Farm-gate greenhouse gas emissions — emissions that occur directly at the farm — increased by 14 percent between 2000 and 2021, and accounted for 48 percent of the total emissions in 2021.¹ Furthermore, agricultural water use and water stress, use of pesticides, deforestation and land conversion are still major concerns for our planet and are closely related to agriculture. So, while the agricultural sector is heavily affected by climate change, for instance due to extreme weather conditions, it is also an active producer of greenhouse gas emissions.
A shift to regenerative, ecological and multifunctional agricultural systems that protect soil fertility and biodiversity is necessary and urgent, as supported by scientists appointed by the UN.²
Small local farms are closely linked with protecting landscape features and biodiversity, as well as preserving the identity of regional production. However, they have been rapidly disappearing in recent decades, primarily because small farms are the most vulnerable to agricultural challenges, such as extreme weather, and also due to the unfavorable demographics in rural areas,³ driven by the fact that over 55 percent of the global population now lives in urban areas.⁴ Throughout time, there has also been an increase of monocultural traditional farms, utilizing polluting methods to favor mass production and profit over environmentally friendly action.⁵
Furthermore small local farming is, for many, a political and social choice. It is not just a job, but a lifestyle, deconstructing what has been taught to us by a system that has destroyed our planet and given us an unsustainable way of living. This has been particularly relevant when interviewing in an an experiential permaculture center and eco-village L’Asino e la Luna in Cerveteri, but found in Crochus, currently a small saffron and cannabis farm just outside of Rome, soon to expand into a more comprehensive living and cultural site.
Sustainable and Regenerative Projects
In situations such as the ones I researched, sustainability is the objective. However, sustainability refers not only to the environment, but also to economic, social, and communal aspects. Unlike in traditional monocultural agriculture, the objective is not profit, but to create an overall sustainable complex: for the land, the nature in and around it, for the people working on the land, and for customers, while earning enough but not excessively.
At the same time, for the land, ‘sustainability’ is not enough, a regenerative solution is to be preferred. We cannot maintain and sustain what we find, in terms of land, but opt for regenerative approaches, as all lands have been heavily exploited. Regenerative actions may also include simply doing nothing, as nature can do the same but in a much longer time. If we want a faster response, regenerative systems are the solution to foster a natural, biodiverse, healthy habitat.
In the contexts researched, regenerative systems are employed in different ways mainly due to land extension, yet the objective remains the same. L’Asino e La Luna is a permaculture project, while Crochus utilizes techniques of organic-regenerative agriculture. Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement planning and its core idea is to replicate and follow nature’s systems to create sustainable, resilient, regenerative human settlements, respectful of who lives there — plants, animals, humans — and gather all necessary information to plan so that all elements can coexist naturally; but it is also a movement with a motto: “take care of earth, people, and the future”. On the other hand, organic-regenerative agriculture, while not fully recreating a natural habitat, still operates with separate crops and is ideal for smaller plots of land. However, it still follows similar principles, like allowing plants to regenerate the soil, maintaining a healthy soil to promote the health of all living organisms in the ecosystem;⁶ it only uses natural fertilizers and pesticides, like micronized zeolite diluted in water or a garlic and chili macerate to repel insects.
The quote above is a perfect summary of the values I found in my research — understanding that we are interconnected with all beings on Earth and taking care of them means taking care of us all, humans and nonhumans alike.
Tradition meets modernity
In creating a natural way of farming and living, one might think that solely going back to our roots and historical practices may be an ideal pathway. An example is crop rotation, now a prerogative of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)⁷ of the European Union, but also a medieval practice still used in many smaller, regenerative farms but abandoned by bigger monocultural farmers. Furthermore, some practices can be traced back to Etruscan⁸ subsistence and farming habits, such as harvesting according to natural cycles like lunar phases and seasons. Additionally, foraging for wild herbs and edibles in the area around Rome can be so abundant when the soil is healthy that farming for self-sustenance may not be necessary.
Indeed traditional techniques are crucial and still employed, but going beyond is key in this case. This is also because methods and instruments evolve, for better but also for worse. For instance, the plough. In latest years, it has been discovered to be harmful for the soil, but at the same time many know the plough as a key instrument of ancient agriculture. So, why did this change? It used to be an instrument, either human- or animal-powered, to break up and open the soil, but know it is much heavier and instead flips over and mixes the soil, disrupting its structure and decreasing organic matter.⁹
In organic-regenerative agriculture,natural and simple techniques are used, some of which are similar to the traditional methods used in the past, but what is crucially and substantially different is knowledge, and our capacity to accumulate and share it. Modern technologies like the internet, computers, smartphones, allow us to share knowledge globally in ways that are easier, faster and more accessible, and tools like drones can help for aerial views, to check the land’s progress and evolution. Social media is another crucial tool to reach out to the world, invite people for events, and even inform and raise awareness on certain topics. Both water and soil management are based on chemical, climatic, morphological, geographical, and topographic studies.
Nowadays we have a better understanding of how the soil and plants work, we understand the soil ecosystem and that plants have and need a symbiotic interconnected relation with the sun, mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria, creating a feeding and communication cycle. Today’s knowledge and global connections allow us to recognize the best past practices to employ and to adopt new ones as well. The relationship between past and modern practices is a dialectic, a dynamic and interactive process where these two sets of techniques are not in opposition but engage with each other to form a more comprehensive understanding and approach. For real improvement, new discoveries ought not to substitute former procedures, but rather be an addition to the vast array of existing practices. The motto of Crochus is “le buone pratiche naturali di una volta unite alle conoscenze di oggi”¹⁰ (trans. the good old natural practices united to today’s knowledge), perfectly summarizing this interaction.
Such concept finds confirmation outside of Latium and Italy: Miguel A. Altieri, agronomist and Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, explains the significance of centuries-old traditional agriculture practiced by small farmers and the crucial lessons learned by ecologists interacting with them, for instance regarding the benefits of diversified cropping systems and genetic diversity.¹¹
Challenges
All of my interviewees have left their careers, whether at the beginning or years in, and life in the city for a sustainable and alternative lifestyle in nature. As much as they love what they do and often express it, this choice is not without challenges.
In all the contexts I have researched, the shift to a more sustainable and regenerative lifestyle began after a personal crisis, a major dissatisfaction related to the world we live in and its expectations. The frustration and realization that our society does not value and respect the planet and the people developed into a necessity to change their life from the bottom up and live simply and outside of norms, abandon hectic rhythms and unhealthy expectations, such as constantly striving to increase profit.
Interestingly, although big cities remain overpopulated, an increasing amount of young people are moving to rural areas and approaching the agricultural sector. Thus, opening doors to a new generation of farmers who aim at achieving self sustenance and earning just enough profit to survive, while a renewed connection with nature. Similarly, people are also choosing communal living situations in nature, like eco-villages and communes. This trend is linked to various reasons, such as rising rent and accommodation prices, air pollution in urban areas, a sense of dissatisfaction with our current system, and COVID-19. According to Veronica Barbati, president of Coldiretti Giovani Impresa, representing youth in the agricultural sector, the pandemic has “accelerated the phenomenon of returning to the land, and developed the common belief that the countryside is now capable of offering and creating employment and professional growth opportunities, which are also destined to increase over time.”¹²
The switch and process itself can be challenging, especially if one has always lived in an urban context and never worked on the soil. The only ways to have satisfying and prosperous results when embarking on this journey is studying, building a connection with the land, experimenting with different techniques, whether right or wrong, but also allowing oneself to make mistakes. For communal living, you also need to consider the human aspect: all people have unique backgrounds, and everybody needs to do individual work before benefiting the community or the world outside. It takes experience, work, time, and the will to question oneself and one’s beliefs.
Challenges of the sector also include external human interaction and mediation with the outside. Firstly, unless you are completely self sufficient, you need to sell a portion of your products. Sales can be tough for people who come from entirely different backgrounds or do not have an entrepreneurial attitude. Furthermore, interactions with the outside can also be challenging when stereotypes and doubts come into play, from strangers and friends and family alike. Thinking of those who choose communal living as “hippie freaks”, lacking the curiosity of going to see what happens in certain places, or friends and family constantly doubting and critiquing one’s choice can create a gap and raise a barrier between one world and the other. Critiques can be discouraging, especially when coming from someone known. Furthermore, they can also be moved by fellow farmers with different philosophies and techniques who may not be educated on regenerative agriculture and deem some things as either impossible or disadvantageous.
Although there are some policies to support farmers and regulate certain practices, they are currently not enough for small farmers. With the CAP, the European Union has determined a series of key regulations to benefit the soil, like crop rotation, and help the environment, but such policies are mainly intended for mass monocultural production, where certain techniques have been substituted by fertilizer and pesticide injections and heavy machinery, much more convenient for profit but less for environmental and soil health.
Positively, things are changing nationally and internationally, especially for the recognition and support of small farms and to ease the access to land through economic policies. For instance in Italy there is the opportunity to purchase some abandoned lands for incredibly low prices. People are also battling for the defense of the term “regenerative” to prevent multinational corporations from appropriating the term in their greenwashing, which frequently happens with the term “sustainable.”
Conclusion
To conclude, it is important to promote sustainable and regenerative systems of agricultural planning and farming, to decrease the worryingly high levels of farm-gate greenhouse gas emissions and aid Earth’s regeneration. At the same time, the key to regenerative farming is not just going back to historical and traditional practices, but fostering an international communication network to share knowledge and ensure the best results and the best care of nature.
My research has demonstrated that meaningful change is still possible, and that attentiveness to both other people and the natural world is a powerful tool in the necessary effort to protect the planet.
Notes
- Food and Agriculture Organization. Sustainability and environmental aspects of agriculture. World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023, (Rome: United Nations, 2023) p. 43
- Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General, Global Sustainable Development Report 2023: Times of Crisis, Times of Change. Science for Accelerating Transformations to Sustainable Development, (New York: United Nations, 2023), p. 108
- Rachele Rossi, Small farms’ role in the EU food system, (European Parliament Research Service 2022), p. 1
- United Nations Statistics Division, “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, SDG Goals. (Accessed: 27 September 2024).
- Balogh Allison, “The rise and fall of monoculture farming”, In Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation Magazine, 13 December 2021
- Reeba Sharma, Aravind T, and Roopali Sharma, “Sustainable Agriculture: Trends and Opportunities for 21st Century,” Journal of Applied and Natural Science 11 (3), (2019) p.666–72
- CAP at a glance https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/common-agricultural-policy/cap-overview/cap-glance_en
- The Etruscans were an ancient indigenous civilization which developed in central Italy (Latium, Umbria and Tuscany). The earliest phase of Etruscan civilization dates to ca. 900 BC
- Lee Reich, “Tilling Is One Chore You Might Be Able to Skip”, In Fine Gardening, no. 122, 2006
- “La nostra storia”, Crochus, accessed 3 May 2024, https://crochus.company.site/
- Altieri, A Miguel. “Linking Ecologists and Traditional Farmers in the Search for Sustainable Agriculture.” In Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, 2 (1) (2004) 35-42.
- Coldiretti Giovani Impresa, “Lavoro: i Giovani Tornano in Campagna nel 2022, +19mila,” September 2023, https://giovanimpresa.coldiretti.it/senza-categoria/lavoro-giovani-tornano-in-campagna-nel-2022-19mila/
Bibliography
- Altieri, A Miguel. “Linking Ecologists and Traditional Farmers in the Search for Sustainable Agriculture.” In Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, 2 (1) (2004) 35-42.
- Balogh Allison, “The rise and fall of monoculture farming”, In Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation Magazine, 13 December 2021
- Birnbaum Fox Juliana. “Indigenous Science”. In Cultural Survival Quarterly, 33.1, 2010.
- Coldiretti Giovani Impresa. “Lavoro: i Giovani Tornano in Campagna nel 2022, +19mila.” September 2023. https://giovanimpresa.coldiretti.it/senza-categoria/lavoro-giovani-tornano-in-campagna-nel-2022-19mila/
- Crochus. “La nostra storia.” accessed 3 May 2024. https://crochus.company.site/
- Food and Agriculture Organization. Sustainability and environmental aspects of agriculture. World Food and Agriculture – Statistical Yearbook 2023, Rome: United Nations, 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4060/cc8166en
- Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General, Global Sustainable Development Report 2023: Times of Crisis, Times of Change. Science for Accelerating Transformations to Sustainable Development, New York: United Nations, 2023
- Rachele, Rossi. “Small farms’ role in the EU food system.” In European Parliament Research Service, 2022.
- Reich, Lee. “Tilling Is One Chore You Might Be Able to Skip.” In Fine Gardening, no. 122, 2006.
- Sharma, Reeba, Arvind T, and Sharma Roopali. “Sustainable agriculture: Trends and opportunities for 21st Century.” In Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 11(3) (2019), 666-672 https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v11i3.2156
- United Nations Statistics Division, “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”, SDG Goals. (Accessed: 27 September 2024).
