The German doctor, comedian and climate change campaigner Eckhart von Hirschhausen recently posed the question in light of the climate crisis: "Shouldn't there be something that is truly sacred to us and that we don't destroy lightly?" In my view, our soils would be good candidates for this. In some countries, land and soil already have a right to good treatment enshrined in the constitution, e.g. in Ecuador and Bolivia in that "Pachamama" (Mother Earth) has the legal status of a legal person.
When driving through the dusty wasteland of cleared agricultural landscapes, our gut feeling whispers that in some places we have lost our sense of the "sacredness" of our soils. The excesses of industrialized agriculture also have a pretty bad climate image. And there is another imbalance that should give us pause for thought: a number of studies show that industrialized agriculture puts more calories into production than the calories we end up eating. This may still be economically profitable, but it is certainly not sustainable. And then there are the undesirable side effects: impoverished soils, immense water consumption, no more humming and chirping, lots of greenhouse gases in the air and no one far and wide who finds such agricultural desert landscapes attractive or worth living in.
But what could the counter-design look like?
Wouldn't systems be desirable where the primary goal is not short-term profits but the long-term fertility of the soil? Where the main roles are not played by agrochemical companies and agricultural machinery weighing tons, but by healthy soils, animals, plants, farmers and consumers? Let's take a look around.
The organization Navdanja, which means 'nine seeds', has existed in India for over 30 years - founded by the charismatic organic pioneer and winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize Vandana Shiva. She looks at our relationship with food through the eyes of a quantum physicist with a doctorate.
For Vandana Shiva, one thing is clear: "As soon as we eat a bite, that bite becomes a part of us. We become what we eat".
Conversely, this means that if we want to be healthy, our soil and food must be healthy. There is no room for pesticides, genetic engineering or antibiotics in the love affair between eater and food. And there are other thorns in Shiva's side: malnutrition among the population and the suicide rate among farmers have increased in many places in India due to the industrialization of agriculture.
Mahatma Gandhi demonstratively sat down at the spinning wheel as a sign of greater independence. In peaceful rebellion, Vandana Shiva is now spinning a web from the same basic idea. Diversity and independence - in the form of seeds - are preserved at each node of this web. The network now has many nodes: 122 seed banks in 22 Indian states. To make farmers independent again through organic, reproducible and regionally adapted seeds. In conversation, Vandana Shiva told me, smiling modestly and without batting an eyelid, where her fearlessness in dealing with giants like Monsanto comes from: "If we imagine how immeasurably large our universe is, how big is Monsanto?". A number of tangible successes[1] testify to the transformative power of their movement in the fight against these giants. In 2015, Sikkim became the first Indian state to convert to 100% organic farming.
A small farm in France causes a stir
But there are also stories on European soil that make you want to rethink agriculture. In France, for example, a small farm(Ferme du Bec Hellouin) has been causing a stir for several years - run by career changers Perrine and Charles Hervé-Gruyer, formerly a businesswoman and author/filmmaker. On land where there was virtually nothing in the past, there is now talk of unimagined yield miracles through permaculture. And the math works out economically: a cultivation area of 1,000m2 brings vegetable yields worth over €50,000.
The icing on the cake: the soil is not the loser here. Numerous scientific studies and a prominent scientific advisory board repeatedly take a close look at the soil, farming methods and yields. And they come to the conclusion that a particularly large amount of humus is built up here and the buffet for hungry plant roots is richly covered. Humus consists largely of carbon. And the permaculture soils here have plenty of it. Up to 50 percent more carbon content compared to a conventionally farmed field two kilometers away. But there's more: 6 times more nitrogen has also been found than in conventional soil. And whether magnesium, calcium, potassium or phosphorus: the plants seem to lack nothing here. All four nutrients are available to a very high degree in the permaculture soil, whereas the neighboring conventional soil only has low to very low levels of magnesium and potassium.
Such forms of bio-intensive permaculture come up with a number of clever clusters to keep cycles as closed as possible, whether water, energy or nutrients.
At Bec-Hellouin, there is no rattling of tractors. Manual labor reigns here. The aim is to deliberately avoid dependence on the "fossil drip". Every now and then, however, you can hear the clatter of hooves. Working horses pull implements across the beds with a graceful stride. In vegetable growing, there is a lot to be said for taking horsepower at its word again. What's more, these four-legged creatures have an impeccable carbon footprint. A number of pioneers of modern, small-scale organic vegetable cultivation are now relying on horses again. these animal employees.
A number of people and initiatives - including in Austria - would be good candidates for the title of 'climate heroes of agriculture'. And almost all of them have one thing in common: in line with the motto "more beautiful things" or "cooperation instead of competition", they invite people to take a look at their cards. Recipes for success are sown like seeds across the colorful bed of social media (websites, videos, blogs...). Stacks of books invite you to immerse yourself in the experiences and cultivation tricks of sustainable farming pioneers.
Against this background, the path to climate-friendly agriculture should not be seen as a purely technical homework assignment, where the only aim is to reduce greenhouse gases.
It is also about a change in values. About supportive, respectful cooperation. With other farmers, but also with the soil, plants and animals.
With this in mind, the leader of the Khomanin tribe in Namibia, Visolela Namises, invites us to keep asking ourselves the question: "What does the land actually want?" Presumably a lively burbling, chirping and humming - biodiversity. Probably fertile soils. Probably plenty of humus to store water. And much more. Many of these "wishes" go hand in hand with prudent, climate-friendly economic practices. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) even goes so far as to describe the key role of agriculture in the climate crisis: Agriculture is responsible for a quarter of the problem, but has solutions for almost half of it. And part of these solutions are also on your plate. Or to conclude with the words of Vandana Shiva: 'Let's remember: eating is an ethical, but also a political act'.
Well, then, enjoy your meal.
About the author
Dr. Sybille Chiari has been working at the Center for Global Change and Sustainability at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna since 2011, where she coordinates international research projects on climate communication, climate engagement and sustainable lifestyles. She is a co-founder of the Climate Change Center Austria's climate communication working group and part of the Scientists for Future movement. In her private life, she is chairwoman of the Bele Co-Housing association, which runs a climate-friendly communal housing project with organic farming in Upper Austria(www.belehof.at).
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