitivity (paying attention) needed can’t be done casually from big machines … or GPS … or especially absentee “investors.” The land needs us human people and our animals (but no CAFOs please). Grasslands, in order to sequester carbon and build top soil most effectively, need intensively managed grazers. Wolves and buffalo built the rich prairies. We can do it and even accelerate the process of carbon sequestration using “Mob Grazing” with solar fence chargers and cows. Sustainable artisan farming is a highly skilled and specialized occupation.

A timely embrace of bioregional organization coupled with relatively recent advances in Regenerative Organic Agriculture and techniques like Permaculture, and Reforestation, (using mixed species agroforestry), if locally applied, seem to be our best opportunity for taking excess carbon out of the atmosphere where it is a problem and restoring it to where it rightfully belongs — in Biosphere systems.

If we had the people … and the will! And, of course, agrarian reform to make land available.

Fortunately, more and more young people are heeding the call. And lest you think it’s only young people needed, I was 50 and my wife 40 when we bought the rough piece of regrowth forest that became Earth Advocates Research Farm 30 years ago. A warning here. If you are considering a life change, you need to know that there is a learning curve and your first few efforts likely won’t produce much. And it can’t be done with eight-hour days or 40-hour weeks. Also, “vacations” are scarce, but it is a very rewarding life anyway! Good husbandry is both challenging and deeply satisfying but not quick nor easy to master!

How can we have unemployment when there is so much work to do? Rather than unemployment, we have very short-sighted misallocation of funds. And worldwide we have millions of refugees, many of them skilled former small farmers – they just need land.

As long as we continue the large scale export of “commodities,” we are going to continue to export our top soil (to the Gulf, where it kills aquatic systems) and seriously deplete our aquifers with techniques such as annual plowing and large monocultures that block natural ground water recharge. Actually we’re selling our children’s future.

Earl Butz, secretary of agriculture under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford in the 1970s, famously stated a USDA policy of “Get Big or Get Out” (of agriculture … although it has become our society’s mantra across the board). In a very real sense centralization and scale are the source of our problem. To be sustainable any agriculture requires detailed site relevant feedback to inform ongoing responsive decisions. Bucky Fuller tried to persuade us that “Small is Beautiful” … and functionally more addressable. In Boy Scouts we were taught “inch by inch it’s a cinch, yard by yard it’s always hard.” For a new mantra I suggest “Get Small and Get In(volved)”.

If we have any hope of changing the outcomes of our behavior, we need to first change how we value our beautiful world … so we can “fix” our behavior and restore the systems that sustain us. Soil building and ecosystem repair are critical.

Unless we consider and evaluate our options … then actually accomplish some critical course correction … we will arrive where we are headed.

And the land needs us!

Adam Turtle is an ethnobotanist, bamboo researcher and Fellow of the Linnean Society. He and Sue Turtle are founders and co-directors of Earth Advocates Research Farm, Summertown, Tenn. See www.earthadvocatesresearchfarm.com.

From The Progressive Populist, May 15, 2020

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