Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
problems. As Gandhi put it, “we must learn to live simply so that others may simply
live.” In the United Kingdom, we now throw away about one third of the food we
buy, consume double the protein we need, and eat too much processed food. If we
could reduce food wastage or overconsumption, we would have less need to increase
our crop production.
My vision of a renewed world is where we care for our environment by con-
suming less, becoming more self-sufficient, and living more simply, but with
inward richness, like soils dark with organic matter. We consume within sustain-
able limits and realize that enough is beautiful. We develop intentional commu-
nity like groups of porous soils aligning together and coexisting through good
interconnection of the pores. Like high-quality soil, we grow deeper and more
together, promoting “us” rather than “me.” In such ways, we can prosper with-
out growth, move to a low-carbon economy, and help rid the world of poverty
(Jackson 2009). “Economic growth,” the acquisition and use of things and people,
is replaced with a growth of love and respect from within. This type of growth
deepens our “topsoil” by using more of what is stored deep within us, enabling
our roots to spread down and outward to intertwine with those of others in terms
of mutual understanding and love. Mutual understanding resembles how the roots
of different types of plants combine to give an increased release of nutrients from
the soil around them (mycorrhizal association), thereby feeding and encouraging
each other. However, like good soil management, achieving all of these will be
difficult.
The soil can provide a clue. Humus is described as the “stuff” of the soil, and the
Latin name for humans is derived from it. The words “humble” and “humility” are
also derived from it. Perhaps the way to a more sustainable lifestyle may be to live
humbly on the Earth by cultivating our inner life or “inner soil” so that we become
resistant to degrading processes such as being stifled by domination (like compac-
tion), being addicted to consumer goods (like contamination), and losing our sense
of what is important in life (like erosion). Then maybe “the meek shall inherit the
ea r th.”
Applying such principles to soil management might involve developing and sus-
taining soil quality as our first priority by supplying organic matter, taking care of
soil structure and the mineral balance so that organisms can live well and make the
topsoil rich and deep. Our imperative is to concentrate on the care and the conser-
vation of resources in ecosystems, not on productivity for productivity's sake. This
might guide us to start living toward others, as suggested by Bishop Desmond Tutu.
To achieve this, we make deeds of love, no matter how small, such as acts of kind-
ness, kind thoughts, or fleeting prayers—acts of mercy. There is evidence that if
enough of us do this, then our interconnection will enable a spiritual transformation
that can spread across the globe.
Earlier I reported that I was disappointed in the quality of the agricultural soil
in my community as I dug in a field under continuous cereals. I left that field and
crossed the fence to a nearby natural grassy area that had not been cultivated for
years. I put in my spade and there it was (
Fig u re 11.4
), just as I remembered it as
a child in the garden, the beauty of the broken-up soil revealed in the rounded,
nutty crumbs, warm brown in the sunlight of spring. Beauty that can feed us
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