Tag Archive for: Organic Agriculture

Organic September: What Actually Makes a Food Organic?

This year marks the 50th anniversary of organic certification in the UK.

In 1973, accreditation schemes were launched, allowing farmers to gain certification proving they don’t use harmful chemicals in their growing or production methods.

These were the salad days of climate activism – Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth were founded two years earlier – and the movement has gone from strength to strength ever since.

“It’s something that’s been going for half a century and couldn’t be more searingly relevant for what we need our food system to be for the next 50 years ahead,” says Alex Cullen, commercial and marketing director at the Soil Association, one of eight approved certification bodies.

“Both in the EU and now in the UK post-Brexit, it’s really strictly legislated – organic food essentially needs to be independently verified and inspected.”

To mark Organic September, we asked experts to describe what organic really means when it comes to food, and why it’s beneficial for us and the environment…

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¿Qué sembrar en Julio 2023?

¿Por qué somos más felices si tenemos una huerta?

Sabías que si le dedicamos 1 horita por día a la huerta nuestra cabeza cambia porque el aroma de una albahaca o de una ruda, la textura de un Kale o la flor de una caléndula activa la corteza prefrontal de nuestro cerebro, sede del pensamiento elevado y fomenta la liberación de neurotransmisores como la dopamina, serotonina y la oxitocina como así también los opiáceos cerebrales

Cada uno de estos químicos naturales del cerebro se relaciona con distintos aspectos de la felicidad. La dopamina es un antidepresivo, la serotonina aumenta la autoestima y la oxitocina es conocida como la hormona del placer y por ultimo los opiáceos actúan como analgésicos y son los responsables de la euforia que sigue al ejercicio físico por ejemplo.

Ningún medicamento puede coordinar por si solo la liberación de todas estas sustancias.

SEGUIR LEYENDO EN DATE CUENTA

Eu and Tradin Organic to Boost Regenerative Organic Cocoa Production in Sierra Leone

Tradin Organic, the global supplier to organic brands and retailers, has kicked off a 2.5 million project supported by the EU to scale its sustainable cocoa project in Sierra Leone. Over the next three years, our company and its consortium of partners will work on deforestation prevention and improving cocoa farmers’ livelihoods by further building regenerative agroforestry systems.

With a global workforce of more than 500 people, Tradin Organic is active globally and operates multiple factories, including a cocoa processing facility. In Sierra Leone, a team of 60 works closely with local partners and international experts to provide technical assistance to over 30,000 smallholder farmers. Tradin has received support from the RVO FBK and FVO funds and various clients like Navitas Organics and Herza Schokolade.

Over the past years, these partnerships let to set up an Agroforestry Project with Ecotop and a Child Protection Program with Child Fund.

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Regenerative, Organic and Agroecology: What’s the difference?

Regenerative, organic, agroecological. You might encounter all of these terms in the search for ‘sustainably’ grown food (there’s another!). This word soup is a great sign that lots of farming communities are experimenting to find a better way, but as a consumer, it can be pretty confusing.

Here’s a quick guide to each term, to help you make sense of labels, and separate the green from the greenwash.

What is organic farming?

Organic farming first arose in the 1940s, as a reaction against the industrialisation of agriculture. These days, it’s got a strict legal definition, and to call your produce “organic” you must be certified. In the UK, most organic goods are certified by the Soil Association or OF&G – just look for their stamps on the label.

Above all, organic farming is about nature: protecting it, enhancing it, and working in harmony with rather than fighting against it.

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Our Global Regeneration Revolution: Organic 3.0 to Regenerative and Organic Agriculture

Regenerative agriculture and animal husbandry is the next and higher stage of organic food and farming, not only free from toxic pesticides, GMOs, chemical fertilizers, and factory farm production, and therefore good for human health; but also regenerative in terms of the health of the soil.” Ronnie Cummins

Regeneration is a Global Revolution

Hardly anyone had heard of regenerative agriculture before 2014. Now it is in the news everyday all around the world. A small group of leaders of the organic, agroecology, holistic management, environment and natural health movements started Regeneration International as a truly inclusive and representative umbrella organization.

The concept was initially formed at the United Nations Climate Change Meeting in New York in October 2014, at a meeting in the Rodale headquarters. The aim was to set up a global network of like minded agricultural, environmental and social organizations.

The initial steering committee meetings included Dr Vandana Shiva from Navdanya, Ronnie Cummins from the Organic Consumers Association, Dr Hans Herren from The Millennium Institute, Steve Rye from Mercola and myself, André Leu from IFOAM-Organics International. It was soon expanded to include Precious Phiri from the Africa Savory Hub, Ercilia Sahores from Via Organica in Mexico, Renate Künaste from the German Green Party, John Liu the China based filmmaker and Tom Newmark and Larry Kopald from the Carbon Underground.

Our founding meeting was held on a biodynamic farm in Costa Rica in 2015. We deliberately chose to hold it in the global south rather than in North America or Europe and include women and men from every continent to send a message that regeneration was about equity, fairness and inclusiveness. Ronnie Cummins raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for the travel, accommodation, food and other expenses for all the representatives from the global south. It was a truly global and inclusive start.

The meeting agreed to form Regeneration International to promote a holistic concept of regeneration. The following consensus Mission and Vision Statements came out of this consultative and inclusive event.

OUR MISSION

To promote, facilitate and accelerate the global transition to regenerative food, farming and land management for the purpose of restoring climate stability, ending world hunger and rebuilding deteriorated social, ecological and economic systems.

OUR VISION

A healthy global ecosystem in which practitioners of regenerative agriculture and land use, in concert with consumers, educators, business leaders and policymakers, cool the planet, nourish the world and restore public health, prosperity and peace on a global scale.

In six years Regeneration International has grown to more than 360 partner organizations in 70 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Oceania, North America and Europe.

Organic 3.0 the third phase of the Organic sector

The need to form an international regeneration movement was inspired in part by the development of Organic 3.0 by IFOAM – Organics International. Organic 3.0 was conceived as an ongoing process of enabling organic agriculture actively engage with social and environmental issues and been seen as a positive agent of change.

Organic 3.0 has six main features. The fourth feature was the “Inclusiveness of wider sustainability interests, through alliances with the many movements and organizations that have complementary approaches to truly sustainable food and farming.”

One aim of Organic 3.0 was to work with like minded organizations, movements and similar farming systems with the aim of making all of agriculture more sustainable. The concept was to have organic agriculture as a positive lighthouse of change to improve the sustainability of mainstream agriculture systems, as seen in the following diagram.

Move beyond Sustainable

Many people in the organic, agroecology and environmental movements were not happy with the term sustainable for a number of reasons, not the least that it has been completely greenwashed and was seen as meaningless.

“Sustainable means meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Unfortunately, this definition of sustainable has led to concept of Sustainable Intensification – where more inputs are used in the same area of land to lower negative environmental footprints. This concept has been used in sustainable agriculture to justify GMOs, synthetic toxic pesticides and water soluble chemical fertilizers to produce more commodities per hectare/acre. This was presented as better for the environment than “low yielding” organic agriculture and agroecological systems that need more land to produce the same level of commodities. Sustainable Intensification is used to justify the destruction of tropical forests for the industrial scale farming of commodities such as GMO corn and soy that are shipped to large scale animal feedlots in Europe and China, on the basis that less land is needed to produce animal products compared to extensive rangeland systems or organic systems. These Sustainable Intensification systems meet the above definition of sustainable compared to organic, agroecological and holistically managed pasture based systems.

Companies like Bayer/Monsanto were branding themselves as the largest sustainable agriculture companies in the world. Many of us believed it was time to move past sustainable.

In this era of the Anthropocene, in which human activities are the dominant forces that negatively affect the environment, the world is facing multiple environmental, social, and economic crises. These include the climate crisis, food insecurity, an epidemic of non-contagious chronic diseases, new pandemics of contagious diseases, wars, migration crises, ocean acidification, the collapse of whole ecosystems, the continuous extraction of resources, and the greatest extinction event in geological history.

Do we want to sustain the current status quo or do we want to improve and rejuvenate it? Simply being sustainable is not enough. Regeneration, by definition, improves systems.

The Hijacking of Organic Standards       

Another driver towards regeneration were the widespread concerns about the hijacking of organic standards and production systems by corporate agribusiness.

The neglect of the primacy of soil health and soil organic matter and allowing inappropriate plowing methods were raised as major criticisms.

The organic pioneers started concept of soil health. Jerome Rodale who popularized the term Organic Farming in the 1940s used the term specifically in relation to farming systems that improved soil health by recycling and increasing soil organic matter. Consequently most organic standards start with this, however certifiers rarely check this – if ever these days. The introduction of certified organic hydroponics as soilless organic systems, was been seen by many as the ultimate sell out and loss of credibility for certified organic systems.

Major concerns and criticisms about the hijacking of certified organic by industrial agriculture were raised by allies in the agroecology and holistic management movements. These included large scale, industrial, organic monocultures and organic Confined Animal Feed Operations (CAFOs).  These CAFOS go against the important principles of no cruelty and the need to allow animals to naturally express their behaviors, that are found in most organic standards. The use of synthetic supplements in certified organic CAFOs was seen as undermining the very basis of the credibility of certified organic systems. The lack of enforcement was seen as a major issue. These issues were and still are areas of major dispute and contention within global and national organic sectors.

Many people wanted a way forward and saw the concept of ‘Regenerative Organic Agriculture’, put forward by Robert Rodale, son of the organic pioneer Jerome Rodale, as a way to resolve this. Bob Rodale, used the term regenerative organic agriculture to promote farming practices that go beyond sustainable.

Dealing with Greenwashing

The term regenerative agriculture is now being widely used, to the point that in some cases it can be seen as greenwashing and as a buzz word used by industrial agricultural systems to increase profits.

Those of us who formed Regeneration International were very aware of the way the large agribusiness corporations hijacked the term sustainable to the point it was meaningless. We were also aware of how they are trying to hijack the term of agroecology, especially through the United Nations systems and in some parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America where a little biodiversity is sprinkled as greenwash over agricultural systems that still use toxic synthetic pesticides and water soluble chemical fertilizers.

Similarly we have been concerned about the way organic agriculture standards and systems have been hijacked by industrial agribusiness as previously stated in the above section.

The critical issue is how do we engage with agribusiness in a way that can change their systems in a positive way as proposed in Organic 3.0? Many of the corporations that are adopting regenerative systems are improving their soil organic matter levels using systems such as cover crops. They are also implementing programs that reduce toxic chemical inputs and improving environmental outcomes. These actions should be seen as positive changes in the right direction. They are a start – not an end point. They need to be seen as part of an ongoing process to become fully regenerative.

There are also corporations that are rebranding their herbicide sprayed GMO no-till systems as regenerative. These corporations and systems are being called out as Degenerative because they are not Regenerative.

The Concept of Degeneration to call out Greenwashing

The opposite of regenerative is degenerative. By definition, agricultural systems that are using degenerative practices and inputs that damage the environment, soil, and health, such as synthetic toxic pesticides, synthetic water soluble fertilizers, and destructive tillage systems, cannot be considered regenerative, and should not use the term. They must be called out as degenerative.

Regenerative and Organic based on Agroecology – the path forward

From the perspective Regeneration International, all agricultural systems should be regenerative and organic using the science of agroecology.

Bob Rodale observed that an ecosystem will naturally regenerate once the disturbance stops. Consequently, regenerative agriculture, working with nature, not only maintains resources, it improves them.

Regeneration should be seen as a way to determine how to improve systems and to determine what practices are acceptable and what are degenerative and therefore unacceptable. The criteria to analyze this must be based on the Four Principles of Organic Agriculture. These principles are clear and effective ways to decide what practices are regenerative and what are degenerative.

Consequently, the four principles of organic agriculture are seen as consistent and applicable to Regenerative Agriculture.

Health

Organic agriculture should sustain and enhance the health of soil, plant, animal, human and planet as one and indivisible.

Ecology

Organic agriculture should be based on living ecological systems and cycles, work with them, emulate them and help sustain them.

Fairness

Organic agriculture should build on relationships that ensure fairness with regard to the common environment and life opportunities.

Care

Organic agriculture should be managed in a precautionary and responsible manner to protect the health and well-being of current and future generations and the environment.

Why focus on Regenerative Agriculture?

The majority of the world’s population are directly or indirectly dependant on agriculture. Agricultural producers are amongst the most exploited, food and health insecure, least educated and poorest people on our planet, despite producing most of the food we eat.

Agriculture in its various forms has the most significant effect on land use on the planet. Industrial agriculture is responsible for most of the environmental degradation, forest destruction, toxic chemicals in our food and environment and a significant contributor, up to 50%, to the climate crisis. The degenerative forms of agriculture are an existential threat to us and most other species on our planet. We have to regenerate agriculture for social, environmental, economic and cultural reasons.

Why focus on the Soil and Soil Organic Matter?

The soil is fundamental to all terrestrial life of this planet. Our food and biodiversity start with the soil. The soil is not dirt – it is living, breathing and teeming with life. The soil microbiome is the most complex and richest area of biodiversity on our planet. The area with the greatest biodiversity is the rhizosphere, the region around roots of plants.

Plants feed the soil microbiome with the molecules of life that they create through photosynthesis. These molecules are the basis of organic matter – carbon based molecules  – that all life on earth depends on. Organic matter is fundamental to all life and soil organic matter is fundamental to life in the soil.

Farming practices that increase soil organic matter (SOM) increase soil fertility, water holding capacity, pest and disease resilience and thus the productivity of agricultural systems. Because SOM comes from carbon dioxide fixed through photosynthesis, increasing SOM can have a significant impact in reversing the climate crisis by drawing down this greenhouse gas.

The fact is our health and wealth comes from the soil.

Regenerative agriculture is now being used as an umbrella term for the many farming systems that use techniques such as longer rotations, cover crops, green manures, legumes, compost and organic fertilizers to increase SOM. These include: organic agriculture, agroforestry, agroecology, permaculture, holistic grazing, sylvopasture, syntropic farming and many other agricultural systems that can increase SOM. SOM is an important proxy for soil health – as soils with low levels are not healthy.

However, our global regeneration movement is far more than this.

Regenerating our Degenerated Planet and Societies – Our Regeneration Revolution

We have a lot of work to do. We are currently living well beyond our planetary boundaries and extracting far more than our planet can provide. As Dr Vandana Shiva puts it: “Regenerative agriculture provides answers to the soil crisis, the food crisis, the climate crisis, and the crisis of democracy.”

According to Bob Rodale, regenerative organic agriculture systems are those that improve the resources they use, rather than destroying or depleting them. It is a holistic systems approach to farming that encourages continual innovation for environmental, social, economic, and spiritual wellbeing.

We must reverse the Climate Crisis, Migration Crisis, Biodiversity Crisis, Health Crisis, Food Crisis, Gender Crisis, Media Crisis, War Crisis, Land Grabbing Crisis, Racism Crisis, Democracy Crisis and Planetary Boundary Crisis so that we can regenerate our planet and our descendants can have a better and fairer world.

The vast majority of the destruction of biodiversity, the greenhouse gases, pesticides, endocrine disrupters, plastics, poverty, hunger, poor nutrition are directly caused by the billionaire corporate cartels and their obscene greed aided by their morally corrupt cronies. We need to continue to call them out for their degenerative practices.

More importantly; we need to build the new regenerative system that will replace the current degenerate system.

We have more than enough resources for everyone to live a life of wellbeing. The world produces around 3 times more food than we need. We have unfair, exploitative and wasteful systems that need to be transformed and regenerated.

We need to regenerate our societies so we must be proactive in ensuring that others have access to land, education, healthcare, income, the commons, participation, inclusion and empowerment. This must include women, men and youths across all ethnic and racial groups.

We must take care of each other and regenerate our planet. We must take control and empower ourselves to be the agents of change. We need to regenerate a world based on the Four Principles of Organic Agriculture: Health, Ecology Fairness and Care.

Ronnie Cummins, one of our founders, wrote: “Never underestimate the power of one individual: yourself. But please understand, at the same time, that what we do as individuals will never be enough. We’ve got to get organized and we’ve got to help others, in our region, in our nation, and everywhere build a mighty Green Regeneration Movement. The time to begin is now.”

 

Andre Leu is the International Director for Regeneration International. To sign up for RI’s email newsletter, click here.

Imagining A Greater Organic Reset

OCA often talks about our long term goal: making organic and regenerative food, farming, and land use (and natural health) the norm, rather than just the alternative. As our longtime ally Vandana Shiva points out, this would be “the solution to the soil crisis, the food crisis, the climate crisis, and the crisis of democracy.”

OCA and its allies worldwide are dedicated to addressing critical issues of climate change, soil health, biodiversity, water pollution and scarcity, nutrition, environmental contamination, deteriorating public health, forced migration, economic justice, and rural economic development. But what do we need to do to make this goal a practical reality? What would an “Organic Greater Reset” look like.

We need to stop corrupt politicians and the global elite from subsidizing chemical and fossil fuel-intensive agriculture, GMOs, lab food, and factory farms. We need to pay organic farmers and ranchers, not only a fair price for the food and products they produce, but we need to pay them for sequestering excess atmospheric carbon in soils and above ground plants and trees, as well as providing other key environmental services such as preserving clean water, improving soil fertility, protecting biodiversity, wetlands, and wildlife habitat, and rehydrating and reforesting parched landscapes.

Following recent policy reforms and recommendations in the European Union, strongly supported by our organic allies in the EU, we need raise our expectations and our demands in the US and North America. We need to set a goal of 25% of food and farming being organic by 2030, or as soon as possible.

In global terms this means we need to do everything we can to make certain that 25% of the world’s 600 million farmers become certified organic by 2030. On the individual and community level this means boycotting chemically-tainted and GMO products and buying organic today and every day. It means taking back our health and our health and food choices from Big Pharma, Big Food, Bill Gates, and the WHO. It means practicing preventive and natural health with organic food, natural herbs, and supplements. It means teaching our youth and those victimized by Big Food and Big Chains by example. It means staying out of restaurants and coffee shops, especially the chains, unless they are sourcing local and organic products. It means cooking at home with organic fresh foods and ingredients, boycotting factory farmed meat and animal products and replacing these with grass-fed or pastured alternatives.

It means improving our cooking and home economic skills, and growing as much of our own food as possible in home or community gardens. It means working with family farmers to make the transition to organic and regenerative. Buying direct from organic and local farmers, independent retailers, co-ops, and buying clubs. Looking for “organic plus” add-on labels and producers such as the Real Organic Project, Biodynamic Demeter Organic, American Grassfed Association, and Regenerative and Organic Certified. Last, but not least, demanding that politicians and local institutions stop subsidizing chemical agriculture, GMOs, and highly processed junk food.

There are currently 13.4 million producers certified as organic globally, and an estimated (by the UN) 55 million more farmers producing organically or near-organically, but who are not yet certified for one reason or another. Presently there 16 nations in the world with 10% or more of their farmers certified as organic. The global market for certified organic food and products is projected to be $437 billion dollars in 2026. OCAs goal, as part of a global movement, is to help the certified organic market grow to 1 trillion dollars by 2030, or as soon as possible thereafter. There are currently over 180 million acres of agricultural land certified as organic and 50 million acres of grazing lands under holistic livestock management. We need 1-3 billion global acres under organic and regenerative management, as soon as possible. This will enable us to move to net zero and “net negative” emissions as soon as possible.

Moving Past Zero to “Net Negative” Emissions

The climate crisis and its collateral damage: severe droughts, floods, violent weather, rising sea levels, and unprecedented phenomena like the disruption of the polar vortex and jet stream (causing extreme cold or heat waves), are real, as every farmer, including myself and those of us in the Regeneration International network, can attest. Don’t let yourself be confused by the fact that the fossil fuel industry, corrupt politicians (both Democrats and Republicans), and would-be global dictators such as Bill Gates, Klaus Schwab, and the World Economic Forum either deny that the climate crisis is real (or important), or else want to use the crisis as an excuse to gain political power, greenwash their corruption, or trample democratic rights and political sovereignty and implement an authoritarian, Chinese Communist Party-style  “Great Reset” or New World Order.

Current annual global greenhouse gas emissions are 37 billion tons of CO2e. We need to reach net zero and net negative emissions as soon as possible if we are to avoid runaway global warming, wholesale biodiversity collapse, climate catastrophe, endless poverty-driven conflict, forced migration, and wars. The only way we can do this is to make organic and regenerative food, faming and land use the norm.

Even if the world transitioned to 100% renewable energy tomorrow, this would not stop the ongoing terrestrial temperature and sea level rises and weather extremes. The world will continue to heat up because CO2, unless we can draw it down into our soils and forests, lasts between 300 to 1,000 years in the atmosphere.  The heat in the oceans will continue to adversely affect the climate until it slowly dissipates.

We are in the early stages of a climate emergency now. We must reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy, speed up the transition to renewable energy, preserve and regenerate our forests, restore ecosystems and landscapes, and make organic and regenerative food, farming, and land use the norm, not just the alternative. As organic farmers and consumers we have a crucial role to play.

Mercola Fights for Regenerative Agriculture by Supporting Biodynamic Farmers

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (June 24, 2021) – Leaders in natural health with a legacy rooted in sustainability, Dr. Mercola and his team promote the future of regenerative agriculture by working with biodynamic farmers to offer Demeter Certified Biodynamic® products in more categories than any other U.S. brand.
 
Demeter Certified Biodynamic®, the world’s oldest ecological certification, is the conscious, holistic way of farming that elevates the organic standards on regenerative agriculture by using a soil-first approach.
 
“Restoring our soil improves the overall quality of our food, which naturally drives progress toward biodiversity and a more regenerative future,” says Steve Rye, Mercola CEO. “Our team is dedicated to building relationships with family farmers from across the world to restore agricultural communities and environmental resilience.”
 
Mercola supports the success of biodynamic farms – across five continents, in eight countries – by paying farmers a premium price for their harvests.
 
“Through regenerative agriculture, we are able to bring excess carbon from the air and put it back into the ground where it can be utilized to grow better crops and preserve more water,” says Ryan Boland, Mercola Chief Business Officer. “The biodynamic standard of farming reduces carbon emissions, improves water quality and promotes climate health all while producing nutrient-rich foods. We can heal the planet through agriculture – it all starts with soil.” 
 
The rich, nutritious foods harvested from these farmers make up Solspring®, Mercola’s authentic food brand that offers unique Demeter Certified Biodynamic® and organic foods – like olive oil from 100-year-old trees found in the Kalamata region of Greece, vinegars and tomato sauces sourced from 40-year-old farms in the Modena region of Italy, and more – all in a variety of fresh, full-bodied flavors. The Dr. Mercola brand also initiated the first-ever standards for Demeter Certified Biodynamic® supplements and currently has six available.
 
Dr. Mercola is amongst the original supporters of regenerative agriculture with his passionate dedication starting nearly a decade ago when he helped pioneer the Non-GMO movement. He assisted in funding the addition of Proposition 37 to the ballot during the 2012 California statewide election, which required the labeling of genetically engineered food. Most recently, he has funded the Billion Agave Project by Regeneration International, which is a game-changing ecosystem-regeneration strategy that combines the growing of agave plants and nitrogen-fixing companion tree species, such as mesquite, with holistic rotational grazing of livestock for a high-biomass, high forage-yielding system that works well even on degraded, semi-arid lands.
 
Mercola.com is a natural health website dedicated to helping nearly ten million monthly readers improve their health with research-proven nutritional, lifestyle and exercise principles. Using a holistic approach for optimal health and wellness, Dr. Mercola has been a trusted source of natural health information for more than 20 years. Together with his team, they deliver the highest quality supplements, biodynamic and organic foods, and personal care products for your health, home and pet through the online store – Mercola Market. Visit mercolamarket.com to browse more than 1,000 premium products that help Take Control of Your Health®. For the most up-to-date health news and information, visit mercola.com and subscribe to the daily newsletter.
 

Nuestra Revolución Global de Regeneración: Orgánico 3.0 en la Agricultura Orgánica y Regenerativa

“La agricultura y la cría de animales regenerativas van un paso más allá y son la versión superior de la alimentación y la agricultura orgánicas, no sólo libres de pesticidas tóxicos, transgénicos, fertilizantes químicos y de granjas industriales y, por lo tanto, buenas para la salud humana, sino también regenerativas en términos de la salud del suelo ”. Ronnie Cummins

La regeneración es una revolución global

Casi nadie había oído hablar de la agricultura regenerativa antes de 2014. Ahora aparece en las noticias todos los días en todo el mundo. Un pequeño grupo de líderes de los movimientos orgánico, agroecológico, de gestión integral, medio ambiente y de salud natural inició Regeneration International como una organización paraguas verdaderamente inclusiva y representativa.

El concepto se formó inicialmente en la Reunión de las Naciones Unidas sobre el Cambio Climático en Nueva York en octubre de 2014, en una reunión en la sede de Rodale. El objetivo era establecer una red mundial de organizaciones agrícolas, medioambientales y sociales afines.

Las reuniones iniciales del comité directivo incluían a la Dra. Vandana Shiva de Navdanya, Ronnie Cummins de la Asociación de Consumidores Orgánicos, el Dr. Hans Herren de Millennium Institute, Steve Rye de Mercola y yo mismo, André Leu de IFOAM-Organics International. Pronto se expandió para incluir a Precious Phiri del Savory Hub de África, Ercilia Sahores de Vía Orgánica en México, Renate Künaste del Partido Verde Alemán, John Liu el cineasta con sede en China y Tom Newmark y Larry Kopald de Carbon Underground.

Nuestra reunión de fundación se llevó a cabo en una granja biodinámica en Costa Rica en 2015. Elegimos deliberadamente celebrarla en el sur global en lugar de en América del Norte o Europa e incluir a mujeres y hombres de todos los continentes para enviar el mensaje de que la regeneración se trata de equidad, igualdad e inclusión. Ronnie Cummins recaudó cientos de miles de dólares para costear el viaje, el alojamiento, la comida y otros gastos de todos los representantes del sur global. Fue un comienzo verdaderamente global e inclusivo.

La reunión acordó formar Regeneration International para promover un concepto holístico de regeneración. Las siguientes Declaraciones de Misión y Visión de consenso surgieron de este evento consultivo e inclusivo.

NUESTRA MISIÓN

Promover, facilitar y acelerar la transición mundial hacia la alimentación, la agricultura y la ordenación de la tierra regenerativas con el fin de restaurar la estabilidad climática, acabar con el hambre en el mundo y reconstruir los sistemas sociales, ecológicos y económicos deteriorados.

NUESTRA VISIÓN

Un ecosistema global saludable en el que los practicantes de agricultura y uso de la tierra regenerativos, en concierto con consumidores, educadores, líderes empresariales y legisladores, enfríen el planeta, nutran al mundo y restablezcan la salud pública, la prosperidad y la paz a escala global.

En seis años, Regeneration International ha crecido hasta tener más de 360 ​​organizaciones afiliadas en 70 países de África, Asia, América Latina, Oceanía, América del Norte y Europa.

Orgánico 3.0 la tercera fase del sector Orgánico

La necesidad de formar un movimiento de regeneración internacional se inspiró en parte en el desarrollo de Orgánico 3.0 por IFOAM – Organics International. Orgánico 3.0 se concibió como un proceso continuo que permite que la agricultura orgánica se involucre activamente con los problemas sociales y ambientales y se la considere un agente positivo de cambio.

Orgánico 3.0 tiene seis características principales. La cuarta característica fue la “inclusión de intereses de sostenibilidad más amplios, a través de alianzas con los muchos movimientos y organizaciones que tienen enfoques complementarios para una alimentación y una agricultura verdaderamente sostenibles”.

Uno de los objetivos de Orgánico 3.0 era trabajar con organizaciones, movimientos y sistemas agrícolas similares con ideas afines con el objetivo de hacer que toda la agricultura sea más sostenible. Se trataba que la agricultura orgánica actuara como un faro que alumbre a favor del cambio positivo para mejorar la sostenibilidad de los sistemas agrícolas convencionales, como se ve en el siguiente diagrama.

Ir más allá de la sostenibilidad

Muchas personas en los movimientos orgánico, agroecológico y ambiental no estaban contentas con el término sustentable por una serie de razones, entre las que se encuentra el hecho que ha sufrido un lavado verde por completo hasta que la palabra ya no tiene ningún significado.

“Sostenible significa satisfacer las necesidades del presente sin comprometer la capacidad de las generaciones futuras para satisfacer sus propias necesidades”.

Desafortunadamente, esta definición de sustentable ha llevado al concepto de Intensificación Sustentable, por el cual se utilizan más insumos en la misma área de tierra para reducir la huella ambiental negativa. Este concepto se ha utilizado en la agricultura sostenible para justificar los OGM, los pesticidas tóxicos sintéticos y los fertilizantes químicos solubles en agua para producir más por hectárea / acre. Estas prácticas fueron presentadas como mejores para el medio ambiente que la agricultura orgánica y los sistemas agroecológicos de “bajo rendimiento” que necesitan más tierra para producir lo mismo. La intensificación sostenible se utiliza para justificar la destrucción de los bosques tropicales para el cultivo a escala industrial de productos básicos como el maíz y la soya transgénicos. Estos cultivos se envían a las granjas de engorde de animales a gran escala en Europa y China, basándose en el argumento que se necesita menos tierra para producir productos animales en comparación con los sistemas extensivos de pastizales o sistemas orgánicos. Estos sistemas de intensificación sostenible cumplen con la definición de “sostenible “ anterior, pero no con la de los sistemas orgánicos, agroecológicos y los basados en pastizales gestionados de forma holística.

Empresas como Bayer / Monsanto se estaban posicionando como las mayores empresas de agricultura sostenible del mundo. Muchos de nosotros creímos que era hora de dejar de ser sostenible.

En esta era del Antropoceno, en la que las actividades humanas son las fuerzas dominantes que afectan negativamente al medio ambiente, el mundo se enfrenta a múltiples crisis ambientales, sociales y económicas. Estas incluyen la crisis climática, la inseguridad alimentaria, una epidemia de enfermedades crónicas no contagiosas, nuevas pandemias de enfermedades contagiosas, guerras, crisis migratorias, acidificación de los océanos, el colapso de ecosistemas enteros, la extracción continua de recursos y el mayor evento de extinción en la historia geológica.

¿Queremos mantener el status quo actual o queremos mejorarlo y rejuvenecerlo? Simplemente ser sostenible no es suficiente. La regeneración, por definición, mejora los sistemas.

El secuestro de los estándares orgánicos

Otro impulsor de la regeneración fueron las preocupaciones generalizadas sobre el secuestro de los estándares orgánicos y los sistemas de producción por parte de las empresas agrícolas.

El abandono de la salud y la materia orgánica del suelo como prioridad y el permitir métodos de arado inapropiados provocó un seguido de críticas importantes.

Los pioneros orgánicos iniciaron el concepto de salud del suelo. Jerome Rodale, quien popularizó el término Agricultura Orgánica en la década de 1940, usó el término específicamente en relación con los sistemas agrícolas que mejoraban la salud del suelo al reciclar y aumentar la materia orgánica del suelo. En consecuencia, la mayoría de los estándares orgánicos parten de esta base, sin embargo, los certificadores rara vez lo verifican hoy día, si es que alguna vez lo hicieron. La introducción de la hidroponía orgánica certificada como sistemas orgánicos sin suelo fue vista por muchos como la última pérdida de principios y de credibilidad de los sistemas orgánicos certificados.

Los aliados de los movimientos de agroecología y gestión holística plantearon importantes preocupaciones y críticas sobre la corrupción de los productos orgánicos certificados por parte de la agricultura industrial. Estos incluían monocultivos orgánicos industriales a gran escala y operaciones orgánicas de alimentación de animales confinados (CAFO). Estas CAFOS van en contra de los importantes principios de no crueldad y la necesidad de permitir que los animales expresen sus comportamientos de forma natural, que se encuentran en la mayoría de los estándares orgánicos. Se consideró que el uso de suplementos sintéticos en las CAFO orgánicas certificadas socavaba la propia credibilidad de los sistemas orgánicos certificados. La falta de una prohibición explícita del uso de estas prácticas se consideró un problema importante. Estos temas fueron y siguen siendo áreas de gran controversia y contención dentro de los sectores orgánicos mundiales y nacionales.

Mucha gente quería un camino a seguir y vieron el concepto de “Agricultura Orgánica Regenerativa”, propuesto por Robert Rodale, hijo del pionero orgánico Jerome Rodale, como una forma de resolver esto. Bob Rodale, utilizó el término agricultura orgánica regenerativa para promover prácticas agrícolas que van más allá de lo sostenible.

Lidiar con el lavado verde

El término agricultura regenerativa se está utilizando ahora ampliamente, hasta el punto que en algunos casos puede verse como un lavado verde y como una palabra de moda utilizada por los sistemas agrícolas industriales para aumentar sus ganancias.

Los que iniciamos Regeneration International lo hicimos muy conscientes de la forma en que las grandes corporaciones agroindustriales habían secuestrado el término sostenible hasta el punto en que ya no significaba nada. También fuimos conscientes de cómo están tratando de secuestrar el término agroecología, especialmente a través de los sistemas de las Naciones Unidas y en algunas partes de Europa, África y América Latina, donde se aplica un poco de biodiversidad como lavado verde sobre los sistemas agrícolas que todavía usan plaguicidas sintéticos tóxicos y fertilizantes químicos solubles en agua.

De manera similar, nos ha preocupado la forma en que los estándares y sistemas de agricultura orgánica han sido secuestrados por la agroindustria, como se mencionó en la sección anterior.

La cuestión fundamental es ¿cómo nos acercamos a los agronegocios de manera que puedan cambiar sus sistemas de manera positiva como se propone en Orgánico 3.0? Muchas de las corporaciones que están adoptando sistemas regenerativos están mejorando sus niveles de materia orgánica en el suelo utilizando sistemas como cultivos de cobertura. También están implementando programas que reducen los insumos químicos tóxicos y mejoran las condiciones ambientales. Estas acciones deben verse como cambios positivos en la dirección correcta. Son un comienzo, no un punto final. Deben ser vistos como parte de un proceso continuo para volverse completamente regenerativos.

También hay corporaciones que están cambiando el nombre de sus sistemas de labranza cero con OGM rociados con herbicidas y ahora los califican como regenerativos. De hecho, estas corporaciones y sistemas se denominan degenerativos porque no son regenerativos.

El concepto “degeneración” para denunciar el lavado verde

Lo contrario de regenerativo es degenerativo. Por definición, los sistemas agrícolas que utilizan prácticas e insumos degenerativos que dañan el medio ambiente, el suelo y la salud, como los pesticidas tóxicos sintéticos, fertilizantes sintéticos solubles en agua y sistemas de labranza destructivos, no pueden considerarse regenerativos y no deben usar el término. Hay que llamarlos degenerativos.

Regenerativo y orgánico basado en la agroecología: el camino a seguir

Desde la perspectiva de Regeneration International, todos los sistemas agrícolas deben ser regenerativos y orgánicos utilizando la ciencia de la agroecología.

Bob Rodale observó que un ecosistema se regenerará naturalmente una vez que se detenga la perturbación. En consecuencia, la agricultura regenerativa, trabajando con la naturaleza, no solo mantiene los recursos, los mejora.

La regeneración debe verse como una forma de determinar cómo mejorar los sistemas y determinar qué prácticas son aceptables y cuáles son degenerativas y, por lo tanto, inaceptables. Los criterios para analizar esto deben basarse en los Cuatro Principios de la Agricultura Orgánica. Estos principios son formas claras y efectivas de decidir qué prácticas son regenerativas y cuáles son degenerativas.

En consecuencia, los cuatro principios de la agricultura orgánica se consideran coherentes y aplicables a la agricultura regenerativa.

Salud

La agricultura orgánica debe mantener y mejorar la salud del suelo, las plantas, los animales, los seres humanos y el planeta como uno e indivisible.

Ecología

La agricultura orgánica debe basarse en sistemas y ciclos ecológicos vivos, trabajar con ellos, emularlos y ayudar a sostenerlos.

Justicia

La agricultura orgánica debe basarse en relaciones que garanticen la equidad con respecto al medio ambiente común y las oportunidades de vida.

Cuidado

La agricultura orgánica debe manejarse de manera preventiva y responsable para proteger la salud y el bienestar de las generaciones actuales y futuras y el medio ambiente.

¿Por qué centrarse en la agricultura regenerativa?

La mayoría de la población mundial depende directa o indirectamente de la agricultura. Los productores agrícolas se encuentran entre las personas más explotadas, con inseguridad alimentaria y sanitaria, menos educadas y más pobres de nuestro planeta, a pesar de producir la mayor parte de los alimentos que consumimos.

La agricultura en sus diversas formas tiene el efecto más significativo sobre el uso de la tierra en el planeta. La agricultura industrial es responsable de la mayor parte de la degradación ambiental, la destrucción de los bosques, los productos químicos tóxicos en nuestros alimentos y el medio ambiente y un contribuyente significativo, hasta en un 50%, a la crisis climática. Las formas degenerativas de la agricultura son una amenaza existencial para nosotros y para la mayoría de las otras especies de nuestro planeta. Tenemos que regenerar la agricultura por razones sociales, ambientales, económicas y culturales.

¿Por qué centrarse en el suelo y la materia orgánica del suelo?

El suelo es fundamental para toda la vida terrestre de este planeta. Nuestra comida y biodiversidad comienzan con el suelo. El suelo no es tierra; vive y respira. El microbioma del suelo es el área de biodiversidad más compleja y rica de nuestro planeta. El área con mayor biodiversidad es la rizosfera, la región alrededor de las raíces de las plantas.

Las plantas alimentan el microbioma del suelo con las moléculas de vida que crean a través de la fotosíntesis. Estas moléculas son la base de la materia orgánica, moléculas basadas en carbono, del cual depende toda la vida en la tierra. La materia orgánica es fundamental para la vida y la materia orgánica del suelo es fundamental para la vida en el suelo.

Las prácticas agrícolas que aumentan la materia orgánica del suelo (MOS) aumentan la fertilidad del suelo, la capacidad de retención de agua, la resistencia a plagas y enfermedades y, por lo tanto, la productividad de los sistemas agrícolas. Debido a que la MOS proviene del dióxido de carbono fijado a través de la fotosíntesis, el aumento de la MOS puede tener un impacto significativo en revertir la crisis climática ya que reduce este gas de efecto invernadero.

La realidad es que nuestra salud y riqueza provienen del suelo.

La agricultura regenerativa se está utilizando ahora como un término general para los muchos sistemas agrícolas que utilizan técnicas como rotaciones más largas, cultivos de cobertura, abonos verdes, legumbres, abono y fertilizantes orgánicos para aumentar la MOS. Estos sistemas incluyen: agricultura orgánica, agroforestería, agroecología, permacultura, pastoreo holístico, silvopastoreo, agricultura sintrópica y muchos otros sistemas agrícolas que pueden aumentar la MOS. La MOS es un indicador importante de la salud del suelo, ya que los suelos con niveles bajos no son saludables.

Sin embargo, nuestro movimiento de regeneración global es mucho más que esto.

Regenerando nuestro planeta y sociedades degenerados: nuestra revolución de regeneración

Tenemos mucho trabajo por hacer. Actualmente vivimos muy por encima de nuestros límites planetarios y extraemos mucho más de lo que nuestro planeta puede proporcionar. Como dice la Dra. Vandana Shiva: “La agricultura regenerativa proporciona respuestas a la crisis del suelo, la crisis alimentaria, la crisis climática y la crisis de la democracia”.

Según Bob Rodale, los sistemas de agricultura orgánica regenerativa son aquellos que mejoran los recursos que utilizan, en lugar de destruirlos o agotarlos. Es un enfoque de sistemas holísticos para la agricultura que fomenta la innovación continua para el bienestar ambiental, social, económico y espiritual.

Debemos revertir la crisis climática, la crisis migratoria, la crisis de la biodiversidad, la crisis de la salud, la crisis alimentaria, la crisis de género, la crisis de los medios, la crisis de la guerra, la crisis de acaparamiento de tierras, la crisis del racismo, la crisis de la democracia y la crisis de los límites planetarios para que podamos regenerar nuestro planeta y nuestros descendientes pueden tener un mundo mejor y más justo.

La gran mayoría de la destrucción de la biodiversidad, los gases de efecto invernadero, los pesticidas, los disruptores endocrinos, los plásticos, la pobreza, el hambre, la mala nutrición son causados ​​directamente por los cárteles corporativos multimillonarios y su codicia obscena ayudados por sus compinches moralmente corruptos. Necesitamos seguir denunciándolos por sus prácticas degenerativas.

Y aún más importante; necesitamos construir el nuevo sistema regenerativo que reemplazará al actual sistema degenerado.

Tenemos recursos más que suficientes para que todos vivamos una vida de bienestar. El mundo produce alrededor de 3 veces más alimentos de los que necesitamos. Tenemos sistemas injustos, explotadores y derrochadores que necesitan ser transformados y regenerados.

Necesitamos regenerar nuestras sociedades, por lo que debemos ser proactivos para garantizar que otros tengan acceso a la tierra, la educación, la atención médica, los ingresos, los bienes comunes, la participación, la inclusión y el empoderamiento. Esto debe incluir mujeres, hombres y jóvenes de todos los grupos étnicos y raciales.

Debemos cuidarnos unos a otros y regenerar nuestro planeta. Debemos tomar el control y empoderarnos para ser los agentes del cambio. Necesitamos regenerar un mundo basado en los cuatro principios de la agricultura orgánica: salud, ecología, equidad y cuidado.

Ronnie Cummins, uno de nuestros fundadores, escribió: “Nunca subestimes el poder de un individuo: tú mismo. Pero comprende que, al mismo tiempo, lo que hacemos como individuos nunca será suficiente. Tenemos que organizarnos y ayudar a otros, en nuestra región, en nuestra nación y en todas partes a construir un poderoso Movimiento de Regeneración Verde. El momento de comenzar es ahora “.

 

 Andre Leu es el director internacional de Regeneration International. Para suscribirse al boletín de RI, haga clic aquí.

Organic Farming Practices Could Boost Carbon Sequestration By Double-Digits, New Study Finds

While organic agriculture has long been hailed as key to building a sustainable food system, a new study pinpoints the critical role that it could play in combating climate change. In a meta-analysis of over 4,000 studies, researchers found that best management organic farming practices could lead to a significant double-digit increase in the amount of carbon captured in soil.

Organic farmers could be amplifying their positive climate impact by adopting the best agricultural practices to boost carbon sequestration. The study, undertaken by scientists at the University of Maryland in collaboration with Washington D.C.-based nonprofit research organisation The Organic Center and published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, found that the amount of carbon captured in soil increased by 18%, while the amount of microbial biomass carbon storage went up by 30%.

Over 4,000 scientific articles were included in the meta-analysis led by Professor Kate Tully and Dr. Rob Crystal-Ornelas to identify the specific carbon-building techniques that farmers could implement.

KEEP READING ON GREEN QUEEN

Global Alliance for Organic Districts: Scaling Up Organic Agriculture

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of resilient local food systems that promote healthy people, environmental stewardship and a strong local economy. Lobbying governments around the world to adopt and support organic regenerative farming practices is paramount to establishing and maintaining local food systems and access to healthy food. 

During these trying times, Regeneration International (RI) has remained steadfast in its efforts to spread the word about organic regenerative agriculture to local governments, municipalities, cities and regions worldwide.

Our latest endeavor includes participating in the virtual launch of the first Global Alliance for Organic Districts (GAOD), an alliance announced on World Food Day 2020 between Asian Local Governments for Organic Agriculture (ALGOA) and the International Network of Eco Regions (I.N.N.E.R.). 

The goal is for the initiative to create synergy between groups working to promote organic regenerative agriculture across the globe. It’s supported by several founding member organizations including RI, IFOAM Organics International, IFOAM Organics Asia and the League of Organic Agriculture Municipalities and Cities of the Philippines (LOAMCP).

RI’s role in the alliance is to promote and highlight soil health as the most effective tool to curb climate change while providing local communities with nutrient-dense food. 

GAOD and its partners also joined and have voiced their support for the 4Per1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate, a project launched in 2015 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France. 

The initiative provides an international framework on how to demonstrate the role of agriculture and healthy soil in addressing food security and climate change. 

The project recently launched a strategic plan to use carbon-rich soil to stop climate change and end world hunger by 2050, and by 2030 the project aims to: 

“. . . provide a supportive framework and action plan to conceptualize, implement, promote and follow up actions, on soil health and soil carbon, through an enhanced collaboration between stakeholders of the agriculture, forestry and other land use sectors, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”

During the virtual online summit, GAOD’s co-president Salvatore Basile expressed his gratitude  and acknowledged the importance of the 4Per1000 Initiative to provide a framework on agricultural climate mitigation for local policymakers worldwide. He said: 

“From this day, we will promote the potential of organic regenerative agriculture to mitigate climate and build resilient local economies to mitigate the growing environmental threats global communities are facing.”

In a video message aired at the online event, Paul Luu, an agronomist specialized in tropical agronomy and executive secretary of the 4Per1000 Initiative, thanked GAOD, ALGOA and I.N.N.E.R. for becoming members of the project.

“This is an important and strong signal to local authorities to encourage and promote carbon sequestration in soils through appropriate agriculture and forestry practices. Agroecology will remain a mere concept if no farmer or forester implement appropriate practices in their fields or forests and if local authorities do not work to create an enabling environment for such practices.” 

Through the work happening on-the-ground at Via Organica, the Mexico-based sister organization of the Organic Consumers Association, RI will provide GAOD’s 4Per1000 task force groups with insights for implementing localized agriculture designed to mitigate climate change. 

The project at Via Organica, based in San Miguel de Allende, provides training to local communities on how to reforest landscapes with the planting of mesquite (which has nitrogen-fixing capacities) and agave, which has tremendous power to grow in extreme dryland conditions while sequestering huge amounts of carbon with its increased biomass. 

The agave then gets converted into a low-cost animal feed for local sheepherders who practice holistic grazing methods. 

A recently published [LINK] video featuring RI’s Latin America Director Ercilia Sahores and Francisco Peyret, the environment director for the city San Miguel de Allende, showcases the innovative agave-mesquite model. 

“We want to implement the goals of the ‘4Per1000’ Initiative, and this means taking action. This year, we are planting 2,000 hectares [of agave and mesquite] and we have 20,000 hectares that we want to convert into productive and regenerate areas,” said Pevret.

The agave planting project and the work being done at Via Organica has inspired officials in the  Guanajuato government to launch their own pilot project. 

In the featured video, Sahores said: 

“Change happens at the local level, and that is from where we need to act and gather our forces. GAOD and the RI network can have a greater influence on public policies, bringing to evidence that the health of food and climate are one.”

 RI’s participation in the ALGOA/GAOD summit contributed to a working group that includes participants from every continent on the globe to discuss the main challenges for scaling up regenerative agriculture.

The working group identifies what the challenges are, how they can be overcome and what GAOD can do to assist in that mission. 

We found that many of these needs are universal, including access to land, fair compensation for farmers to maintain and regenerate ecosystems, consumer awareness, and training on regenerative agriculture practices.

Stay tuned for more updates on the global regeneration front. 

Oliver Gardiner represents Regeneration International in Europe and Asia. 

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