33 results for tag: soil

Soil Remineralization Shapes Yields and Elevates Food Nutrition: An Interview with Philipp Swoboda

Philipp Swoboda grew up with a forest bordering his family’s hillside home in Austria, which he believes contributed greatly to his early love of nature. Throughout his upbringing, being in and around nature was essentially the norm. Although he lived on the outskirts of an urban area, Philipp recalls his passion for exploring the forest and seeing wildlife in its natural habitat. Fast forward a couple decades and Philipp’s passion for nature continued with his obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in environmental system science, course-heavy in geography, and then earning a Master’s Degree in sustainable development — an international program ...

The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation – Advancing remineralization into the mainstream

Responding to climate change is one of the most complicated and one of the most long-term projects humanity has ever undertaken. If we're going to manage this challenge, it's going to involve new policies, new laws, and new ways of behaving. We have to think not of ourselves (that in itself is a challenge for human beings); we have to think of future generations. Oliver Morton, The Economist   The grand challenge A new paradigm for research has taken shape in a ground-breaking effort to mitigate climate change, and remineralization is the focus of this unique new approach. The Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation was founded ...

Pioneer Spotlight: Acknowledging the contributions of sustainable agriculture consultant Steve Diver

Long-time agriculture and horticulture specialist Steve Diver has been an active proponent of the remineralization movement for many years. His scholastic training focused on the areas of horticulture, botany, plant physiology, and soil science, and in the years since, he has become a sought-after expert in those areas of study and the agriculture industry as a whole. Diver has spent his career thus far working in various agricultural capacities, including an 18-year stint with the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) as a specialist with the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service (ATTRA). With ATTRA, Diver particip...

Documenting Reasons for Optimism: Mitigating Climate Change through Soil Restoration

It is important to document reasons for optimism, focusing on the future we want to achieve. Several trends, in particular trends regarding soil regeneration, support optimism about the environment. We need to build upon these positive trends, while resisting the negative ones. For years while I was in Geneva, Switzerland, I published and edited the Worldwatch Institute’s World Watch magazine and annual State of the World report. Worldwatch was founded by Lester Brown, who also founded the Earth Policy Institute, and it has done a remarkable job monitoring the environmental crisis and promoting solutions to it. It promoted ...

Inspiring Documentary Features Geotherapy – Dirt Rich empowers viewers to participate in solutions to reverse runaway global warming

  Dirt Rich, a new documentary by filmmaker Marcelina Cravat about geotherapy and regenerative agriculture, now has an official trailer and is making the rounds of film festivals. The film is narrated by actor Gregory Cruz and features music by Tom Rhodes. It has appeared in film festivals, including at the Green Film Fest in San Francisco, and will contribute to raising awareness of remineralization. The filmmaking team of the award winning environmental documentary, Angel Azul, is about to release Dirt Rich, a creative and ambitious first of its kind documentary as it comprehensively shifts focus on the topic of global ...

Al Gore, Meet Soil4Climate – Spontaneous Soil Summit at Tufts University Reception

“Al Gore’s leadership on climate change has been second to none. The inclusion of soil carbon drawdown in his Climate Reality training of climate educators has helped spread awareness of soil’s role in climate mitigation.” - Dr. Bill Moomaw Vice President Al Gore recently spoke with two Soil4Climate representatives at a reception at Tufts University. Gore traveled to Tufts on February 7th to kick off the Spring 2018 Tisch College Distinguished Speaker Series. At the reception after Gore’s talk, William “Bill” Moomaw, Tufts University professor and Soil4Climate Advisory Board member, and Josephine “Josie” Watson, Tufts senior ...

Geotherapy: Can the Anthropocene Have a Second Restorative Phase?

  As proponents of remineralization since the  mid 1980s, we at Remineralize the Earth include ourselves as pioneers of regenerative agriculture. Dr. Tom Goreau always advocates on behalf of a combination of biochar and remineralization as part of a geotherapy strategy to sequester carbon and stabilize the climate. Joanna Campe   Super stable in terms of temperatures, the holocene era has allowed human civilizations to thrive for the last 10,000 years. But humanity’s massive greenhouse gas emissions, due in large part to agriculture and the industrial revolution, are threatening our own survival. Since the nineteen fifties, ...

Jon Frank and the Quest for Nutrient Dense Food

International AG Labs Farm in Fairmont, MN Recently, RTE’s Emily Schaefer conducted an interview with Jon Frank. He was excited to share his knowledge and experience with us. The following article is based on that interview.   As a four-year old, Jon Frank spent his days tending to his own garden. As a teen, he was an ardent student of soil-tending techniques and an avid reader of Acres U.S.A. magazine. Jon has always described himself as a man of the soil. Today, he is a co-owner of International AG Labs and the founder of Grow Your Own Nutrition, a project that helps gardeners mineralize their soil to grow nutrient dense foods. ...

High School Project with Aji Peppers Show Increased Growth with Rock Dust and Compost

In our previous article “Students Gain Hands-On Experience with Remineralization at Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter School,” RTE reported on a remineralization experiment carried out in part by high school students. Aji peppers were planted to test the effect of rock dust on plant growth. Now, the results of the experiment are in.   Background In 2014, Remineralize the Earth (RTE) received a grant of $5000 from the Judith Haskell Brewer Fund of the Community Foundation Serving Richmond and Central Virginia to coordinate several local projects and create a resilient remineralization network in the Pioneer Valley. These initiatives ...

Bread from Stones by Julius Hensel– Book Review

Bread from Stones   “Our most optimistic expectations are no less than the realization of an old dream: ‘What will fertilizing with stone dust accomplish? It will turn stones into bread, make barren regions fruitful, and feed the hungry.’” --Ward Chesworth and coauthors, quoting Julius Hensel [1]   Producing healthy, nutritious foods starts with creating fertile soils to support proper food growth. Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel Prize winner, commented in 1912 that “minerals in the soil [...] control the metabolism of cells in plant, animal, and man [...] if soil is deficient in trace elements, food and water will be ...