Dirt to Soil: One Family's Journey into Regenerative Agriculture
Biological farming manages soil ecosystems in order to increase the amount of biota and life per acre by keen knowledge of food chains, species interactions, and nutrient flows, minimizing crop losses and maximizing yields by fostering diversity.
Paul Hawken • Natural Capitalism
Instead of sterilizing our mix, as is done in conventional agriculture, organic farmers let the beneficial fungi and bacteria and yeasts in the compost out-compete the disease-causing organisms.
Pamela C. Ronald • Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
Because we don’t ship our shit back to where the food comes from, we keep perpetuating the redistribution of nutrients on the planet. Soils grow barren, so we use synthetic fertiliser, which isn’t anywhere near as good as the real shit, and also is very polluting to produce. Scientists call this phenomenon the metabolic rift.
Lina Zeldovich • Our excrement is a natural, renewable and sustainable resource – if only we can overcome our visceral disgust of it
Farmers can exploit the resulting composted organic matter as crop fertilizer.
Scientific American Editors • Battling Drought: The Science of Water Management
the do-nothing farmer needed to be more attentive and sensitive to the land and seasons than a regular farmer. After all, Fukuoka’s ingenious method was hard-won after decades of his own close observations of weather patterns, insects, birds, trees, soil, and the interrelationships among all of these.