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.