The Ethical Agriculturalist: A Blog by R.A.B.
industrial farming is bankrupt. I Think it's the opportunity of a lifetime.
R.A.B.
Agriculture is one of the most destructive forces on the planet. Without strategic planning, it wastes shocking amounts of resources, creates poverty traps, and destroys the natural environments in which it operates. However, it doesn't need to be this way, and researchers and organizations around the world are working hard to change the trajectory of modern agriculture.
The first big change is our growing recognition that we can use farmland to store carbon. Sometimes called 'carbon farming,' this type of farm and field management is designed to increase soil carbon content, thereby sequestering carbon from the atmosphere in a long-term sink and improving soil fertility and stability. Carbon farming doesn't require any new technology, just smarter management to achieve the results we want. The CGIAR (a global agricultural research consortium) has created a helpful infographic to illustrate the concept:
Another big change is our ability to leverage modern knowledge and technology to lift people out of poverty and solve major climate injustices.
One group promoting this idea is The Farming First Coalition, a group that supports shifting to a green economy by first acknowledging the harms caused by industrial ag, and then doing something about it.
Are these changes enought? Of course not, but I know is that every effort to improve our relationship to the land and to think more deeply about our responsibility to future generations is a step in the right direction.
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