Bioneer,
From soil depletion to the use of toxic pesticides, industrial agriculture’s impact on our planet is vast. However, a growing movement of eco-conscious small farmers and entrepreneurs are showing how agriculture can help—not harm—the land and those who live on it. In this week’s newsletter, we hear from thought leaders on hemp’s revival in modern agriculture, the importance of farmers markets and food security, and why we need to rethink the meaning of “pests” and “weeds.”
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The Hemp Revival: An Ecological Alternative with Many Commercial Uses
A LEED accredited green building consultant and the Northern California Regional Coordinator for the California Hemp Association, Linda Delair sat down with Bioneers Restorative Food Systems Director Arty Mangan to talk about what exactly hemp is, its many ecological and commercial uses, and the legal obstacles that still stand in its way. Below is an excerpt from their conversion.
ARTY: You mentioned your background in green building and Hempcrete. How can hemp be used in building?
LINDA: Hemp has been around for thousands of years. It has been found in the pyramids. It is a wonderful, lightweight material. Hemp has many uses; hemp as a green building material is just one. When you remove the fiber from the outside of the stalk, there’s a woody inner core, and that is what you use to make Hempcrete. The woody core is ground up into half inch pieces, no larger. You mix that with water and lime – lime S or a hydraulic lime or a hydrated lime. The plant, in the growth phase, sequesters carbon, so the hempcrete locks that carbon up in the walls of the building.
It’s basically an insulation material. There’s a niche to be filled with insulation in order to lower energy requirements. The volume of insulation material we use today is going to rise dramatically in commercial and residential buildings. It makes ecological and financial sense to fill this volume with materials that are annually renewable, have a low ecological impact, and ideally are sourced from waste streams or byproducts from other processes. Hempcrete meets all of these important criteria and compares favorably with conventional insulation materials in many ways. Read more here. |
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This Week on Bioneers Radio & Podcast
Small farmers around the world are building an agro-ecological revolution based on self-sufficiency, food security, and freedom from fossil fuels and corporate control. In this program, we hear from two visionary agroecology innovators. Miguel Altieri, an agroecologist and entomologist at UC Berkeley, is showing how farmers who embrace agroecology are building a movement based on self-sufficiency, food security and freedom from fossil fuels and corporate control. Alex Eaton is the founder of “Sistema Bio.” This game-changing company helps farmers implement a simple technology that converts waste to energy, builds healthy soils, and holds the promise of massively reducing greenhouse gases and lifting people out of poverty.
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Video of the Week: Michael Pollan on the Importance of Farmers Markets
Food is one of the universal threads that connects all life, but how and what we eat has taken on more meaning than just nutrition. Author Michael Pollan makes the case for farmers’ markets as a quiet revolution of our food system today. Learn how these celebrations of community reinvigorate local economies and reconnect consumers to the natural world.
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Featured Blog Post: Garden Pests and Weeds
Bob Cannard, a master farmer who developed his own innovative ecological farming practices, has always been ahead of the curve. He is also a pioneer in using practices that enhance soil biology, and he was the first to initiate a campaign for GMO labeling in California. His latest effort is a campaign to eliminate all pesticides from California agriculture by 2050. Here, Cannard gives his take on pests and weeds and what they’re trying to tell us.
There is some acceptance of the term “pest.” I just can’t see that. When I go out to the garden, especially the garden of nature, I see no pests. I see high population levels of some organism that we’ve labeled as pests because they are massing on the fruits or the foods that we wish to consume. The presence of these organisms is a demonstration of weakness, not of the genetic makeup, but most likely the environmental support that the plant is getting. Read more here. |
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Don’t Miss: Strategies to Create Environmental Resilience and Avert a Crisis
At this one-day intensive workshop, hosted at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center on October 21, farmers, permaculturists, researchers and policy makers will share the hard realities, innovative approaches and best practices of careful and responsible water management to help make farms more drought resilient. World renowned experts will join us to explore new technologies and urgently needed strategies of conservation, groundwater recharge, and increasing the water holding capacity of soils, as well as policies that take a long view of water stewardship. Learn more here. |
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What We’re Tracking:
In an effort to rid California of toxins and begin to reverse some of the damage humans have wrought on the land, Bob Cannard has written a ballot measure that, if approved, would ban all chemical pesticides and herbicides in the state by 2050. (Counter Punch via Jonah Raskin)
Bioneers cofounder Nina Simons’ recently published book, Nature, Culture & the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership, was recently awarded a Nautilus Gold Award (category: Women) and Nautilus Silver Award (category: Social Change & Social Justice). The book offers women inspiration for a new kind of leadership rooted in resilience and joy—read more about it Nautilus and listen to an interview with Simons at Mrs. Green’s World. - On July 12, Sundance-winning eco-thriller Sea of Shadows debuts in theaters. The film, from Executive Producer Leonardo DiCaprio and National Geographic Documentary Films, tells the story of a group of dedicated scientists, high-tech activists, investigative journalists, and courageous undercover agents in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez who attempt to rescue the most endangered and elusive whale on earth—all while battling the vicious Mexican drug cartels and Chinese traffickers whose destructive poaching methods are threatening the region’s marine life.
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The Latest from Bioneers.org:
In the new documentary film Poisoning Paradise, director Keely Brosnan tells the story of local activists in Hawai’i who are battling political corruption, corporate bullying and systematic concealment by the agrochemical industry. Bioneers sat down with director Brosnan to discuss the film and the community’s ongoing struggle to advance bold new legislation governing the fate of their home. - Filmmaker John Chester and his wife Molly took a leap of faith when they decided to bring life back to a lifeless 200-acre piece of land. John documented their journey in the film The Biggest Little Farm. Here, we talk with John about his travails and triumphs.
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