My writings - and those of others.
Soil and its importance
A few years ago our balcony railing structures were replaced. This meant that balcony contents had to be removed, including planters that I had brought full of soil from a previous residence. Several bags of soil went into the garbage. because the containers had to be empty to carry to a storage locker. This year, when I tried to replace potting soil, I had to go to several places before I could find the right size bags to carry. Home gardens have become increasingly important as we move beyond the pandemic.
We hear a lot about air pollution and water pollution. I didn’t think seriously about soil pollution and soil loss until I read a couple of recent articles. Organic gardening is a term we have heard about - but regenerative agriculture is less familiar.
As someone who grew up in Western Ontario, my family took Sunday drives into some of the most beautiful family farm lands in Canada. As a pre-teen I even got to visit and work on a farm and drive a tractor in a field. We’re all too aware of industrial farming and the dangers of pesticides - but agriculture as a source of CO2 isn’t something we reckon with. Some are starting to do so, by recognizing that agriculture contributes 25%. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says: “Leveraging the mitigation potential in the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use sector is extremely important in meeting emission reduction targets.”
Rodale Institute says. We have proven that organic agriculture and, specifically, regenerative organic agriculture can sequester carbon from the atmosphere and reverse climate change.
There are several ways this can happen:
Decrease or eliminate plowing and tilling. These compact the soil and release too much CO2
Plant diverse crops, as opposed to huge single crop plantings
Rotate and cover crops. Protect and cover crops rather than letting them leech nutrients.
Kiss the Ground, a restorative agriculture not-for profit says: “If regenerative means: ‘renewal, restoration, and growth of cells, organisms, and ecosystems,’ or ‘renewal or restoration of a body, bodily part, or biological system (as in a forest) after injury or as a normal process,’ then regenerative agriculture is agriculture that is doing just that.”
We are not here to exploit the soil. We are here to learn that health of the soil is essential to our own health - and the health of the planet.
Place
In another essay written by Wendell Berry, he talks about returning from New York to the small community in Kentucky where he grew up - and previous generations of his family had lived. One of his New York colleagues at the University where he was teaching, tried to dissuade him by quoting, “You can’t go home again”. Berry disagreed. In the sense that the metaphor stands for change, there is some truth - but indeed you can stay in the same community and have a sense of place. I’ve now lived continuously in the same city since 1978 - with only a brief period of months away from it.
Living in the same community makes us aware of both change and stability within it. It allows one to interact with it and take some responsibility for the changes. Flying off to other countries as I have done, allows me to have a taste of them - but not to have any sense of their continuity. Visiting New York City after a span of about 35 years was revealing. The avenue and street numbers were the same as the Chelsea I lived in earlier in the 60s, with its Puerto Ricans who had escaped from Spanish Harlem for a new life, side-by-side the affluent young who were mortgaging their lives to buy and renovate crumbling brownstones. Even then the blocks below West 20th street were being razed for new development. More recently the old brownstone where we lived in a fifth floor walk up had stone facing added- and a doorman.
Stability was one of the monastic virtues - dashing around the world wasn’t in a time when travel was by foot or cart. Our ease of travel and relocation can take away our sense of place. Living in the same place makes us aware of land, soil, water, air. If we think of these things only as an environment to be glanced at on our travels, we lose all sense that we are part of them. Even city living - in contrast to Wendel Berry’s farm community allows for some of that.
Predictions
“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.” -Wendell Berry
Are you tired of news hosts asking everyone they interview what is going to happen - especially relating to re-opening after the pandemic? Those interviewed are always put in a double bind. If they urge caution, they are met with comments about how tired we are and how unfair it is. If they predict good news they are immediately met with fear that things are moving too quickly.
The truth is - we don’t know what will happen in the future. “We never did and we never will.” Wendell Berry was asked a similar question when asked to deliver a talk on the Narrative of the Future. That was his response as poet, farmer, and lover of earth - especially his home locality in Kentucky. While reminding us that scripture urges us to have no thought for the morrow, that might also be a problem.
The first thing we might do instead, he says, is to look at history for lessons. The evil that is sufficient for the day does indeed play out tomorrow. Remember the lack of preparedness in 2010 for a pandemic that was raised and never acted upon. We have paid for it now.
A second thing is to appreciate the day we have when our pains and losses are minor ones, Not everyone is so fortunate. Losing a loved one to disease is not the same as being deprived of going to bars. Time moves in one direction. What are we doing with our days?
We can’t predict the future. But we can provide for the future. To do this, we recognize the choices we make today have consequences and have an impact on our own future and the other creatures we share the planet with.. While climate change demands a big solution according to many, Berry says it seems so big that we have to keep moving that solutions further and further into the future because it seems so gigantic. The thinking about solving it also become political with views that range from drastic to futile. We propose policies - and argue about them
How will changes in policy affect the climate of the futre. We don’t know. What does matter is not policies, but principles. Changes in principles, Berry says, can be made now by as few as one. Small solutions do not have to wait for the future. He suggests that rather than trying to save the world, maybe we could start to live savingly. Among the options I remember from the second world war was the rationing of fuels. Governments could do it then without question- but so can we now- one by one. It’s only one small example, but we can choose others and learn. The best lessons about frugality are taught by the earth itself.
Climate and Weather
Beautifull spring days here in Toronto mean that people like me are bringing up cushions from the storage locker and enlisting younger family members to wash balcony windows to enjoy the coming season. It’s easy to confuse weather and climate.
But the study of norms is sobering. It examines patterns over time. I don’t know whether there are similar Canadian statistics, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US Department of Commerce publishes norms each decade and a new one was recently released. Comparisons between previous temperate climates and current warming ones are scary
This is what industrialization and other human action is creating. Look what we are doing to ourselves.
Another outstanding site
The Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology is an important site for anyone who sees ecology as a moral and spiritual issue. It has undergone a recent update that makes it even more attractive as a resource for learning. The site tells us this:
“The Mission of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology is to inform and inspire people to preserve, protect, and restore the Earth community. The religions of the world transmit ecological and justice perspectives in their scriptures, rituals, and contemplative practices as well as in their moral and ethical commitments.” It goes on to list a number of projects and connections
You can find brief summaries of all the world’s major religions. There are equally impressive materials on climate emergency. Laudato Si, the encylical of Pope Francis, has had considerable impact and these materials have also been collected for reference. There are numerous resources including a regular newsletter. Among the many projects are those relating to to Journey of the Universe project.
For anyone interested in climate change, the foundational information here is of immense value.