It's really easy to create jargon and manipulate people with it.
"Homesteading" is not the same as "regenerative agriculture" though I see them used interchangeably. While producing your own food at a small scale and doing any soil remediation is no doubt beneficial for the environment, I am remiss to call homesteads which solely produce about 30 varieties of non-native produce and steward livestock in conventional ways "regenerative". Distancing oneself from reliance on global capitalism and consumption is absolutely wonderful! But those who turn such "homesteads" into massive agents of profit (looking at you, Joel Salatin) and then claim they are "regenerating" the land give me pause.
We struggle with the concept of monetizing our ranch. No doubt we will have to, at some point and for some period of time. But when profit is the primary motive rather than the thing that keeps the mission going, it is inevitable that ethics get sacrificed at scale.
And I'm not here to make any specific accusations about Polyface. I own a few of Salatin's books and find some of his input valuable. He is, no doubt, operating in a better way than factory farms, and he is protecting the grasslands he holds better than most, and I'm sure increasing their fertility all the while.
But what is regeneration? It isn't growing your own food in above-ground bins, it isn't just growing stone fruit in the middle of the desert (like another article I just read about a couple in Lancaster -- relatively close to us) and getting some palms to grow while damning the insects that eat your tomatoes.
The "natives" arguments are fierce and complicated but notwithstanding all of that, if one can forgive me for oversimplifying for a post, we must consider how we will actually give natives a chance to return to land -- native plants, animals, fungi. We can grow our own food -- and should -- but that may mean that the way we eat should change and prioritize food that makes *sense* in our environment: natives, when possible. And where natives don't cut it or aren't quickly established, we must be honest that the crops we've selectively bred to be sugar and calorie dense are not a part of the ecosystem we are regenerating. Perhaps they are a part of the regeneration efforts: I can plant brassicas to break up soil, use goats to fertilize and give space for (somewhat) tender native grasses where creosote is dominating, and use beans and clover to fix nitrogen, but I cannot kid myself that 5 acres full of just these things would be sustainable in this environment.
Regeneration and land stewardship demand honesty of us, and thoughtfulness, and a willingness to acknowledge that the goal cannot be supporting a modern, American lifestyle. Period.
#RegenerativeAg #Homesteading
