Feeding the Earth by Daniel Baertschi

A MANIFESTO FOR REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Daniel Baertschi

Feeding the earth

A Manifesto for Regenerative Agriculture

To my wife Kathrin, who constantly encourages and supports me.

To my parents, who paved the way for me.

For my children, who are passionate about nature.

“Good farmers, who take seriously their duties as stewards of Creation and of their land’s inheritors, contribute to the welfare of society in more ways than society usually acknowledges, or even knows. These farmers produce valuable goods, of course; but they also conserve soil, they conserve water, they conserve wildlife, they conserve open space, they conserve scenery.” (Wendell Berry, 2009, Bringing it to the Table: On Farming and Good)

Wendell Berry is an American essayist, poet, novelist, environmental activist, cultural critic and farmer. He lives and works with his wife Tanya on the farm they share in Port Royal, Kentucky (United States).

Foreword

The fact that you are reading this book shows one thing: food means something to you. Of course, we all eat to live, but few of us consider the effort required to put food on our plates. The subject is too complex, the processes too opaque. The sheer number of brands, the often-confusing labeling and the seemingly infinite number of products on shop shelves is overwhelming.

Eating is much more than just calories and nutrients. It is about pleasure, a deep connection to our culture, sharing and meeting people. Eating is part of our identity and thus an important part of our lives.

For many of us, an abundance of food means we have never experienced real hunger. We are faced with the challenge of choosing what is best for us from an overflowing range of products and of consuming them in moderation. This is anything but obvious. Only by working carefully with nature will we be able to eat in harmony with our planet.

Despite technical progress, soil remains the source of our food. The earth produces enough food for everyone if it is used properly and if we consume a balanced diet favoring plant-based foods, and in reasonable quantities. Healthy soil is the basis for healthy plants, animals – and people.

All over the world, there is an alarming decrease in available agricultural land. Erosion and desertification are increasing dramatically. Every year, droughts and floods destroy fields and consequently millions of tonnes of food crops. In many countries, farmers have abandoned their lands because of war and conflict.

How – and why – did we get here? Is regenerative agriculture a solution? As you read this book, you will see that change is needed, and that everyone can contribute to it. After closing this book, you will be able to make better choices about what you eat. Our health depends on our personal choices, as well as the health of our planet.

Let’s heal our earth by eating healthy!

Introduction

For decades, I have wondered what agriculture would look like if it wisely used the natural resources and conditions of each place, and produced food in harmony with nature. Growing up on a pioneering organic farm in the Emmental region of Switzerland, I had direct and immediate experience, from childhood, of the complexity and demands of farming to answer this question. Following a traumatic personal experience, my parents converted the family farm to organic farming in the early 1970s at a time when agriculture was expanding rapidly in the country. A neighbour farmer used a licensed chemical pesticide against house longhorn beetle infesting his barn. The product was sprayed on the beams – directly above the hay. Some of the product got into the hay, which was consumed by the cows. This farmer supplied milk to the village dairy, which produced Emmental cheese, and some of the cheese was exported to the United States, where health authorities discovered residues of the chemical agent. The cheese was confiscated and the entire shipment destroyed. The farmer concerned had to dump his milk into a slurry pit and to wait a year before he was allowed to deliver to the cheese factory again. This incident prompted my parents to take a critical look at the benefits of technical and chemical progress. They turned to organic farming.

The experience changed my parents’ outlook, and consequently my own. I became concerned at an early age about what a healthy agriculture and food system could look like. Over the years, working in the fields and stables, I tried to find practical solutions to this question. I had benefited from quality food produced on our farm, and I consider it a privilege to have grown up eating organic food. Freshly picked salad on the table, meat and milk from

our own animals, vegetables in all their varieties, preserves and sweet cider from the cellar – it was all natural, normal and obvious to me.

All the discussions about organic farming around the family table, in the fields and in the barn are unforgettable memories. As a child and teenager, you want to follow your own path and make your own opinion, which is what I did. Like my parents, I became a farmer. I also studied agricultural economics. I worked as a consultant and manager in Switzerland and elsewhere, becoming involved in a variety of fields, from development cooperation, occupational safety, and the management of a nature museum, to setting up my own consulting company. I was concerned with healthy food and its link to climate protection. For eight years I was Managing Director of Bio Suisse, the parent organisation of Swiss organic farming. My wish was, and still is, that people appreciate nature and use it responsibly. We are not the owners of the land, the soil, the nature; we are only the custodians.

My interest in regenerative agriculture gained momentum a few years ago when I left Bio Suisse with the intention of expanding beyond “organic”. I was inspired in particular by the American author, farmer and philosopher Wendell Berry and visionary regenerative farmers such as Joel Salatin, Gabe Brown, Allan Savory, Charles Massy, David Montgomery, Tony Rinaudo and Allen Williams among others. Films have also been a source of inspiration, especially The Biggest Little Farm, Polyfaces, Kiss the Ground, and Sacred Cow.

In the course of my working life, I have become interested in conventional agriculture, which continues to go about its business with the pretence of controlling nature and influencing it to our advantage by means of all sorts of tools – with the one-sided goal of high yields. I will never forget the day when I first put on a protective suit and a mask, and walked through the potato field with a sprayer full of herbicide to combat weeds. The result of this operation was a field free of all vegetation – except for potatoes. The realisation that, after the harvest, a residue of this weed killer would linger in the soil and in the potatoes dampened the pleasure of the harvest six months later.

In my visits to farms in more than 50 countries, I learned about all possible – and impossible – forms of production, and often met hard-working people who cultivated their land with very simple tools. These farmers use the soil as a livelihood with heart and soul, but are heavily dependent on an extremely powerful agribusiness and misguided agricultural policies. In many places I have seen massive soil and environmental disturbance, degradation of animal life and exploitation of workers. In the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, families with small farms went into debt to buy “modern” seeds, and fertilisers already coated with pesticides meant to increase their yields. When drought hit, the loans could no longer be repaid. Many farmers committed suicide as a result. How did they do that? With pesticides bought on credit!

Why have we let things go so far, despite science and technology? What are the underlying causes of the abuse of nature? Why are we unable to produce our food in harmony with nature? Why is there not enough food for everyone? I think we are all asking these questions in one form or another.

A different kind of agriculture is possible, indeed necessary, which will have a positive effect on our children and grandchildren. We need to start by understanding and respecting nature in depth and from there, find a form of production that is adapted to different environments. It is about reforming trade and consumption, strengthening local value-adding and adopting wise agricultural policies. All of this is aimed at enabling people to lead better lives through healthy food.

There is no magic formula that can be pulled out of a drawer to solve all the problems, nor is the solution a schematic application of standards and guidelines. Rather, it is a matter of implementing clear principles established by nature. We humans have the noble task of taking our role as competent stewards of planet Earth seriously, with the humility and respect due to this wonderful creation. This includes valuing the work of farmers. They are the source of our food, and they have the opportunity to change the face of the world through their work.

It is up to everyone – farmers, consumers, trade and processing companies, politicians, groups and organisations – to shape a future worth living for our children and grandchildren. This path is not new, radical or expensive; it is good for people, animals and the environment – it is good for everyone and everything!

The path leads – if we follow it to the end – to a more than sustainable agriculture, namely a regenerative agriculture. But not everything has to be invented, old knowledge can be combined with new scientific innovations, nature can be understood and used in a different way, uncharted paths can be bravely taken and the status of knower can be changed to that of learner – all in a lifetime and with joy.

Let’s embark together on a journey of regenerative agriculture! Let’s discover the simple and effective principles and effects of this ancient yet new form of more than “sustainable” agriculture.