In Stock
Designing regenerative food systems and why we need them now
Paperback
€27.50
Collect 82 Reward Points
- Free Delivery from
- This Book Is Available Online Only
- Book Synopsis
- A toolkit of 6 regenerative food growing systems which have been tried and tested. These can help farmers and growers transform industrial food production systems into resilient, biodiverse, carbon negative, productive farms and bring about an agroecological revolution. Farms and garden design for growing healthy food from living soil in low input closed loop systems. The circular food economy. The four challenges of climate change mitigation, climate adaptation, offsetting biodiversity loss and producing enough healthy food for a growing population. The author's case study of her Huxhams Cross Farm researches how depleted soil was transformed into a thriving living soil drawing on the toolkit of these 6 sustainable methods. She outlines the six main forms of sustainable food production : biodynamic, organic, permaculture, agroforestry, agroecology and regenerative farming methods. The principles and practices of each approach are explained concisely, with illustrative case studies of successful examples.There are follow up resources including articles, books, film references, and training available around the world. The book concludes with the Huxhams Cross Farm case study with hard research evidence, reviewing the extent to which the four challenges have been met and how a successful farm has been developed from bare land in 5 years. The conclusion addresses how farming can be transformed by tackling such barriers as land access for farmers, the psychology of scarcity and building farmer capacity. The key roles of food choices, policy, community supported agriculture are addressed.
- About The Author
- Marina O'Connell is a farm designer, grower, farmer and educator. She was born to seven generations of Dutch nursery men and women from Boskoop in Holland, which is famous for fruit trees. She celebrates the professional women growers who are pioneering the transition to sustainable food systems and re-localising the food economy. Marina, her husband Mark and a talented Apricot Centre team have transformed industrially farmed land into the thriving Huxhams Cross Farm at Dartington, Totnes, Devon, UK. In 2015 the local contractor referred to it as 'a miserable bit of land'. By 2021 it had become a productive, beautiful, community connected and economically viable farm. She has carried out action research on the farm, combining permaculture design with biodynamic methods, and agroforestry systems are woven through the mix. Key line ploughing and the extensive use of deep rooting green manures draw on agroecological practice, and all combined this farm could be called a regenerative farm. She leads by example and as every farm and farmer or grower is unique, believes that each new sustainable farm will be unique to the site and people, as such each farmer needs to be a practical researcher. The farm receives many visitors from around the world, and runs regular courses on these techniques. The team now run a full consultancy supporting other farmers, growers and estate owners to make the transition to regenerative farms for the future.
- Product Details
-
- ISBN
- 9781912480548
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Hawthorn Press, (21 February 2022)
- Number of Pages
- 224
- Weight
- 508 grams
- Language
- English
- Dimensions
- 246 x 189 x 15 mm
- Categories: