Climate

Climate scientists say that the load of carbon in our atmosphere has reached levels higher than ever before, so far as we know.  And I think this might be a good place to begin the talk of change in our lives and in our farming and thus getting to some serious planning for the future.  Farmers are critical in this discussion and in the planning.

The difficulty with climate change as it has been talked about is that it is all a vague alarm and it results in a widespread feeling of unease and very little that is concrete.  Climate science is doing what it ought to do in raising the alarms and talking about dropping biodiversity, warming-or cooling-temps, carbon content in the atmosphere and so on.  The problem with it is that people who are dealing with the various causes of it and who can deal in concrete specifics are not on board.  And the feeling is very strong in these quarters that if we get some kind of our usual imposed solutions by experts approach, atrocities will follow.

It is time for those of us who love farming and see how food and agriculture are the same question to begin talking in concrete terms about what an agriculture that heals the climate and the environment would look like.  What concrete changes do we need to make?  What parts of our farming lives do we need to understand better?  How does the nation's diet impact our agriculture?

Agriculture has been mostly destructive of the environment in general through the ages.  It can be said that many of our current deserts are essentially the foot prints of failed farming in the past.  We have much to do and it is essential that those of us actually doing the farming are in on the ground floor.  We are facing a generation, at least, of massive change and it is past time to start our planning and learning.

Jim