By N. Margolis
Houses were shut tight, and cloth wedged around doors and windows, but the dust came in so thinly that it could not be seen in the air, and it settled like pollen on the chairs and tables, on the dishes. – John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
Farming practices have thankfully improved since the Dust Bowl days when the topsoil flew and the land, the community, and human lives were destroyed. Nearly 100 years later, though, we’re seeing similar climate catastrophes: floods, droughts, hurricanes, heatwaves, fires, and even brimstone. Curbing carbon emissions to slow climate change is key to planetary survival.
Agriculture is a major contributor to those carbon emissions, pollution, and climate change. According to the EPA, 10% of US carbon emissions come from agriculture. Pesticides and fertilizers pollute our land, streams and rivers, and they harm people as well. We use up our limited water resources to sustain our farms. Conversely, agriculture is needed to feed the world and has the potential to improve the health and welfare of our citizens.
In Pennsylvania, agriculture is a critical industry that affects us every day. According to a recent PA Dept. of Agriculture report, the industry employs over a half million Pennsylvanians (10% of the jobs in PA) and generates $132.5 billion to our state’s economy annually. But PA agriculture is also a source of carbon emissions. In addition to its impact on greenhouse gasses, it’s the largest contributor to nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay.
What if we could have our produce and eat it too? Are there ways to improve agriculture so that it could feed people healthy food AND improve the health of our planet? Regenerative agriculture may be part of the answer.
What is regenerative agriculture? Regenerative agriculture is a set of farming practices that improves the environment by taking steps to improve the health of the soil, conserve water, and increase biodiversity. Practices include planting cover crops, rotating diverse and native crops, avoiding unnecessary soil tillage, creating buffers of trees and vegetation at the edge of farmlands, and reducing or eliminating fertilizers and pesticides in ways similar to organic farming. 
Soil improvement is measured by topsoil growth, soil carbon levels, and increased water absorption and retention. As soil health improves, it’s able to capture and hold more carbon, reducing the impact of carbon emissions and helping to mitigate climate change. Increased water retention allows farmers to conserve water while reducing harmful runoff. The latter is especially important when combined with the reduction of chemicals on our farms. Finally, increasing the diversity of crops is key to farm resilience, and it protects the land and vegetation from extreme weather events and disease. Taken in total, regenerative agriculture leads to healthier farms and helps in the battle against climate change and environmental pollution.
If regenerative agriculture is such a game-changer, why isn’t it more widely used? Probably for the same reasons we don’t all have electric vehicles and solar-powered houses: it costs farmers time and money to make the transition. New equipment and education are required to embrace regenerative agriculture.
Even after making the change, regenerative agriculture can be more labor-intensive than conventional farming. Weed and pest control require more manual effort than spraying herbicides and pesticides. The changes needed may be hard to scale and require commitment to combating climate change and producing healthy foods.
What can I do right now? Find and support your local farmers who use regenerative practices! Find out where your food comes from. Visit your local farmer’s markets and talk to the vendors. Where we shop and what we eat has an outsized impact on human health, the environment, and climate change.
In 100 years, will our descendants look back at the climate crisis and see how we changed its dire trajectory as we did in the Dust Bowl era, or will they wonder why we didn’t do enough to save the planet?