June 5th is World Environment Day, very similar to Earth Day as celebrated in the US. The theme is

#GenerationRestoration.

This theme is meant to speak to how we cannot turn back time, but that we can grow forests, revive water sources, and bring back soils. We are the generation that can make peace with land. On this topic, I would like to share some work I do with a local organization that is near and dear to my heart.

When I first met Farmer Carol I was immediately drawn to her, as many are, and had a strike of intuition telling me that she would be an important person in my life. At the time, I was co-chair of our employee Green Team, focusing on environmental sustainability in the workplace. In an effort to better connect folks to their food, and offer access to high quality, healthy food, we had asked Farmer Carol if she would consider adding a stop to her route and deliver her produce boxes to our site once a week.

Farmer Carol’s farm is a CSA, or Community-Supported Agriculture, program. This means that community members pay upfront for a “share” of that year’s harvest. The upfront capital helps get the farmer going in the springtime, and in exchange the customer gets a box full of whatever fruit and produce is most abundant and in-season each week throughout the growing season. Should the farmer experience drought or other issues impacting the harvest, customers are also assuming a share of the risk, helping a struggling local small farm keep afloat in hard years. It’s a symbiotic relationship between the farmer and community members.

At Farmer Carol’s farm, this isn’t the only symbiotic relationship you’ll find though. Farmer Carol proudly brands her methods as “better-than-organic, no-harm farming.” In buzzwords, this means she practices regenerative agriculture or permaculture on her property. From the food forest to heirloom varietals to pollinator gardens to herbicide and pesticide-free produce, the farm, which is located just 10 minutes outside Frederick, MD, is a haven for quintessential “homestead” style agriculture and there are many mutually beneficial relationships to be highlighted. Primarily, soil health and its impact on the land and our food is a big one at the farm.

Soil is more than just the dirt under our feet. It is the planet’s most biodiverse habitat with almost 60 per cent of all species living in soil. Soil health is the capacity of soil to function as a living system. Healthy soil is the largest store of terrestrial carbon and plays a vital role in climate mitigation by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Studies have shown that getting your hands dirty and being outside literally, as well as figuratively, ‘grounds you’: when your bare feet touch the earth, the electrical charges of your feet neutralize free radicals. Soil contains microbes that can have an anti-depressant effect. And last but not least, the healthier the soil, the healthier the food that can be grown in it.  

Good soil at a farm starts with a good compost pile! The original circular economy, spreading composted organic matter on our fields returns crucial minerals to our soils and improves soil texture and pH. Good soil, along with shaping the land and planting smartly, improves water management as well- helping retain moisture in drought, and also absorbing more water during downpours and lessening risk of flooding. AND LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT THESE VEGETABLES!! After all these years I keep coming back to the farm because these vegetables are addicting- some of the most high-quality produce I’ve ever laid eyes on and tasted, not to mention the variety offered in my weekly box is impressive.

During the pandemic I started to volunteer at the farm every Saturday, and have ever since. Soil health wasn’t the only thing I learned about though. I learned how to build a food forest- a self-sustaining garden design that creates both an ecosystem and a source of food. I learned about crop rotation and how different plants use/replenish different nutrients in the soil. I learned about planting marigolds amongst your crops to attract pollinators.

But most importantly, I learned that environmental sustainability isn’t about just doing less, but about doing MORE. As a sustainability professional, I often see programs that are focused on using less electric or water, generating less waste, “lessening impact.” Of course, these are topics of discussion on the farm too. But more often than not, we’re thinking about how we can do MORE- how can we increase biodiversity on the property? How can we regenerate while we grow? How can we reach more people with our mission? As we focus on doing more, almost magically, the “do less” parts of sustainability fall in to place as well.

This is not to say that regenerative agriculture is all rainbows and butterflies. It’s hard, dirty work. But you know what else is hard? Trying to be healthy while eating processed foods. Trying to pretend that electric vehicles will solve the climate crisis. Trying to find fulfilment through consumerism. I look out on the farm and I am constantly awed by its ability to provide for us. Fresh, ripe food literally falls to the ground for us to collect. A meditative peace is found whilst digging in the dirt or relaxing under the shade. Problem solving is required for a variety of issues that arise. And yes, beautiful butterflies flick by in the breeze. I think to myself- what more do we really need??

Yet, at least in my area of the world, housing developments and data centers are being built over prime agricultural soils. Much of our supply chains rely on extraction of raw materials. Industrial food production compromises soil health around the world. While these activities certainly have their “pros,” when it comes to Sustainability there is no free lunch- and for too long we’ve been borrowing from nature without paying it back. Imagine what our world could look like should more of us invest and work in restoration and nature-based design? Imagine what that would do for our companies, our communities, our mental health? Nature-based solutions and regeneration of ecosystems must be a crucial aspect of any respectable environmental sustainability strategy, one that I will continue to champion. Because there’s so much MORE we can achieve, by giving back.