Cultivating Revolution

Author : David R. Montgomery
Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2017-05-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780393608335

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Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life by David R. Montgomery Pdf

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
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2019-11-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780816539635

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Cultivating Knowledge by Andrew Flachs Pdf

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 : Geremy Green
Publisher : Youcanprint
Page : 60 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2023-10-24
Category : Gardening
ISBN : 9791222702230

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Green Revolution: Cultivating the Future without Soil by Geremy Green Pdf

"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.

Author : Andrew Mefferd
Publisher : New Society Publishers
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2019-03-05
Category : Technology & Engineering
ISBN : 9781550926774

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The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution by Andrew Mefferd Pdf

Learn how to use natural no-till systems to increase profitability, efficiency, carbon sequestration, and soil health on your small farm. 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. 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. 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: occultation, 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 : Janisse Ray
Publisher : Chelsea Green Publishing
Page : 243 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2012-07-06
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781603583077

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The Seed Underground by Janisse Ray Pdf

There is no despair in a seed. There's only life, waiting for the right conditions-sun and water, warmth and soil-to be set free. Everyday, millions upon millions of seeds lift their two green wings. At no time in our history have Americans been more obsessed with food. Options including those for local, sustainable, and organic food-seem limitless. And yet, our food supply is profoundly at risk. Farmers and gardeners a century ago had five times the possibilities of what to plant than farmers and gardeners do today; we are losing untold numbers of plant varieties to genetically modified industrial monocultures. In her latest work of literary nonfiction, award-winning author and activist Janisse Ray argues that if we are to secure the future of food, we first must understand where it all begins: the seed. The Seed Underground is a journey to the frontier of seed-saving. It is driven by stories, both the author's own and those from people who are waging a lush and quiet revolution in thousands of gardens across America to preserve our traditional cornucopia of food by simply growing old varieties and eating them. The Seed Underground pays tribute to time-honored and threatened varieties, deconstructs the politics and genetics of seeds, and reveals the astonishing characters who grow, study, and save them.

Author : Matthew L. Jones
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 809 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2008-09-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226409566

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The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution by Matthew L. Jones Pdf

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 : David R. Montgomery
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2007-05-14
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9780520933163

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Dirt by David R. Montgomery Pdf

Dirt, soil, call it what you want—it's everywhere we go. It is the root of our existence, supporting our feet, our farms, our cities. This fascinating yet disquieting book finds, however, that we are running out of dirt, and it's no laughing matter. An engaging natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern times, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations explores the compelling idea that we are—and have long been—using up Earth's soil. Once bare of protective vegetation and exposed to wind and rain, cultivated soils erode bit by bit, slowly enough to be ignored in a single lifetime but fast enough over centuries to limit the lifespan of civilizations. A rich mix of history, archaeology and geology, Dirt traces the role of soil use and abuse in the history of Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, China, European colonialism, Central America, and the American push westward. We see how soil has shaped us and we have shaped soil—as society after society has risen, prospered, and plowed through a natural endowment of fertile dirt. David R. Montgomery sees in the recent rise of organic and no-till farming the hope for a new agricultural revolution that might help us avoid the fate of previous civilizations.

Author : Masanobu Fukuoka
Publisher : New York Review of Books
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2010-09-08
Category : Nature
ISBN : 9781590173923

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The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka Pdf

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 : Tom Philpott
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2020-08-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781635573145

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Perilous Bounty by Tom Philpott Pdf

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 : Brie Arthur
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 189 pages
File Size : 47,9 Mb
Release : 2017
Category : GARDENING
ISBN : 1943366292

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The Foodscape Revolution by Brie Arthur Pdf

"Once upon a time, veggie gardens lived in the backyard, isolated from the rest of the landscape. that's so yesterday! Welcome to a whole new world of food gardening--right up front, sharing space with your ornamental plants for year-round, knockout beauty and function...in a way that even homeowners associations (HOAs) would approve."--Back cover.

Author : Will Allen,Charles Wilson
Publisher : Avery
Page : 301 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2013-07-02
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781592407606

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The Good Food Revolution by Will Allen,Charles Wilson Pdf

Previously published as a Gotham Books hardcover edition.

Author : Sayed Nader Azam-ali
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 401 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2021-06-18
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789811236464

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Ninth Revolution, The: Transforming Food Systems For Good by Sayed Nader Azam-ali Pdf

We are at a critical point in human history and that of the planet. In this book, a world leader in agricultural research, Professor Sayed Azam-Ali, proposes a radical transformation of our agrifood system. He argues that agriculture must be understood as part of global biodiversity and that food systems have cultural, nutritional, and social values beyond market price alone. He describes the perilous risks of relying on just four staple crops for most of our food and the consequences of our current agrifood model on human and planetary health.In plain language for the wider public, students, researchers, and policy makers, Azam-Ali envisions the agrifood system as a global public good in which its practitioners include a new and different generation of farmers, its production systems link novel and traditional technologies, and its activities encompass landscapes, urban spaces, and controlled environments. The book concludes with a call to action in which diversification of species, systems, knowledge, cultures, and products all contribute to The Ninth Revolution that will transform food systems for good.Related Link(s)

Author : Jennifer Cockrall-King
Publisher : Prometheus Books
Page : 374 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2012-02-14
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781616144593

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Food and the City by Jennifer Cockrall-King Pdf

A global movement to take back our food is growing. The future of farming is in our hands—and in our cities. This book examines alternative food systems in cities around the globe that are shortening their food chains, growing food within their city limits, and taking their "food security" into their own hands. The author, an award-winning food journalist, sought out leaders in the urban-agriculture movement and visited cities successfully dealing with "food deserts." What she found was not just a niche concern of activists but a global movement that cuts across the private and public spheres, economic classes, and cultures. She describes a global movement happening from London and Paris to Vancouver and New York to establish alternatives to the monolithic globally integrated supermarket model. A cadre of forward-looking, innovative people has created growing spaces in cities: on rooftops, backyards, vacant lots, along roadways, and even in "vertical farms." Whether it’s a community public orchard supplying the needs of local residents or an urban farm that has reclaimed a derelict inner city lot to grow and sell premium market veggies to restaurant chefs, the urban food revolution is clearly underway and working. This book is an exciting, fascinating chronicle of a game-changing movement, a rebellion against the industrial food behemoth, and a reclaiming of communities to grow, distribute, and eat locally.

Author : Klaus Schwab
Publisher : Currency
Page : 192 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 2017-01-03
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781524758875

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab Pdf

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.

Author : B.H. Farmer
Publisher : Springer
Page : 446 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2016-01-12
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781349049387

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Green Revolution? by B.H. Farmer Pdf