Check out the interviews with Joanna Campe and Don Weaver on 21st Century Radio

Dr. Zohara Hieronimus

Joanna Campe, founder and executive director of Remineralize the Earth (RTE), and Don Weaver appeared on 21st Century Radio with Dr. Zohara Hieronimus in June. They shared exciting news about remineralization efforts around the world and their impact on agriculture, health, and climate.

Joanna Campe

Joanna Campe has been networking and promoting remineralization since the mid-1980’s, and RTE was formed in 1995 as a nonprofit organization to assist in facilitating the global movement  and to focus on the potential of remineralization to address ecological, economic and social challenges on a regional and global scale.

After decades of advocating for  soil remineralization compared to a previous conversation between Joanna and Dr. Hieronimus back in early 90s,   soil remineralization has gained scientific credibility through publishing Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, and Reversing CO2 Increase in 2014 and creating the only research database online dedicated to remineralization and become a global movement.

Brazil  has become “the emerging leader for research and policy making for remineralization.” With the collaborative contribution of  farmers and gardeners and scientists and policy makers,   projects have been initiated on every continent except Antarctica. The first International Conference on Rocks for Crops was held in Brasilia in 2004. Joanna Campe was a keynote speaker at the conference in 2013 and the next upcoming conference is being held in November, 2016.

Don Weaver

Like Joanna, RTE board advisor and ecologist Don Weaver also has been working on remineralization-related topics for a very long time. More than three decades of work for soil remineralization and earth regeneration,  Don is the  author of the books The Survival of Civilization (co-authored by John Hamaker) (1982), To Love and Regenerate the Earth (2002), and Regenerate the Earth! (2011). In the second part of the interview, he shared his experiences and opinions on soil regeneration, especially from the perspective of relating soil health to human health in both physical and mental aspects.

Don emphasizes that it is urgent not only to stabilize soils but also to regenerate soils in order to give back nutrients as much or more than we’ve been taking from the soil. Organic farming based on remineralization has proven to be effective through years of application.

When asked about the current status, Don said, “(we have gained) more and more awareness, but still there are more and more good examples of what can be done to regenerate the land and further improve human health at the same time….but things are changing too slowly.” To promote this process, he emphasized the importance and power of education. He once again raised the awareness of public to wake up to the need of regenerate the soil. He hopes more and more people can pursue “self-education and share what you learn.”

Please listen to the full interview online at http://21stcenturyradio.com/audioarchives/2016/#CampeWeaverZimmer

RTE advocates for an innovative agroforestry system as demonstrated at Sitio Semente just outside of Brasilia which produces a tremendous diversity of fruits, vegetables, coffee and cacao, and sell their produce at a farmer’s market in Brasilia. They are transforming the surrounding degraded land into a productive food forest, made possible through one initial application of rock dust with no reliance on outside inputs thereafter. Please see the inspiring video “From Garden to Forest:” (agendagotsch.com)

Shu Li is a Plant Biology Ph.D. student at  Pennsylvania State University. Her dissertation research specializes on the reproductive barrier mechanism in flowering plants termed as self-incompatibility, from which she has developed an interest in the genetics of reproduction and speciation. Besides basic research, Shu is also passionate about science communication and science writing. Currently, she is serving as editorial board member for several journals and involved in many outreach activities as a member of GWIS (Graduate Women in Science). In her spare time, she enjoys running, reading, and working on her first novel.