Exploring "Common Ground": How Regenerative Agriculture Transforms Our Food Systems

Healthy soil = healthy food

Last night, Kristin and I watched a documentary titled COMMON GROUND about farming and maintaining soil health through REGENERATIVE PRACTICES on the farm. (Yes, we are quite the adventurous duo, spending our Sunday evening watching a documentary... oh boy...) Nonetheless, we highly recommend it. It was one of those instances where we both looked at each other and instantly understood what was in our hearts and minds.

Regenerative agriculture is an approach to farming that considers the entire ecosystem. It represents the future of a healthy world, ensuring that future generations can enjoy clean air and nutritious food. The main practices employed are:

1. Minimize soil disturbances - no tilling - keeping the soil intact to preserve the roots and the microbial activity healthy so the plants can bring the CO2 back into the soil. This also helps to minimize soil erosion, keeping the soil from moving into the water runoff from rain storms.

2. Cover crops - are used to create a diversity of nutrients in the soil and maintain the fields by building a diversity of roots and root systems in the earth. Different cover crops bring a variety of nutrients back into the soil and keep the microbial activity multiplying and growing.

3. Building Diversity—Diversity in cover crops means greater diversity in the microbial activity in the soil. This creates living soil that helps protect against pests and fosters a greater natural shield against disease. Instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, nature builds greater protection naturally.

4. Roaming animals back on the land—Four-legged friends ( bison, cattle, sheep, goats) bring dung and urine to the land, which adds valuable nutrients to the soil. ( nature's fertilizers). By grazing, these animals also carry seeds and microbes in their hooves and build greater diversity and health in the soil.

We currently collaborate with Oatman Farms in Arizona, which is Regenerative Organic Certified®. Their high-quality Sonora, Red Fife, and Skagit 1109 wheat are a staple in our featured whole wheat sourdough loaves. We will continue to support small and seek out local American farms that use these practices. Here’s to a promising future.

PS. I am reading Dirt to Soil by Jake Brown - One Family's Journey into Regenerative Agriculture. "If you want to make small changes, change the way you do things; if you want to make major changes, change the way you see things." Don Campbell is a rancher from Canada who practices holistic management.