What if … We changed how we grow our food?

What if …. We changed how we grow our food?

“In times of change learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to work in a world that no longer exists.” Eric Hofer Author

Here is what we are learning. The fact is the rate of increase in food production has slowed drastically in recent decades. A big concern is what we are learning about the true cost of growing food. A growing body of published evidence by the world’s leading research institutions indicates many agriculture practices are degrading soils, spreading toxic chemicals, contributing to global warming, rendering water unfit to drink, reducing biodiversity, and creating dead zones where chemical runoff reaches lakes and oceans.

The truth is our food production system is subsidized by non-renewable resources, by dangerous chemicals, and by depleting the production capacity of million-year-old topsoils.

It is tempting to point fingers and name names. But Agriculture’s role in our global ecological crises is not a subversive plot caused by government officials, fertilizer or fuel salespeople, farmers or grocery shoppers. Rather it is a conscious choice regarding how we grow our food.

Farmers are working harder and learning more than ever about ways to feed a growing global population in a sustainable way. What we need is to get back to our roots: Literally. Deep long-lived perennial roots and associated arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have played key roles in the sustainablility of our natural areas for millions of years. AMF form a beneficial relationship with approximately 80% of the world’s plant species in their natural habitat. Perennial roots and their associated AMF efficiently absorb water and nutrients deep within soil, prevent drought stress and the off site leaching of pollutants. Perennial roots and AMF protect soils from erosion and put carbon in the ground where it promotes plant growth instead of the air where it promotes global warming.

Large areas of our nations croplands have lost their mycorrhizal populations. Tilling, fallow, erosion, and the use of certain chemical fertilizers have diminished populations of Mycorrhizal fungi. AMF have been fundamental for plant growth for 460 million years in our natural ecosystems and have promoted the productivity and stability of our natural areas without irrigation, chemical fertilizers, and genetically modified seeds. How do they do it.? Miles of tiny fungal filaments can be present in a thimbleful of healthy soil. These tiny filaments access, absorb and transport nutrients from the bulk soil to their plant hosts.

Organizations, like The Land Institute, in Salinas Kansas have worked for over 30 years on the problem of agriculture from the ground up. Their purpose is to develop an agricultural system with the ecological stability of the perennial prairie and a grain yield comparable to that from annual crops. Their specific research is an innovation for agriculture, using “nature as the measure” to develop mixed perennial grain crops as food for humans. Over 75 percent of human calories worldwide come from grains such as wheat and corn, but the production of these grains erodes soil and pollutes our waters. Perennial grain crops with deep and abundant root systems and AMF would improve soils and waters instead of degrade them.

This evokes lots of “what if” questions about the future of agriculture for the learners among us:

What if Agriculture emulated nature instead of subdued nature?

What if Agriculture improved soil productivity instead of degraded it?

What if the roots and mycorrhizae of agricultural plants anchored and enriched soils?

What if the roots and mycorrhizae of agricultural plants help protect crops from drought?

What if the roots and mycorrhizae of agricultural plants added organic matter to soils instead of depleted it?

What if Agricultural crops had the efficiency and resilience of native ecosystems?

What if Agricultural crops produced nutritious food without subsidies of fossil fuels and without degrading water quality?