“The Food You Eat Is Your Farmer’s Choice. You Do Have Your Own Choice – Find It!

About 55 years ago, in 1966, I came across the book Soil Development (published 1952) written by Edward H Faulkner, American original thinker-farmer, displayed at the open shelves of the library of UPCA, now UP Los Baños. That’s when I began to think organic farming gave us healthy foods. It was something like, “Health comes from the soil.”

Here comes Earwin Belen with his Facebook sharing (05 Jan 2022), “Still True In 2022!” (image sources: “WiFi,” m.facebook.com; fruits, EcoWatch, ecowatch.com)

 “Organic food is not healthier” – British Alan Dangour. “Organic food is healthier” – British Carlo Leifort. Eh?

Karen McVeighsays “Organic Food Not Healthier, Says FSA,” (29 June 2009, The Guardian, theguardian.com/). Findings over the past 50 years were reviewed by a team of the London School Of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine headed by Dr Alan Dangour. “We have concluded that there's no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health based on the nutrient content."

EcoWatch says, “Organic Food Is Healthier Confirms New Analysis” (15 July 2014, EcoWatch, ecowatch.com): “More nutritional antioxidants, far fewer toxic pesticides.”

Using Science, I will insist that all foods grown following Regenerative Agriculture (RA) theory & practices – are healthier than foods grown via Chemical Agriculture.

Keiro says (Keiro.org, keiro.org):

Organic fruits, vegetables and grains are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers… and they are processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. For animals, “organic” means that they were raised without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones.

Without pesticides, without artificial fertilizers, without radiation, without additives. “Healthier!”

And yes, personally I will consider it healthier if the seed of the rice variety does not originate from a genetically modified organism (GMO). ProCon says, “Over the past 30 years of lab testing and 15 years of field research, there has not been a single health risk associated with GMO” (procon.org) – but that is not enough assurance for me, a certified teacher of Agriculture (Civil Service Professional, ’64) and a critical/creative thinker. I do not need a GMO rice for my farming.

My version of regenerative agriculture prohibits the use of any chemical right at the beginning of one’s farming. Residues of chemical fertilizers in foods have not been medically considered as any form of poison to the human body, but I still will exclude them from my RA. Most especially chemical pesticides – bactericides, fungicides, insecticides, nematocides, weedicides, whatever-cides – I do not need to use them in growing my crops or animals. 

I do believe that regenerative agriculture begins with the soil – you rejuvenate it by making it as healthy as you can by naturally enriching it – first of all, you return the organic matter that it has lost. Rotavating, I can do that easily using what I now call “Mulching Matilda” – for the procedure, see my essay, “PH Farmers Want Cost Of Fertilizer Way Down – Much Better, Yield & Net Income Way Up!” (24 Dec 2021, RegINA, Queen Mother Earth). You’ll come a-mulching Matilda with me!@517

Vi.Deo – Vibrant Verisimillitudes, Visuals & Virtuals On God – Videos For God

Vi.Deo – No, not Virtual God but Vibrant God, if not Visible God. God does not need any glorification from us mortals; He is glorious by Himself – but He needs to be portrayed as to be vibrant, if not visible to us, Roman Catholics, at least every Sunday at mass, via the gospel!

I, blogger of 22 years, realize only today, Sunday, 04 Sept 2022, we Roman Catholics have ignored the powerof the virtual presentation (Vi.P) to expound and explain the gospel. Vi.P – the New World explaining the Old World. Expecially because the Bible is extra difficult to understand. Vi.P also signifies virtual pencils for portraits.
(“Pencils” image from Jen H, The Daily Post, wordpress.com)

The top image is from The Feast Facebook webpage, the guest priest at the PICC presenting the gospel, Luke 14:25-33:

Great crowds accompanied him on his way and he turned and spoke to them. “Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, cannot be my disciple. No one who does not carry his cross and come after me can be my disciple.

“And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, anyone who saw it would start making fun of him and saying, "Here is someone who started to build and was unable to finish."

Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who was advancing against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace.

So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple without giving up all that he owns.

Jesus Christ! That is an extremely difficult gospel to explain! (Also, the gospels are boring to death just being read.) Nothing beats a dramatization, via a modern-day Vi.P. Then we could all learn from those virtual classes, wherever, whenever, why not!

“Why is it so hard to understand the Bible?” asks Got Questions, and gives the reason that we “read our preconceived biases into the Bible” (gotquestions.org). We do, but really, the language of the Bible is of bygone eras and the best translations still need translating to modern lives.

Yes, I see that we Roman Catholics living in the modern world, how come we have not thought of harnessing the awesome powers of the digital world in the service of the Church and the laity in presenting – and therefore understanding – the gospel?!

More pertinently, I ask: Why is it that we Catholics have ignored the immense power of the digital universe in proselytizing our own? What I’m saying is that we techno-savvy people are still techno-backwards in applying what we know!@517

“Writer’s Block” – The Enemy Within!

I have 2 friends, “The Left” and “The Right” (Male and Female), and our friendships go back deep into the early 1960s. “The Left” has always been a writer; “The Right” has always been a non-writer – and right now are both wanting and struggling to write their last book and testament (autobiography) – both are suffering from Writer’s Block! The Writer’s Block of “The Left” tells you that experience is not a guarantee for success; that of “The Right” tells you everyone needs help!

(image sources: male from storymind.com, female from writersblog.co)

Both the Storymindand Writer’s Blog advise that you first find “inspiration” – the problem with that is, “What do you do if you can’t find inspiration?!” Storymind says, “One way to beat Writer’s Block” – and proceeds to list 5 tips!

So, here’s some free anti-Writer’s Block advices from me:

Go digital.

The writers shown in the images above are primitive, sorry to say – they belong to the age I will call “Early Digital” – fingers. Today, “digital” refers to the laptop. As a writer, which digital are you? Now, listen to me who in this blog alone – “CoViD21” – has already published 1001 essays!

Everything must be digital, no exceptions.

Don’t give the would-be title of your book as the filename of the one you’re working on – a different chapter deserves a different filename. This will help your mind re/arrange the chapters’ contents as you go along.

Writing on paper: Certainly, for stray thoughts only – not writing whole chapters.

Writing digital (I use MS Word): Always write digital, for speed and safety. Save often – Ctrl+S. If you make a major revision of a would-be chapter, change the filename (“Alt+F, Save As”) – chances are you will want to go back to the text you would have deleted!

Save all those different digital drafts under different titles, so you can review or use them for checking much later.

List Down The People.

Remember, any recollection is/may be important – until you say “Finis” to your book, it’s not finished. Make a list of significant others in your life so far, and type, tentatively, whatever you recollect about each of them. Separate people, separate files, yes – these are not chapters but reminders for you.

Enumerate Significant Events.

No matter at what stage you are in your book, and no matter what chapter you are working on right now, create a separate digital file and list down the significant or important events and occasions in your life so far. Not complete sentences or paragraphs, just reminders to write thoroughly later.

Write & Inspire Yourself!

Always think pleasant thoughts, including godly thoughts.

Remember, everything is tentative. Each chapter you are working is different from the other chapters. Don’t worry about some mix-up of data or information; you can rewrite later – easy if you’re digital!

Review.

After your draft, good or bad, you want the best book you can write – send me your complete book draft and whoever you are, I will advise you, absolutely free, on how to improve it! (Message me on Facebook.)@517

Bill Gates & His Meatless Mind Vs Robert Rodale & His Healthy Hope. How We Can Change Climate Change For The Good, Better, Best!

ANN says billionaire Bill Gates believes “All rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef” (Author Not Named, undated, “Reject Bill Gates’ Impossible Burger,” Organic Consumers Association, organicconsumers.org). That’s Gates’ contribution to the re/solution of Climate Change!? His best is not good enough!

Still from ANN:

Bill Gates has invested in Impossible Foods whose CEO, Pat Brown, says his genetically engineered synthetic meat substitutes will replace the use of animals by 2035.

Hah! It would be impossible to convince me, a Filipino, to eat synthetic meat – I love the taste of lechon and fried chicken, for instance.

You’d think the Impossible Foods pitch would be about the horrors of factory farming. Instead, Gates and Brown take aim at regenerative organic agriculture and grass-fed beef. According to Fortune.com: “Gates and Brown believe that genetically modified seeds and chemical herbicides, in the right doses – and not land-intensive organic farming – are crucial to curbing carbon emissions.”
(image sources: “Impossible” from Impossible Foods, impossiblefoods.com; “Soil pollution” from Pixstory, pixstory.com)

Me: To treat the climate right, you have to treat the soil right – and thus are able to treat eaters right!

Rodale Institutesays (undated, “Carbon Sequestration,” rodaleinstitute.org):

If we converted all global croplands and pastures to regenerative organic agriculture, we could sequester more than 100% of current annual CO² emissions.

ANN asks, “Can Regenerative Agriculture replace conventional farming?” (Author Not Named, 25 Aug 2020, eit Food, eitfood.eu), and says:

The Rodale Institute has been running side-by-side field studies for the last 30 years, comparing organic and conventional agriculture. Results show that after a 1- to 2-year transition period, when yields tend to decline, there is no difference between conventional and regenerative farming in terms of yields. In stressful conditions, particularly during droughts, the regenerative fields perform better because they are more resilient – the soil can absorb more water because it contains more biomass. And certainly farmers we work with say the yields are the same, while their input costs go down.

So, with 30 years of field studies, Rodale Institute has found that with Regenerative Agriculture (RA), yields are the same with CA, while costs are lower. And zero cost to Climate Change!

Organic Consumerssays (undated, “A Climate Solution Is In The Soil,” organicconsumers.org):

With the worsening crises in public health, biodiversity, and global warming, the future can look bleak. Fortunately, there’s a solution: regenerative food, farming, and land use.

Regenerative Agriculture… has the potential to generate a net decrease in atmospheric carbon. How? By allowing photosynthesis to do its job. Carbon drawn from the atmosphere by living plants helps build soil organic matter… Regenerative farming practices help preserve and build soil organic matter, so the carbon drawn down through photosynthesis remains sequestered in the soil.

I repeat: “A Climate Solution Is In The Soil.” This is via RA. Farmers have to be enriching the organic matter content of their fields – and avoid applying chemicals that generate greenhouse gases that cause Climate Change – simultaneously enriching themselves!@517

What’s Your 1K Worth Today? My 1K Is Worth Love In Communication For Village Development In The 21st Century (CoViD21)!

Today, Friday, 02 Sept 2022, I post this essay as the 1000^th in this blog “CoViD21” – short for “Communication for Village Development in the 21st Century.” Blogging since 2000, I have decided to dedicate myself unrelentingly to village development – an area much neglected.

Actually, the 999 essays published before this one appeared in my blog “Towards A New Eden” but which I have come to the conclusion that building a New Eden is too much of a promise, and developing villages is a dream within one’s reach in a lifetime.

The development of villages I have in mind is via Regenerative Agriculture (RA). Rodale Instituteintroduced the term “Regenerative Organic Agriculture” in 1989 “to distinguish a kind of farming that goes beyond sustainable” (undated, Rodale Institute, rodaleinstitute.org). So, I now believe that “Sustainable Development” is inadequate! We must go after “Regenerative Development,” especially via Agriculture.

At this point, I must say that the application of organic fertilizer is not the only approach to Regenerative Agriculture. Thus, “Biodiversity for a Livable Climate” lists several RA practices (“Solutions – What You Can Do,” bio4climate.org) such as composting, greening your neighborhood (not only your roof), leaving no bare soils, and reviving dead & dying lawns.

How does Regenerative Agriculture result in village development? Slowly, in these manners: (1) restores natural soil fertility, (2) returns habitat diversity, (3) grows healthy crops, (4) feeds healthy eaters, and (5) combats Climate Change – contributes zero greenhouse gases (GHGs) that warms up Planet Earth.

Back to the number: “Angel Number 1000 is telling you to gather strength to achieve miracles in life” (Angel Numbers, angelnumbersmeaning.com). Thanks for the encouragement!

There is a project called “1000 Girls, 1000 Futures,” “a groundbreaking initiative designed to engage young women interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), and advance their pursuit of STEM careers through mentoring and 21st-century skills development” (The New York Academy of Sciences, nyas.org).

There is “The International ‘4There ISI “The International ‘4 Per 1000’ Initiative” of the Soils For Food Security & Climate (4p1000.org), aiming “to demonstrate that agriculture, and in particular agricultural soils, can play a crucial role in food security and climate change.” Excellent!

And to change the subject without changing the subject, here is something about mothers and babies: “The First 1,000 Days” (Pregnancybirth&baby, pregnancybirthbaby.org.au):

The first 1,000 days refers to a child's life from the moment [one is] conceived until [one has] reached 2 years of age (24 months). This is a time when [the child’s] brain, body and immune system grows and develops significantly.

On the PH 1000-peso bank notereleased by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, this is the only banknote that became controversial because BSP said it was unacceptable if folded – as if it was only for display, not spending!

And my old 1000 essays blogged in the last 3 years now contained in this new “CoViD21”? Promises, promises! We owe them to ourselves. Not only I but We must pursue them to deliver those promises to ourselves!@517

 

“Sir David Attenborough, Let’s Stop Calling On The World Bodies And Start Calling On The World Buddies! We People Have To Be Our Own Buddies!”

British naturalist Sir David Attenborough has been calling on the leading nations of the world to “adopt tougher climate targets” (Timothy Reuter, 02 Nov 2021, “David Attenborough: It Could Soon Be Too Late To Tackle Climate Change,” World Economic Forum (weforum.org); “Every day that pass by in which we don’t do something about it is a day wasted. If we don’t act now, it’ll be too late.”

“The UN said greenhouse gas concentrations had hit a record last year and the world was ‘way off track’ in capping rising temperatures.” Not only that. “Attenborough said leading nations had a duty to help poorer countries because industrialization had been one of the major factors in driving climate change.”

“Industrialization had been one of the major factors in driving climate change” – and in the Philippines, I digital campaigner for combatting physical climate change, am looking at this:

Agriculture is the hugest contributing factor to climate change!
(Image sources: “Climate Change” from Twitter, twitter.com; “Farmer” from The Statesman, thestatesman.com)

In the lower image, you will note that the farmer with a backpack is framed by naked mountainsides – even the native peoples in my country the Philippines have been abusing their non/farmlands to the point of poverty in both natural and human resources!

Now then, instead of calling on the Big Countries to help the Small Countries to help fight the Big Fight, I am calling on our PH Government to junk Chemical Agriculture (CA) and mandate nationally the practice of Regenerative Agriculture (RA)!

The reason for my call to stop CA is that the chemical fertilizers and pesticides are the generators of greenhouse gases (GHGs). Once you stop CA, the farms will stop generating GHGs! And farmers will earn more as those chemicals are expensive.

As simple – and as complicated as that.

When I say that instead of CA, farmers should all practice RA, you will automatically ask these 2 questions:

(1)   Will not costs of farming increase?

(2)   Will not yields decrease?

And my automatic answer to each question is: “No!” In fact, costs of farming will decrease drastically. And yields of crops will increase dramatically. And their demand will increase expectedly because the food crops will produce healthy foods – with zero pesticide residues. We can expect that the consumers would be demanding more!

Helen Lock has “9 Staggering Facts From David Attenborough’s New Devastating Documentary On Climate Change” (08 June 2021, globalcitizen.org). One is this:

If forests die out, we won’t benefit from how trees take carbon dioxide out of the air, which will in turn accelerate warming. He says we’re in a moment where the planet is “still our friend” when it comes to supporting us, but it could soon become “our foe.”

Another one: “The Australian wildfires and COVID-19 were a wake-up call.” Mr Attenborough explains that infectious diseases that come from animals such as Covid-19 were signs of an “unhealthy planet.”

Actually, those are signs of unhealthy planet occupants – us!@517

“Do You Really Understand Regenerative Agriculture? Asking For A Friend!”

Do you know what is missing in the fight against Climate Change when it comes to Agriculture, and Agriculture only? This essay could be an eye-opener for many, including IRRI, PhilRice, and UP Los Baños.

Here is the 40-year old World Resources Institute (WRI) talking down Regenerative Agriculture, saying “Regenerative Agriculture: Good For Soil Health, But Limited Potential To Mitigate Climate Change” via Janet Ranganathan, Richard Waite, Tim Searchinger & Jessica Zionts. The WRI is the 12^th website I have consulted today, Wednesday, 31 Aug 2022, and I abruptly stopped when I read it because it’s eye-popping – here is an institute telling me that RA has “limited potential” for arresting Climate Change!

Sorry, but the World Resources Institute does not know enough about Regenerative Agriculture. At least, the 3 above-mentioned WRI authors don’t!

The WRI authors say pertinently:

Regenerative agriculture has become the darling of many policymakers, food companies and farmers. Advocates claim a triple win: climate change mitigation, increased profit for farmers and greater resilience to a changing climate. Our view is that the practices grouped as regenerative agriculture can improve soil health and yield some valuable environmental benefits, but are unlikely to achieve large-scale emissions reductions.

The WRI authors do mention as regenerative practices in agriculture the following: (1) no-till agriculture, (2) cover cropping, (3) crop rotation, and (4) rotating crops with livestock grazing. My immediate response is: “Why cannot all those 4 practices be applied on a national scale if the government dictates it?”

The WRI editor does explain that the article “focuses on practices aimed primarily at boosting soil carbon on working agricultural lands.” Yes I know, but “boosting soil carbon” is not all there is to Regenerative Agriculture!

I say the WRI authors did not do enough Google search, and/or did not ask enough questions and seek answers about the whys and wherefores of Climate Change.

Their article has 1,634 words in the text; the title has an ominous “13” as number of words. Now: “Why did the WRI authors fail to discuss about the greenhouse gases (GHGs) that chemical fertilizers produce when they are used?” Asking for a friend!

ANN of Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says, “At its core, regenerative agriculture is farming and ranching in harmony with nature” (Author Not Named, 29 Nov 2021, “Regenerative Agriculture 101,” NRDC, nrdc.org). “In harmony with nature” – and chemical agriculture is not in harmony with nature by any definition!
(Image sources: “Regenerative Agriculture,” UVM Blogs, blog.uvm.edu; “Living Soil,” kobo.com)

Organic farming is regenerative. Now, my kind of Regenerative Agriculture is not mentioned by any of the sources I googled. I call it “Rotavator Organic WEALTh (Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering Terrestrial Health).” I have written 10 times about it, first in 27 April 2022: “Can You Grow Sugarcane Solely By Organic Fertilizer? CaneCo In The Antilles Archipelago Shows The World How!” (towardsaneweden.blogspot.com).

And yes, to celebrate my birth month, my blog Towards A New Eden has a new slogan: “via Regenerative Agriculture.” If they can’t fight you, they’ll have to join you!@517