Change Taking Root: Toward Perennial Agriculture

Tickets are $10 and limited! Register here. (Scroll down to Aug 1, Change Taking Root)

The Land Institute President Fred Iutzi asks “What if our agriculture could provide abundant food and simultaneously achieve real, long-term ecological sustainability?” Current farming methods are a curious mix of nourishing mind and body – food, feed, fiber, history, culture, community – and threatening the integrity of the planet: soil erosion, pesticide drift, water pollution, loss of soil carbon. While humanity’s best efforts to improve the sustainability of agriculture have incrementally reduced the rate of resource loss, our crops still fail to build soil, unlike the native prairies and forests agriculture has replaced.

The Land Institute seeks a more transformative solution, rooted in the diverse nature of native ecosystems. Current agriculture is based on monoculture, with annual crops requiring disturbing the soil every year. As a solution, our scientists are developing grain crops, deep-rooted perennials that can be grown in biodiverse plantings. Learn more about perennial crops now taking root, and about how you can join us on the journey ahead. Following Fred’s talk, Sarah Alexander, Executive Director of MOFGA, and David Herring, director of Wolfe’s Neck Center, will join Fred Iutzi for a panel discussion.