Regenerative Agriculture + Decolonizing Food Systems
This episode covers regenerative agriculture through an intersectional lens. While many agricultural practices have had detrimental impacts on the land, especially coupled with the impacts of climate change, there ARE practices that support a more beneficial way to grow food, repair soil, and restore landscapes.
Regenerative agriculture covers a variety of practices— from agroforestry to ecological grazing, permaculture, and others— but the main function is to replicate how natural ecosystems work.
Episode Transcript
“Welcome to The Joy Report, a podcast dedicated to sharing stories about climate solutions and environmental justice grounded in intersectionality and optimism. Tune in to hear updates on all things climate, social, and environmental justice explained in a succinct and accessible way by me, Arielle King, an environmental justice advocate and attorney passionate about environmental education. This podcast aims to give you the tools you need to stay informed and take action to protect the planet.”
Episode Agenda
In this episode, we’re exploring regenerative agriculture: what it means, where it comes from, and what its role in decolonizing agricultural systems is.
Topic Background Info
Nature has the ability to heal itself if we let it. While many agricultural practices past and present have had detrimental impacts on the land, especially coupled with the impacts of climate change, like droughts and excessive heat, there are practices that support a more beneficial way to grow food and sustain landscapes. Regenerative agriculture covers a variety of practices— from agroforestry to ecological grazing, permaculture, and others— but the main function is to regenerate how the landscape works.
Regenerative agriculture consists of practices and systems that nurture the land and the people who work on it. This holistic land-stewarding practice helps increase soil quality and biodiversity in farmland while producing nourishing products. Doing so avoids harm from pesticides and exploitative techniques to the landscape and those working on it.
Dr. Lauren Baker of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food explains that, “to address accelerating climate change, biodiversity loss, rising food insecurity and growing inequality we need to repair the relationship between people and nature. Agroecology, regenerative approaches, and Indigenous foodways are a direct response and counterpoint to the dominant, industrial food system. The industrial food system, defined by chemicals, concentrated livestock, monoculture, and ultra-processed foods, comes with a cost we can no longer afford.”
Historically, food has been used as a way to colonize the body, mind, and physical landscape. As such, while there is no single way to be a responsible and conscious consumer, there are ways we can all work to disrupt systems that cause and perpetuate harm to people and planet. The food system is a powerful place to start.
When we have the option to do so, we should all be striving to support groups and engage in practices that care for people and the planet. Fortunately, we are witnessing an emergence of mutually beneficial agricultural practices that are deeply connected to decolonization in the mainstream agricultural system that are helping create indigenous sovereignty, and preserve our planet. Traditional, pre-colonial food systems were sustainable and regenerative. Indigenous communities worldwide have been farming regeneratively for millennia, and we’re continuing to learn and benefit from those practices.
But as Robin Wall Kimmerer explains in her book Braiding Sweetgrass, “Old-growth cultures, like old-growth forests, have not been exterminated. The land holds their memory and the possibility of regeneration. They are not only a matter of ethnicity or history but of relationships born out of reciprocity between land and people.”
Respectful stewardship of the land is an essential element of ensuring a livable future. The Landback movement— which we explained a bit about during episode 4— and other efforts to regain land sovereignty have led to an increase in mainstream access to indigenous plants, ingredients, and other natural resources. This movement has also led to an increased understanding for the need to decolonize many of the systems that are deeply woven into the function of modern society. This episode is all about the food system.
The CDC’s native Diabetes Wellness Program released a report “Traditional Foods in Native America”, which explains that a primary tenant of the global food sovereignty movement asserts that food is a human right, and to secure this right people should have the ability to define their own food systems.”
Food sovereignty, especially as it relates to land sovereignty is a key element to the restoration of landscapes and the preservation of our planet’s essential resources.
There are numerous organizations and farmers all over the world committed to engaging in regenerative agricultural practices, developing food sovereignty, and sharing their knowledge to counter the harmful practices that exists within mainstream agriculture.
Like Regeneration International, the Rodale Institute, the Soil Foodweb Institute, and the Indigenous Food Systems Network to name a few.
The author and earth steward Leah Penniman and the team working at Soulfire Farm in upstate New York puts it like this:
https://youtu.be/zvQJP8QP-Ng [5:47-6:33]
Kelsey Ducheneaux is a member of the Lakota Sioux Nation, a fourth-generation beef and cattle rancher, the youth programs coordinator and natural resource director of the Intertribal Agricultural council, and and the owner of DX Ranch in South Dakota.
https://youtu.be/1slB62EK_rg [0:31-0:49**]**
In her own words, she “helps young people realize that the wide-open spaces we call home are not just ‘the middle of nowhere,’ but instead a place to call home, full of resources and the potential to grow food to feed their family.”
https://youtu.be/I5NuxWOmAxE [0:01-1:01]
That’s the voice of Chris Newman, an afro-indigenous farmer who runs Sylvanaqua Farm in northern Virginia:
https://youtu.be/Zd2rvT5jR0I [17:54-19:09]
Featured Story
Let’s talk about bison.
Bison have been in the news quite a bit over the last year, from a recent sighting in Big Bend National Park, populations of bison being returned to tribes in Montana, and the successful reintroduction of bison populations in other parts of the United States.
Bison have deep cultural and ecological significance.
In the early 1500s an estimated 30-60 million bison roamed the landscape freely throughout North America, from Canada to Mexico, and from New York to the Rocky Mountains.
As the largest land-dwelling mammal in North America, these giant, powerful grazing animals stand at about 5-6.5 feet tall, weighing about a thousand pounds on average. They provided food and sustenance in the form of meat and marrow; and raw materials like bones for tools, hide for clothing and shelter formation/creation. Because of all the resources that could be derived from them, bison formed the basis of the economy for numerous tribes in the Great Plains region.
Bison roamed the western and central plains of Texas in large numbers; with four main herds existing within the state. By the late 1800s, after already hundreds of years of colonization, in an attempt to cause further harm and eradication to the Indigenous populations of Texas and continue Westward expansion and industrialization via the Transcontinental Railroad, the bison were hunted and killed to nearly extinction—with fewer than 1,000 animals remaining. Only through the efforts of Indigenous tribes and non-Indigenous Texas ranchers over the past twenty years, has the number of bison grown in Texas.
Earlier this year, five buffalo were reintroduced to Lipan Apache lands in Texas to join their existing herd, through a program by the Nature Conservancy which has given 270 bison back to Indigenous nations throughout the country.
https://youtu.be/FL_JMK94IvA [1:16-1:26]
Restoring bison populations can help restore prairie ecosystems while improving issues of food insecurity and food sovereignty for indigenous communities, while also helping to mitigate the adverse impacts
https://youtu.be/FL_JMK94IvA [0:39- 0:50]
The Texas Tribal Buffalo Project is one of many organizations working to restore bison populations. The project is dedicated to healing the generational trauma of the Lipan Apache descendants, as well as other tribes in geographic proximity, with the ultimate goal of returning the bison to Texas.
https://youtu.be/FL_JMK94IvA [1:28-2:05]
Calls To Action
How can we as individuals support farming practices that protect and nourish people while restoring the planet?
First, be thoughtful and conscious of how and where you’re purchasing your food. When you can, buy local, since it’s often a lot easier to find out where and how things you’re buying are produced.
Find a regenerative farm near you. Buy food from them, get to know the farmers, take advantage of volunteer days.
Learn about where your food comes from and different production systems. Help get the word out about the benefits of regenerative agricultural practices.
Get involved in a community garden if you’re able to. Contributing to greening the place you live, especially in a way that’s focused on producing food for your community is an incredibly powerful experience.
One great resource to help you find a farm near you can be found by googling “regeneration international” and searching for the farm map on their website. We’ve also linked the website in the show notes. There are tons of different filters to help you find the right farm for you. (https://regenerationinternational.org/regenerative-farm-map)
Support tribal and indigenous led agricultural organizations whenever you can.
If you have the means to do so, support organizations focused on developing, expanding, and teaching about regenerative agricultural practices.
Spend as much time as you can outside. Build your own relationship with the land around you. Developing an individual relationship to land and the food you eat makes supporting regenerative agriculture and practices a no-brainer. As Robin Wall Kimmerer once wrote: “Restoring land without restoring relationship is an empty exercise. It is relationship that will endure and relationship that will sustain the restored land.”
Positive News Stories
Here’s some positive climate news you should also know about:
On July 28th, the United Nations General Assembly declared access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment a universal human right
Canada has passed the Select Luxury Items Tax Act, and starting on September 1st the country will begin imposing a new “luxury tax” on the sale and importation of high-value cars, planes, and boats
Earlier this month, New Jersey’s governor signed a law authorizing the state Department of Environmental Protection to buy electric school buses and charging infrastructure. 3 $15million grants will be distributed over the course of three years to at least 18 school districts or bus contractors for the electric buses, with half or more of those grants going to communities that are low-income, urban, or overburdened by pollution.
President Biden has signed the biggest piece of climate legislation in American history into law. Among other things, [the Inflation Reduction Act](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/08/19/fact-sheet-the-inflation-reduction-act-supports-workers-and-families/#:~:text=The Inflation Reduction Act lowers,union jobs across the country.) will make significant investments in renewable energy, decarbonized transportation, public lands management, and funnel funding toward advancing environmental justice priorities.
The San Diego, California City Council has voted unanimously to update the city’s climate action plan to include a ban on natural gas from all new residential and business construction.
IE + Community Updates
And in the world of Intersectional Environmentalist:
We’re hosting an Earth Sessions show in Berkley on August 27th. If you’re listening to this episode on the day it airs there’s still time to reserve your ticket if you’re in the area.
And be on the lookout for an update on when tickets release for our next Brooklyn Earth Sessions show scheduled for Friday September 23rd
For a limited time IE is selling a bundle of print publications, which includes our first print magazine, The IE Agenda; a copy of our founder Leah Thomas’s book “The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression”, The Intersectional Environmentalist edition of Good Newspaper, plus a free “The Future is Intersectional” poster. You can order the bundle using the link in the show notes or in our Instagram bio while supplies last.
Closing Statement + Reiteration Of Calls To Action
Remember that fighting the climate crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We need everyone to get involved in a way that feels right for them, now more than ever.
If you enjoyed this episode, please don’t forget to leave a review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or whichever platform you’re listening to this episode, if you haven’t done so already.
Tune in next episode where we’ll be discussing energy justice.
I’m your host, Arielle King, and thank you for listening to this episode of The Joy Report
