Hi all,
The story of U.S. agriculture might surprise you.
Agroecologist and author Dr. Liz Carlisle writes about how after World World II, there was an accelerated increase in technology that brought about a shift away from family farms in favour of powerful corporations. But what she found fascinating was that it was all part of a process that had begun hundreds of years earlier, where there was a slow shift away from mutually beneficial relationships between people and land toward a more extractive paradigm.
In her book Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming, Dr. Carlisle restores depth to the term ‘regenerative agriculture’. Her book revolves around the lives of four protagonists, all of whom are young, female and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour). Each of them reconnect with their roots “to restore ancestral knowledge to the land and promote soil health” while reviving their ancestors’ ways of growing food. Through their stories, we find that regenerative practices go back thousands of years in Africa, Latin America, and East Asia. In present day, Dr. Carlisle believes that this knowledge has been either co-opted or forgotten about entirely. Her book attempts to bring that back by focusing on people at the centre of regenerative practices.
This book carries the conversation forward, connecting the environmental community (think Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring) and people with traditional ecological knowledge (think Robyn Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass) together with those who are engaging in regenerative agricultural practices. She touches on repairing the planet from the effects of climate change, as well as restoring local food systems while prioritizing diversity among plants and people. She teaches us that regenerative agriculture is more than just ecology or scientific practices. In order to genuinely heal the land, Dr. Carlisle points out that we must face our colonial history with all its attendant wrongs, including displacement and systemic racism.
To order the book, click here. To listen to an interview with Dr. Carlisle about the book, click here. To learn more about regenerative farming, click here.
The story of U.S. agriculture might surprise you.
Agroecologist and author Dr. Liz Carlisle writes about how after World World II, there was an accelerated increase in technology that brought about a shift away from family farms in favour of powerful corporations. But what she found fascinating was that it was all part of a process that had begun hundreds of years earlier, where there was a slow shift away from mutually beneficial relationships between people and land toward a more extractive paradigm.
In her book Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming, Dr. Carlisle restores depth to the term ‘regenerative agriculture’. Her book revolves around the lives of four protagonists, all of whom are young, female and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour). Each of them reconnect with their roots “to restore ancestral knowledge to the land and promote soil health” while reviving their ancestors’ ways of growing food. Through their stories, we find that regenerative practices go back thousands of years in Africa, Latin America, and East Asia. In present day, Dr. Carlisle believes that this knowledge has been either co-opted or forgotten about entirely. Her book attempts to bring that back by focusing on people at the centre of regenerative practices.
This book carries the conversation forward, connecting the environmental community (think Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring) and people with traditional ecological knowledge (think Robyn Wall Kimmerer’s book Braiding Sweetgrass) together with those who are engaging in regenerative agricultural practices. She touches on repairing the planet from the effects of climate change, as well as restoring local food systems while prioritizing diversity among plants and people. She teaches us that regenerative agriculture is more than just ecology or scientific practices. In order to genuinely heal the land, Dr. Carlisle points out that we must face our colonial history with all its attendant wrongs, including displacement and systemic racism.
To order the book, click here. To listen to an interview with Dr. Carlisle about the book, click here. To learn more about regenerative farming, click here.
