By Force of Nature

“To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” – Mahatma Gandhi

When we reconnect with the soil, not only will we heal our planet – but we will heal ourselves and our world at large. By taking personal accountability for how we engage with the soil and the natural world, we are thereby taking control of the importance of the health of our land, our bodies, our food, and the living world below our feet.  After all, all life begins and ends with soil!

There is hope through Regenerative Agriculture and the implementation of simple daily practices. There is hope for increased soil health, improved nutrient density in our food, enhanced carbon sequestration, and, simply put – putting life back into our soil and, ultimately, ourselves.

So, let us first begin with Regenerative Agriculture, taking a look at its dynamic role in enriching our lives and our interactions between what is above and below the surface.

Regenerative Agriculture operates on five principles that ultimately aim to restore the nutrient content in the soil while improving the well-being of our environment.

The Five Principles of Regenerative Agriculture are:

1. Eliminate Soil Disturbances: eliminating disturbances such as tillage increase carbon sequestration. By adopting no-till farming methods, soil biological activity and organic soil matter increase!

2. Cover Crops: to keep the topsoil healthy, the implementation of cover crops is needed. Cover crops help the soil’s water retention capabilities and accelerate a better nutrient cycle.

3. Keep Living Roots in the Soil: by keeping living roots in the soil year-round, there is a constant supply of carbon enriching the soil.

4. Promote Biodiversity: soil ecosystems require diverse bacteria to stay healthy, much like our bodies.  Without a diverse system of microbes, the soil can be limited to supporting the life of other vegetation. The diversity of root ecology directly impacts the diversity of soil ecology.

5. Integrate Livestock: livestock eat the cover crops and various grasses; in turn, their manure can naturally nourish the soil and build soil health. Livestock help fertilize the soil and increase its organic matter!

By now, we are all aware the conventional agriculture system is not cutting it. The goal of the conventional system is to maximize the potential yield, relying on heavily synthetic fertilizers and chemicals to produce a crop or set of genetically modified crops.

If we are to build life below our feet and within ourselves, these practices must end. This “land management” technique weakens a landscape’s ecological properties and causes loss of biodiversity, soil health & erosions, increased water pollution, and more. 

Our efforts in supporting Regenerative Agriculture through conscious consumerism, getting to know your local farmer and rancher, and steering clear of products and foods that support a conventional system will all play a role in increasing life in our soil and the nutrient density of our food. Changing our daily habits to be more aware of our purchasing power are sure ways to create change in the destructive conventional system.

The goal is to promote biodiversity in the soil, not wreck it! We depend on biodiversity in our daily lives, which is a prerequisite to experiencing healthy, abundant, and productive livelihoods. Additionally, the biological diversity of microorganisms, phytochemicals, flora, and fauna provides extensive benefits for our health and food when conducted from a Regenerative Agriculture perspective—producing high-quality, nutrient-dense food.

In all its forms, life depends on how healthy our soil is – the invisible interactions under our feet ensure our well-being and that of our planet. We are all interconnected. Rural and urban communities alike can contribute by recognizing that to be truly “regenerative,” we must care for all parts of the system. Our lives and the life of the soil depend on it.