Organic Insights Magazine - Summer 2022

Organic Insights / Summer 2022 / 5

Environment

3. Purity. Avoiding chemical fertilizer and pesticide use and consequent pollution of the environment. By ending detrimental habits such as smoking or thinking negatively, the potential for growth, happiness, and success increases. 4. Permanence. More perennials with vigorous root systems. New, more positive, personal spiritual behaviours take root and provide a deeper meaning to life. 5. Peace. Ending the war against weeds and pests. Improved societal security and well-being. Negative emotions such as anger, fear, and hate are replaced by tolerance, compassion, and understanding. 6. Potential. The positive qualities and resources in yourself and your environment become easier to access and effect more people around you. improves, increasing water retention capacity. Community life improves, increasing the health and wealth of its inhabitants. In 2022, the regenerative movement has simplified this message down to the following: 1. less (or no) tillage, and sequester­ ing carbon into the soil. 2. Using cover crops, compost, animal manure, and crop rotation to restore the soil microbiome. 3. Building ecosystem diversity. 4. Well managed rotational grazing. So, we see that organic and regenerative have similar goals with respect to soil quality and biodiversity, and a production orientation (maintaining the environmental benefits within the farming system, not limiting them to the bush block). 7. Progress. Soil structure

Livable

Viable

Sustainable

Social

Economic

Fair

The concept of economic sustainability was easily grasped. It took much more effort to explain that there were social and environmental dimensions to sustainability that deserved consideration, and diagrams such as this one proved useful to depict the concept of a sustainable society that we wanted to convey. Organic standards progressed rapidly to provide a clear and detailed definition of what we meant by organic, which included not just exclusion of synthetic chemicals, but also working with the landscape to preserve biodiversity and water quality, humane treatment of animals, and fair trade. Organic certification rapidly became the market leader and established protocols that were used by Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, and other environmental and social certification programs. Regenerative built slowly until the mid-2010 decade when it gained a lot of currency, but it still lacks a broadly agreed definition. Here are a few attempts: • Regenerative agriculture is a system promoting nature- based solutions to improve soil and landscape health and productivity, while improving water and nutrient retention in soils and across the farmscape. (Rhodes 2017. The imperative for regenerative agriculture. Science Progress 100: 80–129.)

• Regenerative agriculture differs from organic agriculture in that it does not prohibit the use of chemical inputs within a farming system, while at the same time suggesting constraints be applied where synthetic chemicals are used (Giller et al. 2021. Regenerative agriculture: An agronomic perspective. Outlook on Agriculture 50 (1):13–25.). • Regenerative agriculture aims to regenerate the natural functions of soil and landscape, increasing biodiversity through the implementation of a range of regenerative practices and the reduction of chemical inputs (Soloviev and Landua 2016. Levels of regenerative agriculture. Version 1.0 – September 2016. Terra Genesis International 12:2017.). Robert Rodale provided a list of what he called the ‘Seven Tendencies Toward Regeneration’. They were: 1. Pluralism. Increase in diversity of plant species, diversity of business, people, and culture, and diversity of personal experiences, capacities, and openness to new experiences. cover of plants, ending erosion and increasing beneficial microbial populations. Also, more resistance to economic and cultural fluctuations and improvement of personal hardiness and an ability to withstand crisis. 2. Protection. More surface

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