Overview

"Is it possible to solve the global climate emergency utilising ""waste"" agricultural product? The Regenerative Agriculture Solution tells the story of how two brothers - Jose and Gilberto Flores - are at the cutting edge of this approach, pioneering the use of the previously discarded leaves of the agave plant to regenerate agricultural soils, reduce erosion and improve water capture. Amazingly, these innovative, ecologically minded methods also benefit their local economy in Mexico, creating jobs by producing an inexpensive livestock feed supplement that has potential to grow into a multi-billion-dollar industry and change the face of agriculture, animal husbandry, ecosystem restoration and climate change. When Ronnie Cummins, the cofounder of Organic Consumer Association (OCA), met the Flores brothers and saw their agave agroforestry system, he knew they were onto something revolutionary. Having spent decades studying regenerative agriculture, Cummins knew best practice when he saw it, and the scientific data was equally impressive, suggesting projects like this could revolutionise the way we understand and help arrest the climate catastrophe. Sadly, Cummins passed away in April 2023, in the midst of working on this very book telling the Flores brothers' extraordinary story. Not to leave this work unfinished, Ronnie's widow and OCA cofounder, Rose, called on their friend, colleague, and Regeneration International's co-founder Andre Leu, to complete Ronnie's work and share the Flores brothers' breakthroughs in the broader context of global regenerative agriculture. The Regenerative Agriculture Solution is more than a good news story; it's an agricultural, agroforestry and public policy blueprint, as well as a call to action for organic and regenerative farmers and consumers alike to address the climate, health and environmental crises as well as rural poverty."

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9781645022695

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“Ronnie Cummins’s work late in life at Vía Orgánica Ranch demonstrated that even in the driest of valleys in Mexico, farmers and herders can develop climate-resilient food production strategies that need not tax the soil, the aquifer, or the rural community, but enhance them. In my mind and heart, he is up there with Bill Mollison and Masanobu Fukuoka for shining a bright, warm light into our future on Planet Desert.” —Gary Paul Nabhan, James Beard Award–winning writer; desert agroecologist “This book is a testament to the vision of the late Ronnie Cummins. His friend André Leu memorializes Cummins’s lifelong work with this overview of the demonstrable benefits of regenerative agriculture for everything in the book’s subtitle and more. Cummins’s case study on agave illustrates these benefits perfectly, making this book a useful as well as touching tribute.” —Marion Nestle, professor emerita at NYU; author of Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics “In the posthumously published The Regenerative Agriculture Solution, Ronnie Cummins offers a final gift: a dynamic model for using CAM (Crassulacean acid metabolism) plants to regenerate land, feed livestock, pull down carbon, and revive communities in hot, water-stressed areas. Why we hardly hear of CAM plants is a mystery; their alternate photosynthetic pathway is tailor-made to cope with the heat and aridity so many now face. Cummins tells the story of the Billion Agave Project, beginning with the enterprising brothers who devised a way to ferment the thick, spiky agave leaves for animal fodder, saving their farm in the process. Regeneration International’s André Leu situates the project within a growing wave of regional eco-restoration efforts—and shares how embracing and applying these efforts can bring us a long way toward ameliorating climate change. This is the book that Ronnie, an ‘incorrigible optimist’ and champion of farmers, would have wanted.” —Judith Schwartz, author of The Reindeer Chronicles and Cows Save the Planet “Read this book to understand why you should care about regenerative agriculture. Until the public is better-informed and insists on sweeping changes to current agricultural policy, which supports practices based on chemistry and technology rather than nature and biology, we will continue to degrade our planet and destabilize our climate. Leu and Cummins, through inspiring stories and solid science, show just how quickly we could turn that around.” —Allan Savory, president, Savory Institute; chairman, Africa Centre for Holistic Management

Author Information

Ronnie Cummins was the cofounder and director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), a nonprofit, US-based network of more than two million consumers dedicated to safeguarding organic standards and promoting a healthy, just, and regenerative system of food, farming, and commerce. Cummins also served on the steering committee of Regeneration International and OCA’s Mexican affiliate, Vía Orgánica. He was the coauthor of The Truth About COVID-19 and author of Grassroots Rising and Genetically Engineered Food. André Leu is the International Director of Regeneration International, an organization he cofounded in 2015 with Dr. Vandana Shiva, Ronnie Cummins, Dr. Hans Herren, and Steve Rye, and which has now grown to 540 partners in 75 countries, advancing projects in agroecology, permaculture, AMP grazing, agroforestry, and biological, organic, and ecological agriculture. Dr. Leu holds a Doctor of Science in Environmental and Agricultural Systems and is an Adjunct Professor of regenerative agriculture at South Seas University. His books include Growing Life, Poisoning Our Children, and The Myths of Safe Pesticides. Dr. Leu and his wife, Julia, live on their organic tropical fruit farm in Daintree, Australia. Vandana Shiva is a world-renowned environmental thinker and activist and cofounder of Regeneration International. She is the recipient of over twenty international awards and author and editor of many influential books, including Soil Not Oil, Oneness vs. the 1%, Terra Viva, and The Nature of Nature.

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