Newsletter April 18, 2008

You’ve known it for a long time. Now Rodale Institute is telling the world that, really, “Farmers Can Be Heroes” if they farm regeneratively by locking carbon in their soil to fight global warming as they produce healthy food in thriving, biodiverse ecosystems. A “Hero Farmers” campaign launches next week to highlight the potential of organic farming methods that build soil carbon to become a focus for U.S. and global policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Appearing this week was an interview with Tim LaSalle, Rodale Institute CEO, on the still-emerging Take a Bite website where he lays out how and why soil-building agriculture is so promising as the 21st-Century alternative to petroleum-based ag practices.

We give you a unique view on the global news from a U.N. assessment that promotes the supremacy of agro-ecological farming in meeting world food and farming needs. Amadou Makthar Diop, international program director at the Institute, explains the role of the report in giving voice to African agriculture experts who call for approaches that produce food, build communities and protect ecological resources.

A farmer/activist has crafted a documentary that shows the entry of young people new to agriculture as an emerging social movement. The film shows how these motivated individuals work amidst a mix of passion, problems and practicality.

In other news, a report from the UK shows that GM crops, overall, show little advantage over non-GM crops… a video shows how a near-by dairy entrepreneur succeeds with his on-farm, raw-milk cheese venture… and a check on land-use changes in the Amazon Basin shows that cutting down rainforest to grow soybeans for biofuel is actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Happy Earth Day!
Greg Bowman for the Rodale Institute editorial team