Land Stewardship Letter, No. 2, 2022

from Land Stewardship Letter, No. 2, 2022

by landstewardshipproject7

Land Stewardship Letter, No. 2, 2022

Stewardship Roots

The ‘Culture’ of Agriculture

‘Songs for the Soil’ Marks LSP’s Latest Linking of the Arts, People & the Land

Throughout its 40-year history, the

Land Stewardship Project has utilized storytelling and the humanities to support stewardship of the land and convey the message of the importance of “keeping the land and people together.” In fact, LSP’s co-founders, Ron Kroese and the late Victor Ray, were partially inspired to start this organization as a result of their work in the 1970s with the American Farm Project, a leadership development program funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and coordinated by the National Farmers Union. This initiative involved, among other things, exposing farmers from around the country to the “culture” of agriculture, including literature and history.

So it’s fitting that through books such as

Soil and Survival (1986, by Joe Paddock, Nancy Paddock, and Carol Bly), The Farm as Natural Habitat: Reconnecting Food Systems with Ecosystems (2002, edited by Dana Jackson and Laura Jackson), and Wildly Successful Farming: Sustainability and the New Agricultural Land Ethic (2018, by Brian DeVore), LSP has told the stories of farmers who are stewarding the land and used these stories to inspire public support for this type of agriculture.

We’ve also used plays and the power of drama. In the case of Planting in the Dust (1984, by Nancy Paddock), the issue was stewardship of our soil. Look Who’s Knockin’ (2011, by Doug Nopar), helped launch community conversations about transitioning farmland to the next generation.

Music can also be an effective medium for taking us from education to action, and longtime member Bret Hesla has played a key role in LSP’s musical endeavors. A musician and songwriter, Hesla in 1989 created “Music of the Land,” a sing-along and slideshow where audiences got involved in singing the praises (literally) of stewardship.

In 2020, he was inspired by LSP’s soil health work to write and record a set of songs that honor our relationship with the ground beneath our feet and the importance of stewarding it via regenerative systems. Out of this came the “Songs for the Soil” series. See landstewardshipproject.org/ songs-for-the-soil to listen to Hesla and the band Six Feet Deep as they perform four of these songs: “A Little Better,” “Dead Dirt’s Coming Back,” “The Boundless Earth,” and “Six Feet Deep.” Also, check out the two songs from this effort — “Got Cover Crops” and “Back to Soil” — that were released as music videos.

Below are the lyrics of “A Little Better.” If you’re interested in using any of these songs for an event or other purposes, contact Hesla via his website: brethesla.com. p

A Little Better

1. When I get old I’ll leave this place When I get old I’ll leave this place When I get old I’ll leave this place Pass it on to a younger face