December 19, 2008: Who knew?

Hello: A year ago, who knew:

• What would happen to conventional commodity prices, pushed into the stratosphere in mid-2008 by global demand, unbridled futures speculation and domestic ethanol, then whacked down below cost of production by collapsing everything? …and the havoc that rough journey would wreak within organic grain and dairy sectors?

• That progressive farm-policy reform advocates would have a political context to even seriously think of promoting Michael Pollan and Fred Kirschenmann as candidates for “Secretary of Food”?

• That agricultural carbon sequestration would become such a perceived economic bonanza that Monsanto would host a formal agribusiness campaign to write the rules for what it means and how to document it.

• That nearly 30 years of “healthy soil” research at the Rodale Institute on the dynamics of successful organic farming would also yield the foundation data for the Institute’s Organic Green Revolution research review, issued earlier this month. Read more >>

This was the year that agriculture would be recognized in startling news ways as the messy intersection of ecology, economy and energy. The shocking downsides of treating food as a free-trade commodity were painfully laid bare, as food shortages and unaffordable petro-derived inputs rocked many countries. This drama in the first half of the year heightened the impact of a chorus of global research conclusions in the last half of 2008 that organic and regenerative agriculture hold the key to future food security in communities around the world. Read more >>

The new Natural Agriculture garden at the Rodale Institute models simple beauty.

Since March 15 we brought you news and insights in our new Web format. It joined the historic “New Farm for farmers” stream with our expanded emphasis on how organic agriculture delivers practical answers to the mounting danger of global warming and the critical need for famine prevention and feeding more people everywhere. We’re also bringing you news on how organics improves nutrition, and ways that kids and families can experience the food-farming universe in fun ways.

Enjoy the holidays as you take stock of what really matters. Think twice about your turkey as you digest what nutritionist Melinda Hemmelgarn says about how your choice of birds impacts everyone’s health. If you are stuck at home by snow or a limited travel budget, visualize a place of “balance, beauty, respect, simplicity” in Eileen Weinsteiger’s description of Rodale Institute’s new demonstration garden.

Who knows what ahead for 2009? No one, for sure. But know this: whatever reverses come to organics from economic malfunctions seen and as yet unseen, its core regenerative power will continue to deliver because “healthy soil=healthy food=healthy people.”

Greg Bowman and everyone
at the Rodale Institute