Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life PDF Download

Author: David R. Montgomery
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393608336
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award “A call to action that underscores a common goal: to change the world from the ground up.”—Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate For centuries, agricultural practices have eroded the soil that farming depends on, stripping it of the organic matter vital to its productivity. Now conventional agriculture is threatening disaster for the world’s growing population. In Growing a Revolution, geologist David R. Montgomery travels the world, meeting farmers at the forefront of an agricultural movement to restore soil health. From Kansas to Ghana, he sees why adopting the three tenets of conservation agriculture—ditching the plow, planting cover crops, and growing a diversity of crops—is the solution. When farmers restore fertility to the land, this helps feed the world, cool the planet, reduce pollution, and return profitability to family farms.

Author: Andrew Flachs
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
ISBN: 0816539634
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
A single seed is more than just the promise of a plant. In rural south India, seeds represent diverging paths toward a sustainable livelihood. Development programs and global agribusiness promote genetically modified seeds and organic certification as a path toward more sustainable cotton production, but these solutions mask a complex web of economic, social, political, and ecological issues that may have consequences as dire as death. In Cultivating Knowledge anthropologist Andrew Flachs shows how rural farmers come to plant genetically modified or certified organic cotton, sometimes during moments of agrarian crisis. Interweaving ethnographic detail, discussions of ecological knowledge, and deep history, Flachs uncovers the unintended consequences of new technologies, which offer great benefits to some—but at others’ expense. Flachs shows that farmers do not make simple cost-benefit analyses when evaluating new technologies and options. Their evaluation of development is a complex and shifting calculation of social meaning, performance, economics, and personal aspiration. Only by understanding this complicated nexus can we begin to understand sustainable agriculture. By comparing the experiences of farmers engaged with these mutually exclusive visions for the future of agriculture, Cultivating Knowledge investigates the human responses to global agrarian change. It illuminates the local impact of global changes: the slow, persistent dangers of pesticides, inequalities in rural life, the aspirations of people who grow fibers sent around the world, the place of ecological knowledge in modern agriculture, and even the complex threat of suicide. It all begins with a seed.

Author: Andrew Mefferd
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1771422726
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Learn how to use natural no-till systems to increase profitability, efficiency, carbon sequestration, and soil health on your small farm. Farming without tilling has long been a goal of agriculture, yet tilling remains one of the most dominant paradigms; almost everyone does it. But tilling kills beneficial soil life, burns up organic matter, and releases carbon dioxide. If the ground could instead be prepared for planting without tilling, time and energy could be saved, soil organic matter increased, carbon sequestered, and dependence on machinery reduced. The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is the comprehensive farmer-developed roadmap showing how no-till lowers barriers to starting a small farm, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency and profitability, and promotes soil health. This hands-on manual offers: Why roller-crimper no-till methods don't work for most small farms A decision-making framework for the four no-till methods: occulation, solarization, organic mulches grown in place, and applied to beds Ideas for starting a no-till farm or transitioning a working farm A list of tools, supplies, and sources. This is the only manual of its kind, specifically written for natural and small-scale farmers who wish to expand or explore chemical-free, regenerative farming methods.

Author: Matthew L. Jones
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226409562
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Amid the unrest, dislocation, and uncertainty of seventeenth-century Europe, readers seeking consolation and assurance turned to philosophical and scientific books that offered ways of conquering fears and training the mind—guidance for living a good life. The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution presents a triptych showing how three key early modern scientists, René Descartes, Blaise Pascal, and Gottfried Leibniz, envisioned their new work as useful for cultivating virtue and for pursuing a good life. Their scientific and philosophical innovations stemmed in part from their understanding of mathematics and science as cognitive and spiritual exercises that could create a truer mental and spiritual nobility. In portraying the rich contexts surrounding Descartes’ geometry, Pascal’s arithmetical triangle, and Leibniz’s calculus, Matthew L. Jones argues that this drive for moral therapeutics guided important developments of early modern philosophy and the Scientific Revolution.

Author: Masanobu Fukuoka
Publisher: New York Review of Books
ISBN: 1590173929
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Call it “Zen and the Art of Farming” or a “Little Green Book,” Masanobu Fukuoka’s manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book “is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture.” Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature’s own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called “do-nothing” technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort. Whether you’re a guerrilla gardener or a kitchen gardener, dedicated to slow food or simply looking to live a healthier life, you will find something here—you may even be moved to start a revolution of your own.

Author: Janisse Ray
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603583068
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Discusses the loss of fruit and vegetable varieties and the genetically modified industrial monocultures being used today, shares the author's personal experiences growing, saving, and swapping seeds, and deconstructs the politics and genetics of seeds.

Author: David Tracey
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 1550924737
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Urban Agriculture is packed with ideas and designs for anyone interested in joining the new food revolution. First-time farmers and green thumbs alike will find advice on growing healthy, delicious, affordable food in urban settings. From condo balconies to community orchards, cities are coming alive with crops. Get growing!

Author: Will Allen
Publisher: Avery
ISBN: 1592407609
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
Previously published as a Gotham Books hardcover edition.

Author: Tom Philpott
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1635573149
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice An unsettling journey into the disaster-bound American food system, and an exploration of possible solutions, from leading food politics commentator and former farmer Tom Philpott. More than a decade after Michael Pollan's game-changing The Omnivore's Dilemma transformed the conversation about what we eat, a combination of global diet trends and corporate interests have put American agriculture into a state of "quiet emergency," from dangerous drought in California--which grows more than 50 percent of the fruits and vegetables we eat--to catastrophic topsoil loss in the "breadbasket" heartland of the United States. Whether or not we take heed, these urgent crises of industrial agriculture will define our future. In Perilous Bounty, veteran journalist and former farmer Tom Philpott explores and exposes the small handful of seed and pesticide corporations, investment funds, and magnates who benefit from the trends that imperil us, with on-the-ground dispatches featuring the scientists documenting the damage and the farmers and activists who are valiantly and inventively pushing back. Resource scarcity looms on the horizon, but rather than pointing us toward an inevitable doomsday, Philpott shows how the entire wayward ship of American agriculture could be routed away from its path to disaster. He profiles the farmers and communities in the nation's two key growing regions developing resilient, soil-building, water-smart farming practices, and readying for the climate shocks that are already upon us; and he explains how we can help move these methods from the margins to the mainstream.

Author: Geremy Green
Publisher: Youcanprint
ISBN:
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 60

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Book Description
"Green Revolution: Cultivating the Future without Soil" is an essential and innovative guide aimed at introducing the reader to the fascinating world of hydroponics and aquaponics, two revolutionary cultivation methods that could redefine the future of agriculture. Hydroponics, which involves growing plants in nutrient-rich water solutions rather than soil, and aquaponics, which integrates plant cultivation with fish farming in a circular system, are explored in detail. The author guides the reader through the fundamental principles of these methods, illustrating how they work, what their advantages are, and how they can contribute to a more sustainable and efficient agriculture. The book also delves into the latest innovations in the field, showcasing how technology is evolving and how new tools and techniques are making these methods even more effective and accessible. From home systems to large-scale commercial setups, "Green Revolution" covers a wide range of applications, providing practical advice and tailored solutions for every need. In addition to technical details, the work emphasizes the importance of sustainable agriculture in a world where resources are becoming scarcer and the population is growing. The author explores how hydroponics and aquaponics can help address some of the greatest challenges of our time, such as food security, water conservation, and reducing the environmental impact of agriculture. Concluding with an overview of strategies to make hydroponic and aquaponic farming not only sustainable but also profitable, "Green Revolution" is an indispensable text for anyone interested in the future of agriculture and who wishes to contribute to a greener and more sustainable world.