Sorrel - Chapter 4

    Reading chapter 4 of Healing Grounds has made me reflect deeply on the history of agriculture in the United States – and more importantly, on what could have been. One thought that really stuck with me after Chapter 4 is wondering how different our agricultural system might look if Asian Americans had historically been allowed full access to land ownership and farming opportunities.

    Asian farmers brought with them generations of knowledge about nutrient recycling, polyculture systems, and regenerative methods that focus on maintaining long-term soil health. If they had been supported instead of excluded through discriminatory laws and systemic barriers, it’s possible that these practices would have become a much larger part of American farming. I can't help but wonder: would we have a more resilient, productive, and efficient agricultural system today if those traditions had been allowed to take root and evolve here?

    This reflection also ties back to one of the central themes of Healing Grounds – that the problems we see in agriculture today aren’t just technical issues. They are deeply social and historical. The roots of oppression and discrimination have shaped everything from who owns land to what farming practices are valued and passed down. Carlisle’s book helped me see that beneath the surface of our modern agricultural system is a history of exclusion that has affected not just people, but also the land itself.

    Another takeaway for me is the importance of soil health – not just as an environmental concern, but as something foundational to sustainable agriculture. Healing the soil goes hand-in-hand with healing the historical injustices that have undermined more sustainable farming systems in the first place. When we talk about regenerative agriculture today, we need to understand that it’s not just about planting cover crops or rotating fields; it’s about listening to and uplifting the communities that have been practicing regenerative methods all along.

    There’s still a long way to go, but recognizing these histories – and imagining what agriculture could look like when built on equity rather than exclusion – is an important step forward.

Jake - Chapter 3

 Arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) is VITAL for plants, but is often not given the credit it deserves for the service they provide. The population of AMF was found to be twice as large in polycultures across the Central Valley, typically owned by Mexican workers, compared to the larger monocultures around them. This larger population in turn drastically improve plants viability and output. Heavily treated soil selects for less cooperate AMF as only the "greediest" of fungi survive the harsher conditions, which then reduces plant productivity. Monocultures that don't have legumes/nitrogen-fixing plants can get screwed over since they just don't have an ecological niche that they need, and it is both expensive and less efficient to try and do the job of nitrogen-fixing plants manually through fertilization. The book also mentioned volcanic soil that was able to be sustainably farmed with the polyculture systems that local inhabitants had come to develop for it over long periods of time, an example of finding sustainable, reliable yields in an area the main farm doctrine would suggest massive land transformation to get a good few years of crop production out of. They also mentioned how squash bees do better in polycultures as opposed to squash monocultures, as in polycultures there are other flowers still available once all the squash flowers die out, allowing the bees to forage for more nectar should they need it. This further demonstrates just how more advantageous polycultures are than monocultures in countless ways.

The book talks about how Mexican workers, especially mestizos who carry on various Amerindian traditions, would plant polyculture gardens or farms if they had more access to farmland, but these areas are understudied and underreported compared to the large scale monocultures throughout the rest of the Central Valley  (which in-and-of-itself is overrepresented in farm research). Mexican land reforms under presidents such as Cárdenas, Obregón, and Carranza massively restored power to the Mexican peasant class which would aid the land with their more traditional polyculture meant to work with the land. However, under Cold War pressures and new administrations, an extractive, exploitive land management system would come to stifle this movement, giving less power to those who know how to grow food the best.

Corn was encouraged to be hybridized as it could have higher theoretical yield, but had to be continually rebought which in turn limits and strains the peasant class. It also encouraged the loss of seemingly endless knowledge and variations of corn spread throughout the Americas, and the same Cold War political pressures pushed farmers across the Western Hemisphere to adopt certain policies designed to just pump out the highest calorie count regardless of the specific local agricultural context. This destroys local culture, soil sustainability, and increases dependence on political figures and seed providers for the purpose of increasing calorie yields. In order to "modernize" Mexico, political and economic figures would encourage the land to be redeveloped to be more suitable for a specific method of farming corn rather than uses different varieties of corn and other plants to best conform to the local environment, as the book mentions a 100+ year old farmer doing with a wetland slated for draining. This also ignores the fact that certain ecosystems are entirely compatible with agriculture, just not the agriculture that was being peddled by foreign powers. Wetlands seasonally drying out and dying leads to organic matter content that Midwestern farm states could only dream of having.

Local farmers who had been farming these sorts of wetlands would also plant Alfalfa for their livestock, which then brings in the question of where is the livestock in agricultural context? They're entirely removed from the system, when in nature all aspects of life are conjoined. We artificially segment different parts of an ecosystem into certain chunks and then separate them into different lands - i.e. a hectare of only corn, maybe a hectare of an annual polyculture if you're feeling particularly brave - but that ignores the millions of years of coevolution that took place and encouraged plants and animals to best respond to each other, something the bison of last chapter brilliantly demonstrated. Modern agriculture rarely accounts for animals in farmland, and just pumps calories out of farm operations into mechanized livestock farms, which in turns pumps their livestock into slaughterhouses to meet the demand of meat markets.

I'll wrap up my thoughts on this chapter by saying that the goal of sustainable regenerative agriculture shouldn't just be finding a system that works well here and rubber-stamping it across the entire world. The damage the United States and allied powers have done by exerting their political force across the world to spread the unsustainable mechanized agriculture seen in monocultures across the US is staggering. If we want to create a more sustainable future, we have to realize agriculture should work with the landscape, the local ecosystem, and the local people. We should be fostering/spreading ideas and strategies and not templates. This chapter demonstrated the negative effects of forcing a specific farming style across the world can have, even if done with genuinely good intentions (although I'm sure the seed distributors were more than happy to recieve a larger market for their product).

Jack - Chapter 3

 In chapter 3 of Healing Grounds, they get into the regenerative agricultural practices coming from the Latinx community and farming traditions. This chapter helped explain how some Mexican and Central American communities have managed to preserve their traditional polycultural methods. These ideologies can enhance biodiversity and soil health and are most often ignored and looked at as the past. Carlisle points out that many farmers or farms in California's Central Valley are seen as "hidden hotspots" of biodiversity. The methods mentioned such as intercropping, composting and cover cropping can all be extremely beneficial to the soil in several ways. This chapter helps us understand the past of the Latinx farming community and how they have been ignored and manipulated over the years. Issues of land dispossession and labor exploitation have been ongoing problems for these communities for many years with no change. Chapter 3 really shows us the importance of embracing, listening to and working with the Latinx community and their agricultural knowledge. The goal is to hopefully push these ideas into the broader field of regenerative agriculture.

Chapter 3

     In chapter 3, Guzman talks about her research between 31 different small farms. Half that had a single crop and half that had a diverse mix. Her first sign were the bees. She realized that with these squash bees, who exclusively rely on squash, would stick around longer in the polyculture. But in the monoculture, they would run out of stuff to forage. 

    Her primary interest however was the fungi in the soil. She explained that in monoculture the soil is bare for the period of time in crops which would lead the fungi to then starve. In the farms with polyculture though they had twice as many types of fungi rather than the monoculture. She then states that if we need biodiversity underground then we need it aboveground too.

    She then talks about some history of farming. 5,000 years ago when Indigenous Mesoamericans first domesticated corn they knew better than to plant it alone. They would plant it with beans and squash. They found that these 3 crops when planted together helped each other out a bunch. The beans would add nitrogen which the corn would use up and the squash would help with erosion using its broad leaves to smother weeds.

    This just shows us that even 5,000 years ago they knew it was better to plant stuff together rather than keeping them separate.

Chapter 3

In Chapter 3 of Healing Grounds, Aidee Guzman, an ecologist, talks about her family’s farm in Mexico, where different types of crops grow together in the same space. This kind of farming, known as polyculture, supports the health of the soil and creates a more balanced system. It’s a big difference from the large, single-crop farms common in the U.S. The chapter also explains how early European settlers brought their own farming methods and ignored the practices that were already working here. That decision has caused long-term problems for both the environment and the communities tied to the land.

Chapter two

This chapter shows that regenerative agriculture is traditional farming mixed with indigenous knowledge that recognizes the natives understanding of land, people, and community. This chapter talks about trying to repair the damage caused in the past, seeking a sustainable path forward. To do this, we must listen to past wisdom. By "honoring" the earth as we can create a future where we work with the earth instead of hurting it.

 In Chapter 2 of Healing Grounds emphasizes "ecocentrism", a view that sees the land not as a commodity to exploit or sell, but as a shared home. This calls for a shift in agricultural practices, urging us to care for the earth with respect and understanding, and to return to it what we take.

Chapter 1

 Addressing the inequalities created by this system involves more than just acknowledging the harm done. Efforts to implement change are slowed down by big government and a lack of ideas for the future. With out action, there might be nothing left to save Progress should prioritize both acknowledgment and solutions that lead to real change.

The current agricultural system, particularly in the U.S., is unsustainable and damaging to the environment as we are told in chapter 1. It is from a period of rapid industrialization that disconnected farming from natural ecosystems and native people. In contrast, many Indian agricultural practices, demonstrate more sustainable methods that work in harmony with nature. The widespread destruction of natural species, like buffalo, are an example of the consequences of industrial farming.

Healing Grounds Chapter 3

This chapter allowed us into the world of Aidee Guzman. She was researching the untold story of Center Valley agriculture. One thing she talks about is how even specialty bees like squash bees preferred polyculture over monoculture. The squash flowers would close for the morning but in a polyculture environment the bees would stick around to forage for other nectar, but in monoculture the bees would have nothing else to eat. Her main interest was the fungi that lived in the soil. She developed a DNA sequencing machine that would allow her into the world of soil fungi and find a fungus that associates with plant roots. It's called arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and it helped make an evolutionary jump from ocean to land. The plants and fungi would work together and thrive off each other. She was able to find that polyculture fields have twice as many fungi compared to a monoculture field. 

As the chapter continues, we learn about some history of farming. When the Indigenous Mesoamerican people domesticated corn, they would grow it along many other vegetables. They would create a complex three-dimensional structure of crops so the crops could thrive off each other and create habitat for beneficial insects. They called this polyculture The Milpa. It helps play a key role in regenerative diversity. There was also some information on the Mayans and their multilayered home gardens. These gardens had root crops, fruit trees, ground cover vegetables like squash, and allowed small livestock into those systems as well. 

Then came the Green Revolution. A man named Norman Borlaug would win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for breeding a hybrid wheat seed that along with herbicides, irrigation and lots of fertilizer would double yields. It became a business model of selling new seeds every year instead of using seeds from what you produced. Besides what good does all the hybrid seeds do if you are using countless of harmful chemicals. Then the change of polycultures to just acres and acres of corn which destroys the soil. Throughout the years our agricultural system has really changed in a horrible damaging way. 

Healing Ground Chapter 3 - Sorrel

    Chapter 3 of Healing Grounds offers a compelling look at how traditional farming practices – particularly those rooted in Mesoamerican cultures – challenge the dominant narratives of industrial agriculture. One of the central stories in this chapter is that of Aidee Guzman, a Chicana soil ecologist whose work reveals the ecological value of polyculture farming systems. Her reflections on her family’s farm in Mexico highlight a method of agriculture that is both highly biodiverse and deeply relational – practices that stand in contrast to the more extractive and commodified systems common in the United States.

    Guzman’s description of her family’s tropical polyculture farm offers a different model of food production, one that integrates various plant species in a single space. This stands in contrast to the large-scale monocultures typically seen in U.S. industrial farming. Guzman’s research into arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in Central Valley soils supports the idea that above-ground plant diversity plays a crucial role in maintaining healthy underground ecosystems. These fungi help crops absorb nutrients, showing that biodiversity supports not just ecological resilience but also productivity.

    Carlisle’s discussion also touches on the historical roots of agricultural systems in the U.S. and the way colonial settlers imposed European methods without adapting to the local environment or acknowledging Indigenous expertise. This tendency to overlook local knowledge systems has had lasting impacts, both environmentally and socially. Many traditional practices, like those used in Mesoamerica, have not only been overlooked but actively displaced. Yet these practices often offer more sustainable, community-oriented approaches to land stewardship.

    A small but telling detail in the chapter is the note that the Nahuatl language doesn’t have a term for a monoculture cornfield – instead, the word used describes a field with many kinds of plants growing together. Language, in this case, reflects a worldview that sees agriculture as inherently interconnected. As regenerative agriculture becomes a more prominent conversation in climate and food policy circles, recognizing and respecting these cultural frameworks is essential. Without them, solutions risk becoming technical fixes rather than holistic changes rooted in justice and equity.

Chapter Two - Jack

 Chapter Two of healing grounds gets into the historical and ongoing struggles of Black Americans in securing and maintaining land ownership. Carlisle looks into how systemic racism, including slavery, discriminatory policies, and land dispossession have all systematically excluded black communities from land access. As well as impeding on their ability to build wealth and sustain agricultural traditions.​ This chapter also shows us the resilience and innovation of black farmers. Through these struggles and challenges, they have managed to preserve their ancestors' farming practices. I think this chapter did a good job at really putting it into perspective and showing the struggles to obtain land for so many years. The one section that stood out to me was the "Forty acres and a mule". It seemed as everything was looking up with Special Field order No. 15 but then it was all just taken away. As the President Andrew Johnson rescinded the order and black people lost their land again. It just is so absurd that one man had the power to take away something he didn't give away and really had no right to. As the chapter stated these areas were then heavily trying to reinstate economic and political conditions that were unacceptable. 

Healing Grounds - Chapter 2

Reading the Chapter Black Land Matters, I loved learning more about the history of agroforestry. I have always thought monoculture was strange in any regard, as most organisms need other organisms of different biology to thrive. Additionally, the stewardship of mycelium by Watkins is admirable. The mycelium network is integral to forest biodiversity, and it was fascinating to learn that she started with mushroom logging. Her approach to stewardship seems to be successful and has given me many ideas for my future projects.  

We have, for many decades, forced Americans of African descent in the U.S. into consistent oppression. The ideology of settler colonization STILL can be traced in society to this very day. Even without slavery, the governing forces did their very best to keep black communities destitute. However, there were many significant leaders along the way, such as George Washington Carver and Fannie Lou Hamer, that dedicated their lives to rerouting the history of their ancestor’s ties to the land.  

After the stealing, stifling, and infringing of the black farming community by white officials and their racist alliances, it’s a miracle that, in 2025, there are black farmers who own the land they farm. As an Environmental Science student, I think it’s essential to know your connection as a human to the land that provides for you. This (the U.S.) isn’t a white person’s land; this is native land that was utilized with respect for thousands of years before European settlers came in with their big ideas. How can we expect a land that we have disrespected for decades to provide for us? Studying the historical practices of natives on the land they are native to is the only way to fully comprehend the biodiversity of all living organisms in that region.  

Even with the studies of Carver, we learned so much about the vital building blocks of agriculture. His forward push towards black independence, using self-sufficiency, established footholds in progress toward civil rights policies. This clearly had a successful impact because, at every turn, the white majority scrambled to undermine their advances. Human resilience helped the black farmers take back their farming freedoms even from the moment they were forced from their homelands. By braiding seeds in their hair upon capture, they were able to bring their source of sustenance to the north. Dooryard gardens carried practices through slavery into emancipation and 100 years of racist policy to the young black farmers of today. Although it is a tragic story that should not have to be told, it is a vital part of black farming heritage that deserves respect. 

Healing Grounds Chapter 2

     In Healing Grounds chapter 2, Romero-Briones’s ecocentrism thoughts helps others realize that the land is not something to own for human’s personal gain. It is something we are able to belong to. This is the only way we should be going about agricultural practices to be able to maintain the land we were given. What the land gives for us we should be returning in other forms and by respecting the naturality of it. 

            Chapter two highlights that regenerative agriculture is not only a set of practices but something that honors indigenous knowledge systems. The goal of regenerative agriculture is to ‘heal’ the damage inflicted by colonialism and the repetitiveness of taking advantage of the land. In order to make a significant change we need to be listening to what worked historically so we do not repeat our mistakes. Something that is missing is viewing or land as a gift not just something to exploit. We need to treat it as we would each other or it won’t be there much longer. 

Chapter 2 Healing Grounds

 The first part of this chapter takes a dive into the history of black owned land and talks about the annual negro farmers conference. Something that caught my attention was the endless cycle black farmers had with debt. They were not able to feed or clothe their family which resulted in them borrowing money from local merchants. Unfortunately, these merchants were connected to the planters who land they farmed which led to landowners retaining their labor force and dictating the terms of their work. It’s also know as sharecropping, aka a system of slavery. 

There was so much land taken from black farmers. Even when black applicants were approved for loans the rates would be were worse for them compared to white farmers for the same sized land. It lead to a lawsuit called Pigford v. Glickman which was settled out for 500 million dollars. It was the largest civil rights settlement in history.

Another big topic for this chapter was agroforestry and soil. Watkins had worked in other agroforestry systems before but the alley cropped agroforestry was noticed to provide wind barriers and prevented soil erosion itself instead of needing help. Deforestation is the cause of 10-15 percent of global carbon emissions. The other point is soil and mycelium. They help other plants absorb and exchange nutrients! It’s honestly very interesting to read about agroforestry and the benefits that come from it. 

Jake - Healing Grounds Chapter 2

Cultural access to land is important for more novel innovation and proper access. Uses for certain food products, possible companion planting strategies, agroforestry techniques, and more are being lost as a result of certain cultural perspectives being excluded from meaningful agricultural representation. If 20% of America was Vietnamese but only 1% of agriculture was Vietnamese led, then there is a good chance a large market for certain Vietnamese food goods (think rice, shallots, ginger, etc.) would be left unfulfilled. If more of this hypothetical America was Vietnamese, there would be a good chance these Vietnamese farmers would have more insight into fulfilling this market demand, and possibly improve the cultivation of these target crops with cultural agricultural techniques in the process. Right now our general thinking of agriculture is extractive, exploitative, and eroding. This cannot sustain itself, and rather than trying to reinvent agriculture, we ought to turn to the myriads of existing agricultural techniques across the many cultures of the world, including many in our own country, and learn what we should be shifting towards for a sustainable yield from sustained soil in the future

Going onto black land loss specifically, a 98% drop in land ownership is a bewildering statistic, and it shows that blacks had land access but rarely now do. This shows that during the get big or get out era, the wider black perspective and knowledge did not get taken into account. Although more plausible than slave reparations since the loss of black land ownership is generally over a century more recent, compensation for this loss is still hard. As white land ownership also dropped 67%, this era of personal land loss wasn't only a black issue, but did affect them disproportionately. Trying to improve food justice by trying to restore black land ownership would inevitably only heighten tension among other groups, chiefly those affected by the 67% drop of white land ownership. This then leads into the problem of where if you can't enforce something, you have to encourage it instead, and that can end up riddled with inefficiencies and NIMBYs.

Finally, when it comes to any social justice you have to ask the question "what can/should I do?" Understanding that this is a culturally sensitive problem, I - a white 19 year old man - am not the solution to black participation in agriculture. I personally believe the role I play in this is primarily to not impede any potential possible change, but rather to cheer on from the sidelines while not be the driver of any trends myself. I generally don't believe in solving racial issues by solely looking at race, instead I believe if group A is disproportionately discriminated against, helping ALL discriminated people would just so happen to disproportionately help group A. I'm not saying I'm correct and my thinking is flawless, but I really do want to avoid any situation were any one group sees societal backlash for receiving "unfair preference".

Chapter 2

 In Chapter 2 of Healing Grounds, Romero-Briones offers a different way of thinking about land. Instead of seeing it as property to be managed or used for production, she talks about the idea that people are connected to the land in a deeper way. Native farming traditions emphasize care, respect, and long-term responsibility. These methods go beyond growing food, they’re tied to culture and community. This stands in contrast to modern agricultural systems, which often focus on efficiency, output, and short-term results (how much corn).

Romero-Briones also raises concerns about how some sustainable farming efforts improve our food systems may involves more than just new techniques, it means recognizing the knowledge and experience of those who’ve been working with the land for generations. The overall message is about building more thoughtful, lasting relationships with the land, instead of simply trying to fix problems with quick solutions.

Healing Grounds Chapter 2 - Sorrel

    Reading about Olivia Watkins and her family’s forested land in North Carolina was really interesting. There’s something powerful about a Black woman taking care of land that’s been in her family since the 1890s – especially knowing how rare that kind of inheritance is due to the long history of Black land dispossession in this country. Watkins isn’t just managing trees and soil – she’s stewarding memory, protection, and resistance. That forest has absorbed generations of her family’s care, and now she’s continuing that legacy through agroforestry.

I thought it was a neat perspective how Watkins sees the forest as a living archive. It holds a record of survival, not in words but in roots and canopy. Her approach to agroforestry isn’t just about ecological sustainability – it’s about preserving something sacred. In a world where land is so often reduced to its monetary value, her story is a reminder that land can also be refuge, kin, and history. It’s easy to talk about climate solutions in abstract terms, but Olivia Watkins’s work brings it down to Earth (literally) and ties it to lineage, healing, and the right to belong.

    Indigenous farming practices approach land as something to be in relationship with – something to respect, care for, and listen to. There's a strong sense of reciprocity embedded in these methods: the land provides, but people also give back, not just through physical actions like planting or harvesting, but through ceremony, intention, and care. In contrast, Western agricultural systems often treat land as a resource to be maximized, commodified, and controlled. This extractive mindset prioritizes short-term gains over long-term health, both for ecosystems and communities. The difference isn’t just in technique – it’s in worldview.

    What really stood out to me was the critique of how some regenerative agriculture movements co-opt Indigenous practices while failing to include Indigenous people. It’s not enough to adopt a few “sustainable” techniques and call it justice. Without addressing the historical context – land theft, displacement, erasure – it’s just another form of extraction.

    This chapter reminded me that healing land is about more than soil health or carbon storage. It’s about restoring relationships – with the earth, with each other, and with the histories we often choose to forget. If we're serious about building a better food system, Black and Indigenous voices can’t be an afterthought – they need to be leading the way in changing our system.

Healing Grounds Intro and Chapter 1

 In the introduction of Healing Grounds the author, Liz Carlisle, explores and talks about racial injustice and agriculture. She mentions that true environmental healing is inseparable from social justice. There is a big point of how different communities (Indigenous, Black, Latinx, and Asian Americans) employed sustainable farming practices until industrial agriculture. In order to help heal the land we should integrate traditional methods and achieve social justice. 

In the first chapter Liz talks about the work done by Latrice Tatsey. She is an ecologist and a member of the Blackfeet Nation. Her research is about how reintroducing bison to traditional grazing landscapes could positively impact organic soil matter and carbon content. By enhancing organic matter it can combat climate change. It can also connect Indigenous communities to their ancestral land. Reading the impacts of bison are extremely interesting. They were native to America and had so many positive affects on the land.

Colonization lead to displacement of land, labor exploitation, loss of food sovereignty, barriers to land access, and traditional knowledge. I did not have much knowledge about some of these points. It is incredibly sad knowing about how much causality has happened and the effects it has had on our land. 

Healing Grounds - Chapter 1

     It was truly devastating to be educated on the massacre of the people and lands of the Indigenous Americas. I would consider myself pretty informed on the subject, but I was unaware of some specific aspects of colonial agriculture. Perhaps I was just assuming that I knew the answers, or hiding from the gorey reality of what my European ancestors may have committed that has led to my existence on this land today. Perhaps there are deep elements of shame, and I think that's acceptable. 

    On one hand, there is that. And on the other hand, there is an appreciation of the ability to learn from this. With every horror story of the past, we are genuinely supposed to carry on in a better way forward. At times, it seems as though we are destined to repeat history. In any case, some of us will try our best no matter what. So, I would say I am ultimately grateful to be able to learn of the vast prairie lands, buffalo roaming without fences, and the delicate yet thriving ecosystems of their Indigenous people before colonization.

    Soil is one of the cornerstones of agriculture and its balance within the food system is something that is, unfortunately, often overlooked. With the arrival of the white man and the slaughtering of buffalo and native people and their agriculture systems, the land paid the ultimate price-- and in turn, we are paying for those consequences now. For me, it is a glaring comparison to how clearly biodiversity is. Causality is intricate to every level of natural existence, including humans. The genocide of our own species and destruction of the interwoven connectedness of native communities to their land has resulted in unsuitable soils for current and future production. 

    On the brighter side, it was hopeful learning of the current attempts by farmers such as the Tatsey family, doing the work of saints, to restore the practices of their ancestors that were nearly wiped out, on their ancestral land. However, they have struggled in their own ways to convince their Indigenous rancher neighbors to reintegrate buffalo. The mere mention of the word "buffalo" is something that can trigger many natives subjugated to reform schools. These living relatives still battle internally with something most of us cannot fathom. 

    But the buffalo, a native to the land, was a necessary part of the biodiversity of the lands here in America. Their grazing and natural movements had profound effects on habitats spanning miles. From the microorganisms in the soil-- to the birds nesting in the underbrush, the buffalo were responsible for all of it, actually creating it and maintaining its existence. So the Tatsey family persisted and their research, and the research of other scientists, is currently underway and already given a glimpse into pre-colonial agriculture practices we all need right now. 

    Overall, I think the reading has had a profound way on how I currently view agriculture in America and globally. I have a vested interest in not only farming on the land that I was born on but a true desire to do so least aggressively and most respectfully possible. I know that further readings will help me to understand even more of the whole scope of agriculture. As environmental science majors, we all have a responsibility and hopefully the desire to maintain as much of our living biodiversity as we can, from the smallest to the largest scale. 

Jake Healing Grounds Chapter 1

The agricultural systems that are responsible for feeding the billions of people alive today are not sustainable and degrade the land they are used on. It's a product of the industrial revolution super-charging western agricultural techniques, which were already comparatively less attached to nature than many other culture's systems of agriculture. When trying to answer "How do we get the agricultural system to work with nature instead of against it?", many indigenous systems around the world provide clues or answers that we can more readily learn about than trying to rediscover knowledge many groups have known for countless generations. This is most prominent in America where not only do we have the most radical version of the supercharged, upscaled, industrialized agriculture, but the ecosystem itself was colonized to more closely match the European environments the settlers were more used to (Carlisle talks much about the buffalo, but another great example is the beaver. After decades of acknowledging the benefit beavers bring and encouraging them rather than exterminating, North America has an estimated beaver population of 15 million. Pre-European beaver population estimated range from 100 to 200 million. We need more beaver.).

Moving on to the justice part of all of this, what should be done with the marginalized voices that got pushed aside for the current agricultural system and the voices we should turn to now to improve the agricultural system we live in? My opinion on this issue is shaped by Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. It's a great book that looks into why projects in the U.S. regarding housing, infrastructure, climate change, etc don't get results. What I took away from that book is that the powers that be either do not care for these projects and those that do become too engaged in crafting the perfect process that the results never came. After an infrastructure bill passed at the beginning of Biden's term, it took nearly 4 years of work to take 56 applications for funding of rural broadband projects and return 3 applications that could theoretically receive funding from congress to begin the construction which would take however much longer. Nothing has happened as a result of all the effort put in for that rural broadband.

I do not have an exact answer for how we should help out those that have been screwed over by having their way of life taken over and now investigated to find out what they did right that our agriculture does wrong. What I do know is that if we carry on as we have been for a while, we'll likely end up doing little more than wasting time figuring out how we want to make amends without ever getting anything material done. I'd never say to just ignore compensation and acknowledgement, but it would be a damn shame to see another incident of potential growth and healing crushed under the weight of good intentions that had no muscle to support them. 

Intro and Chapter 1

 Liz Carlisle starts the introduction by highlighting the environmental issues that are going on today. Things like climate change, soil degradation and the extreme loss of biodiversity. She gets into the fact that it is not just an ecological issue but a social and political issue. She believes that our modern industrial and agricultural practices have negatively impacted our crops and soil fertility. She proposed regenerative farming as an alternative moving forward, such as cover cropping, and rotational grazing. In my opinion I think that introducing new agricultural practices is one thing but actually implementing them would be a huge step forward for our food systems and will help promote a sense of justice for certain communities that are faced with food insecurity.  

Moving into chapter 1, she discusses the history of our agricultural practices and how they came to be. It is important to understand our practices and policies if we are to positively move forward towards regenerative farming. Carlisle talks about how older more traditional practices have had some respect for the land including crop diversification and grazing. Regenerative farming can play a huge role in mitigating climate change by eliminating the amount of carbon dioxide that gets released into the atmosphere. Her emphasis in this chapter was how to work with and not against the land when dealing with climate change and it gave me a whole new perspective on the issue. I agree with her, I believe that humans have dealt with issues by industrial practices and developing new ideas when we need to use the land and natural resources we were given.  

With new practices comes challenges and she addresses them at the end of Chapter 1. Obviously, the financial aspect plays a role in how much the farmers can change their agricultural practices, especially with an already challenging budget. Carlisle emphasizes on an opportunity for transforming policy changes and a community based agricultural network. In my opinion, there won’t be enough change until more people become informed and involved and Carlisle does a great job addressing the major issues in this book to hopefully get the ball rolling.  

Week 10

      In the introduction of this book Carlise explains how she became deeply interested in the concept of regenerative agriculture after realizing that industrial agriculture was focusing on monoculture and synthetic chemicals. Which has caused immense damage to the environment, including soil degradation and loss of biodiversity. She explains how regenerative agriculture is based on holistic practices aimed at restoring soil health, increasing biodiversity, and promoting climate resilience. 

    In chapter 1 she digs deeper into the specifics of regenerative agriculture and how its practiced. She notes that one of the most compelling aspects of regenerative agriculture is its potential to sequester carbon from the atmosphere and reduce the effects of climate change. She states many regenerative farmers struggle against powerful agricultural corporations. She states that even though these farmers have had challenges they persevere and continue to transform their land and communities for the better. 

    I agree with what she states in this first chapter. I think we need regenerative agricultural now more than ever. The world is heating up, and our soil has no nutrients anymore. This could help both of those problems. I like how regenerative agriculture treats the land as a living, breathing entity that requires care and attention. I think this is 100% true and we need to start taking care of it now. 

Healing Grounds Intro and Chapter 1 - Sorrel

    Reading Liz Carlisle’s Healing Grounds has me think about many of the big ideas about climate, race, and land - and how deeply intertwined they all are. The book starts with a powerful critique of how we’re trying to “solve” climate change. One idea that really stood out to me was the use of negative emissions technology, like building artificial trees to pull carbon from the air. It’s almost laughable when you think about it - why build fake trees when real ones already do the job, and so much more? It feels like a band-aid solution, a shiny distraction from the deeper changes we need to make.

    Carlisle points out something simple but brilliant: if we’ve learned how to pull carbon out of soil, shouldn’t we also be able to figure out how to put it back in? That’s where regenerative agriculture comes in - working with the land instead of against it. It’s not a flashy solution, but it’s rooted in real care and connection with the Earth. And often, those practicing these techniques are Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian American farmers whose ancestral knowledge has been overlooked or dismissed for centuries.

    That brings me to another key thread: racial justice. Carlisle tells stories of Native American and Asian displacement and African slavery, tying together how deeply racism is embedded in U.S. history - and how it's still shaping who owns land and who gets to heal it. I grew up in a diverse school and was lucky to learn about these histories from a young age, but many people never have. They don’t realize how much of our modern systems were built on these foundations - and still carry those inequalities today.

    Even something as seemingly simple as fences made me pause. Carlisle talks about how land used to be open and communal before colonizers imposed property lines. When you think about it, fences are kind of a weird concept - drawing invisible lines to claim pieces of the Earth as "mine." It makes you wonder what was lost in that shift.

    One of my favorite things I was thinking about while reading this chapter is the fact that bison used to roam across Pennsylvania. It’s wild to imagine that! And even more wild to think how different our landscapes - and diets - might be today if they hadn’t been hunted to near extinction. I didn’t realize bison meat is actually healthier than beef, either. It's another reminder of how much knowledge was erased or pushed aside.

Food Justice and Municipal Governments

 In Liz Carlisle’s Book, Healing Grounds: Climate, Justice, and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming Chapter “Municipal Governments and Food Justice”, she starts off by addressing some missed opportunities for fertile sites. Cities are overlooked as a food system even though they have fertile grounds when we could be utilizing this to our advantage. She doesn’t like the idea that regenerative farming is only meant for rural spaces. I think if we were to reshape our perspective of agriculture, we could have more sustainability in our food systems especially in areas that need to import most of their food (cities). 

In order to move forward in the world of sustainable agriculture, in most cases you need to get the approval of federal or local governments. Governments can make or break policies that fight for food justice. Carlisle talks about how if local governments support community land trusts and protect farmland it will help improve food justice. The author not only wrote this to inform people of what needs to be done, but to bring out initiative for action. Although it might seem that nothing can really change without national legislation, it is not the case. 

One of the main points Carlisle brings up is how we need to reconnect with our land and food relationships. Governments should be seen as a collaborator not just a ruler in these situations because it is collectively affecting humankind. To end the chapter she reminds the readers that regenerative change can happen wherever you are even a city and it is everyone’s role to do their part in this movement.  

Food Justice and Municipal Governments - Week 7 Blog Post

I keep asking myself, how do we end up here? How many generations of unlearning will we have to do? How do we fix the layered damage of our country’s atrocities? There is some hope in this text, however. The research gathered from these two locations, the PSRFPC and the City of Seattle, sheds light on what is happening behind closed doors to address some of our issues within the food industry.

I appreciated Horst's approach when comparing these two channels of food systems. She broke her observations down into 5 essential parts of food justice. She analyzed these two municipalities through this lens. She was not focused on purely examining procedures and processes that implement food justice practices, but also the shortcomings within these two systems. This type of comparison allowed the reader to better understand what food justice policy can and should look like and what or how progressive practices are being taken.

The City of Seattle did a slightly better job with follow-through when it came to fair and just food practices. However, some findings of her research showed that when initiatives were being implemented, they ultimately ran out of funding. Funding and policy changes for programs such as the community gardens effort in the City of Seattle, which was 71% low-income by 2013, eventually ran into land access challenges. They ended up with many interested parties and not enough land for the gardens. Even with the push of farmer's markets, most of these end up in or ultimately surrounded by the wealthy and elite, instead of easily accessible to low-income families who need it most.

A big hurdle to address is the lack of representation in these municipalities. In two situations, there was someone who brought up important focus points during meetings. In both of these instances, one an Indigenous representative and one a union representative, stopped attending meetings. Without representation from the communities directly impacted, these issues were never brought to the front of the line and therefore lost the attention it deserved. 

There are many setbacks when looking to close the gaps to obtain a just and sustainable agriculture system. Changes in government often aim to tackle one problem while consequently creating several other problems in the process. When we are looking at something as serious as food, something we all need to survive, we have to look at every level of that food system. Agriculture systems are vast, with many processes (some very unnecessary ones) and affect real-life individuals, from field pickers to chemists. We need to strive for better wealth equality and safer working environments with liveable wages while making sure to address inequity and land use.

Food justice and municipal government in the USA

 With this article we see the topic of government regulation and influence and the role they play in urban food systems. The author describes the role these local governments have in managing infrastructure, public safety, as well as social services. They also must be the link between state and local authorities. The topics focused on are not new to us at this point, they tell us how zoning laws, policies, budget allocations and new land use planning are all used to deter specific groups of people. While they stress the idea of public participation and community by encouraging voting and encouraging people to advocate to enforce local policy, others face different constraints. For many, financial hardship, bureaucratic inefficiencies and local conflict are all boundaries for people who need service. These new problems will always lead to new solutions, people will always fight back and fight for what they want so when faced with urbanization and a switch in demographics there will be problems that arise. The more work these local governments do to push for sustainability that is in their control the better it can get. If more people push for environmentally friendly options and renewable energy, then we may see improvement for the people who need it. I like this article as it presents what seems to be two sides of an issue. People in the government, you often assume, aren't worried about where their food comes from or how accessible food is for others. The more these people who seem to be living an opposite life understand the struggle and want for healthy, accessible food, the more we could see change.

Food Justice and Municipal Government in the USA

 This article talks about two cases in western Washington, PSRFPC and the city of Seattle, going over five major aspects of food justice which include land, labor, trauma/inequality, exchange, and democratic process. The goal for this article was to investigate the opportunities and restraints in the municipal food system. Personally this article was a little harder to read just because it did not seem super organized. 

The main points for PSRFPC were how they advocated for urban agriculture and subsidies for low income populations. They also acknowledge indigenous food system destruction. The main points for the city of Seattle were their initiatives like community gardens, municipal gardening and their urban agriculture policies. They hired a food policy coordinator to form an interdepartmental food team. The goal was to integrate equity into planning. 

There were still many challenges within these cases though. There were neoliberal constraints where corporate interests dictate food policies. Urban agriculture also boosted property values rather than advancing the food justice system. Lastly, the food policy councils cannot engage marginalized communities resulting in white-centric perspective. While there has been some progress in food justice there are still limitations. We must move towards a structural reform to redistribute resources. 

Food Justice and Municipal Government in the USA

 Megan Horst’s article, "Food Justice and Municipal Government in the USA," argues that local governments should play a bigger role in food systems to achieve “food justice.” She looks at food policies in Seattle and the Puget Sound area, claiming they don’t do enough to help marginalized communities.

She criticizes market-based solutions and believes community-led efforts should have more control. Horst also questions Seattle’s use of a sweetened beverage tax for food programs but seems to prefer even more government funding.

Overall, she argues that real change requires shifting power away from businesses and policymakers to local activist groups. This viewpoint ignores the importance of our free markets (and personal responsibility that comes with that). Her approach favors bigger government involvement and policies that prioritize "bureaucratic" oversight over our economic freedom, and which unfortunately leads to more taxes that will only end up hurting the people who actually earned their money. We should try and let local communities and businesses find their own solutions.