We need a message of hope . . .
Dear Organic Consumer ,
I ’ ve just returned from an inspirational trip to India . I went on this journey ( which my fellow traveler , Vandana Shiva , refers to as a “ soil pilgrimage ”) to celebrate the International Year of the Soil .
But I also undertook this journey to see firsthand what many Indian farmers are up against . And also because I believe that the crises we face today — hunger , poverty , chronic illness , drought , floods — demand that we come up with solutions that we can adapt to every region of the world , and execute on a global scale . Tomorrow is World Food Day . It is also the day we will publicly launch , in conjunction with other international leaders and organizations , a new project : Regeneration International .
What better day — the day on which the International Year of the Soil and World Food Day intersect — to remind world leaders and policymakers that without healthy soil , there are no healthy farms . Without healthy farms , there is no healthy food . Without healthy food , there are no healthy people . Without healthy farms , food and people , there are no healthy local economies .
And , as it turns out , without healthy soil , there is no healthy climate .
The world ' s best climate scientists warn that even if we miraculously achieve zero emissionstomorrow , on a global scale , it would take about 1,000 years to get back to the magic " safe " number of 350 ppm carbon in the atmosphere .
That could be too late .
We need a message of hope to counter such dire climate predictions . We need a message of hope for those people , all over the world , who don ’ t worry about global warming , because they are too worried about where their next meal will come from .
Regeneration International ’ s mission is to broadcast a new message of hope . The message is this : Organic regenerative agriculture and land use practices , scaled up all over the world , can restore the soil ’ s natural ability to draw carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in the soil . And by restoring the health of the world ’ s soils , we will also revitalize local economies , and produce abundant , nutrient-dense food .
I didn ’ t have to go all the way to India to learn that we need to shut down our degenerative industrial GMO factory farm system and replace it with a regenerative one . But my “ soil pilgrimage ” did serve as an urgent reminder that there are people all over the world who go hungry , every day .
It doesn ’ t have to be that way . The solutions to hunger and poverty lie right under our feet , in the soil . We just have to cultivate it with consciousness .
On this World Food Day , I have several invitations for you .
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