Regenerative Agriculture

by Elba Cortes

By the year 2060, there will be 10 billion people on earth.  Unless we act now, its people will go hungry.  This year’s Earth Day theme was Restore our Earth.  One of their goals is to help people understand the ways industrial agriculture contributes to environmental destruction and how regenerative agriculture can feed the world and help restore our earth. 

Our modern-day farming methods pump pesticides into the environment harming biodiversity and polluting our waters putting us at risk of another Dust Bowl or worse. But we can reverse those effects by implementing Regenerative Agriculture. 

What is Regenerative Agriculture?  “Regenerative Agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding organic matter and restoring soil biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle.” What is Regenerative Agriculture? – Regeneration International. 

Some practices used in regenerative agriculture include:

• No tilling
• Increasing soil fertility
• Composting
• Better grazing practices

As consumers we can also make the choice to eat less meat and more vegetarian foods which is not just healthier but will also help reduce our carbon footprint.  

Learn more about regenerative farming from Steve Groff’s interview on Earth911’s recent podcast.