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Sep 23 2019

Regeneration Rising (?)

Regeneration Rising (?)
The term "regenerative agriculture" has been steadily growing in popularity over the past year or so, at least if you believe the data from Google Trends. It is gaining on and sometimes surpassing "sustainable agriculture" in usage.
It has also entered the political debate with a number of Democratic candidates staking out regenerative positions. Mayor Pete is talking about "soil health", Ohio's Tim Ryan invoking Gabe Brown, and Beto O'Rourke, during the most recent debate, calling for investments in regenerative agriculture.

My guess is that the spike in searches for the term in the chart above (on July 31, 2019) is driven by The New York Times article on Ryan, food, and agriculture.

RASA is interested in indicators like Google trends because we want to understand if regenerative agriculture is accelerating.  We're looking for other indicators that we should keep our eyes on and considering everything from changes in environmental conditions, like water run-off, to satellite data, to nutrition content of food in grocery stores.

What are your suggestions? How can we tell if regenerative ideas are taking hold in the US or around the world? Is this a topic you are thinking about? If so, please, let me know.
O’Rourke called for zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, pre-disaster mitigation grants to vulnerable communities, renewable wind and solar energy technology, and regenerative agriculture. 

Mr. Ryan wants to provide more federal funding for local and organic farms and promote carbon capture techniques.
According to Ryan "We need to convert our industrial agriculture system over to a sustainable and regenerative agriculture system...  you can go ask Gabe Brown and Allen Williams"
Worth Reading
Berry’s most enduring work of nonfiction is The Unsettling of America, published in 1977. There he puts farming at the center of his critique of American life. If you want to ask how people live, he proposes, you should ask how they get their food.

divers tend to this underwater nursery as gardeners mind a flower bed
We believe that accessible — low-cost, high-quality, easy-to-use — tools can inspire a deeper interest in science and empower people to indulge their curiosity, explore their environments, and solve problems relevant to their own communities.
(Or, in this case, worth watching.)  The truth of cartoons from 1982... (video: 3')
What's Happening?
There's a lot going on this fall. What events are you going to? (Pro tip: Regeneration International's events calendar is a good way to keep up on activities around the world.)
RES19, a unique convening of global leaders from across industry sectors, agriculture, academia and civic service. 

Boulder, CO - Oct. 29-30, 2019

At its root, the source of health is in the land.

Albuquerque, New Mexico - November 19-22, 2019

This educational experience and trade show, now in its 44th year, unites farmers, ranchers and ag professionals.

Minneapolis, MN - Dec. 9-12, 2019
COP 25 
Santiago, Chile - December 2-13 2019
One Last Thing
When scientists go "whooooaa" (video 6')
In Closing
We are early in the process of defining what it means to build a regenerative society. While the terminology will continue to evolve, we're convinced the ideas are directionally correct. We are studying, testing, plotting, and building interest, support, and resources.

Thus this newsletter, which will come out periodically with information about RASA - narrating our work - along with brief observations and links to related materials exploring innovation and the regenerative economy.

With effort, and a bit of luck, we hope support for these concepts becomes a wave sweeping the world! Check out the archive to see if this newsletter is right for you (or a friend).

If you find this email valuable, please share with a friend. If you don't, please unsubscribe (link at the bottom.) We also much appreciate comments, advice, and suggestions for links to highlight.

Thanks.

      Dave 





PS's:
1. To subscribe to this weekly newsletter please go here > https://the-wave.ongoodbits.com/
2. Don't call us spam bro! But you can unsubscribe (with the link at the bottom)
3. This newsletter is a service of RASA, the Regenerative Agriculture Sector Accelerator.
4. Please send questions or suggestions to David Witzel
Thanks to Lobineau for the picture of the Wave in Arizona used in the header.

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