Learning Regenerative Agriculture Principles from Reindeers

I just read a commentary about land and climate by author Judith Schwartz that provided a remarkably concise, compelling argument for regenerative agriculture. Schwartz is the author of the new book The Reindeer Chronicles , which explores regenerative relationships between people and the land from across the globe.

Judith provides such a compelling argument for regenerative agriculture that I thought I would just include a couple of quotes from her here:

Landscapes play a significant role in climate.

At its most basic level, the story of climate is the story of what happens to solar energy when it meets the ground.

It is time to bring the conversation about climate down to earth. How we treat our land matters. This is good news, because land is where we have tremendous agency; by managing our land for enhanced ecological function — for operational carbon, water, nutrient, and energy cycles — we are enhancing climate resilience and mitigation.

According to eco-restoration advocate John D. Liu, who filmed the Loess Plateau rehabilitation starting in 1995, successful efforts are marked by three trends: increases in biodiversity, biomass, and soil organic matter. This combined trajectory also characterizes productive agricultural systems.

Climate resilience, thriving farms, and employment. This is what valuing ecosystem function will yield. All of which turns on the question: What do we want to make of our daily bounty of sunlight?

Thank you Judith for translating thoughts in my brain to words far better than I could ever do!