VIDEO: The Most Critical Cause and Solution to Climate Change
by Danielle Enblom, Regeneration International
Soil is a vital solution to climate change and we have the power to make a real impact by changing farming and consumption practices by choosing to practice, promote, and support regenerative practices.
The degradation of soil organic matter (SOM) and deforestation have significantly increased atmospheric CO₂ levels since the Industrial Revolution. Industrial agricultural practices have led to substantial SOM loss, releasing vast amounts of CO₂.
Implementing regenerative agriculture can restore SOM, sequester carbon, and mitigate climate change. Soil holds more carbon than land vegetation and the atmosphere combined, making its management crucial in addressing global warming.
How Mass Deportations Could Gut the US Food System
By Claire Greenburger
“Jose Luis Cordova starts work every day by 4 a.m. It’s still dark as he begins ushering cattle to and from the milking parlor. Cordova lives on-site at the farm in Enosburg, Vermont, where all day he can hear the rumble of tractor engines, the clip-clop of hundreds of hooves, and a near-constant lowing. Born in Mexico, Cordova has been working on dairy farms like this one since he crossed the border without documentation nine years ago.
While working on the farm in 2018, Cordova began to feel a toothache. He went to a dentist in the nearby town of Richford. While driving home, a Border Patrol car trailed him. He was pulled over, handcuffed, and detained.
Approximately 1.5 million immigrants were deported nationwide during President Trump’s first term—a number surpassed by President Biden between 2021 and 2024. With Trump pledging “the largest deportation program in American history” in his second term, farmworkers are bracing for even more aggressive crackdowns across the U.S.”
Regeneration International Opening the 2025 Biodynamic Agriculture Conference in Dornach, Switzerland
By Ercilia Sahores, Regeneration International
Regeneration International was invited earlier this month to give an opening speech at the International Biodynamic Agriculture Conference in Dornach, Switzerland. The topic of the conference was The Earth as a Living Being. As part of the second century of the biodynamic impulse and after reflecting about the past, the main question of the conference was how to look into the future and step into it, from the individual place to the Earth as a whole (as a living being).
It was a great opportunity to be able to present with our friend Swati Rendunchintala from CIFOR-ICRAF and Andra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming in India and Naglaa Ahmed and Thoraya Seada from the Egypt Biodynamic Association (EBDA), presenting on their work with Sekem and the Economy of Love.
During our presentation, at the beautiful main stage of the Goetheanum and in front of an audience of 800 people, we told the story and the challenges of the Billion Agave Project in Mexico, looking at the past to be able to recreate our future, working with what nature and the bountiful of the desert have to provide and bring back life and livelihood for thousands of people.
Mexico’s Planned Glyphosate Ban Helped Show How Agroecology Can Lead the Way Forward
by Erin Nelson, Laura Gomez Tovar, and Manuel Ángel Gómez Cruz
“Farmers around the world all need to deal with weeds. The most widely used chemical product they use to kill those unwanted plants is glyphosate, often sold under commercial names like Roundup.
In 2015, the World Health Organization declared glyphosate a “Probable Human Carcinogen.” This link to cancer was reinforced in January 2024 when a jury in the United States concluded Roundup caused non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and ordered chemical company Bayer — which purchased Roundup producer Monsanto in 2018 — to pay US$2.5 billion in damages. Bayer has announced it intends to appeal the verdict.
Scientists have also raised concerns about the environmental harms of long-term glyphosate application. To name just a few, glyphosate threatens honey bee populations and has been found to kill birds, fish and soil microorganisms, all of which are crucial for ecosystem health.
In the face of these concerns, some governments have restricted or even banned glyphosate application, though no such ban is in place in Canada.”
What Donald Trump’s Election Means for Africa’s Food System
by Million Belay, Coordinator at Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa
“Before he was elected, I had my share of arguments with several of my African brothers and sisters. How could they even consider him for president? The epitome of misogyny, lies, racism, capitalism, and now oligarchy I went on and on. Yet, there they were, claiming that Donald Trump tells the truth and that both America and the world would be better off. What truth? I feel that America is becoming rapidly the most untrustworthy and dangerous country in the world.
Let me be clear: I am not an ardent supporter of the Democrats. They interfere in my continent’s politics and day to day life far more than he does, and their actions in Gaza are abhorrent.”
LOS OJOS AGAVE BLOOM SUMMIT – On the Trail of Bats in Agave Flowers
by Omar Caballero, Biologist and Environmental Educator in CUENCA, Sonora México
“Considering the constant fragmentation of habitat, or in other words the lack of ecosystemic continuity, as a result of the current climate crisis and other causes; it is essential to understand the interdependence of species and the fragility of these ecological relationships. In this sense, a colorful, winged and full of flavors story is worth to be told, to understand the connection that exists between: bats, agave and the elaboration of spirits distilled from the latter; such as Bacanora, Mezcal and of course Tequila.
With this and other ideas in mind, several border organizations (Cuenca Los Ojos, Bat Conservation International and Borderlands Restoration Network) met in the field with a few questions: Is the nectar from the flowers of Agave palmeri a food resource for the Lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long- tongued bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae and Choeronycteris mexicana, respectively)? Is Cuenca Los Ojos (CLO) part of the habitat occupied by these winged friends along their migratory route? Is the flowering of Agave palmeri synchronous to the winter migration and therefore the nectar can be an indispensable resource? What is the conservation status of the agaves in CLO, in the face of climatic vulnerability such as drought or the agave weevil plague?”
Only Political Will Can End World Hunger: Food Isn’t Scarce, but Many People Can’t Access It
by Jennifer Clapp
“History has shown us again and again that, so long as inequality goes unchecked, no amount of technology can ensure people are well-fed.
Today, the world produces more food per person than ever before. Yet hunger and malnutrition persist in every corner of the globe — even, and increasingly, in some of its wealthiest countries.
The major drivers of food insecurity are well known: conflict, poverty, inequality, economic shocks and escalating climate change. In other words, the causes of hunger are fundamentally political and economic.
The urgency of the hunger crisis has prompted 150 Nobel and World Food Prize laureates to call for “moonshot” technological and agricultural innovations to boost food production, meaning monumental and lofty efforts. However, they largely ignored hunger’s root causes — and the need to confront powerful entities and make courageous political choices.”
Op-ed: Egg Prices Are Soaring. Are Backyard Chickens the Answer?
by Jason Mark
“The end-of-day chitchat among the parents at my kid’s school tends to revolve around the usual pleasantries: soccer schedules, the weather, the latest snow report from Mt. Baker, our local ski resort. On a recent afternoon, however, the talk among the moms and dads as we kept half an eye on a hotly contested game of four-square swerved to a somewhat unusual topic—eggs.
Where was the best place to find them? Which brands were available? Were any stores completely out? Parents rattled off reports of what they had seen at various places, from the big box outlets to the local food co-op, from high-end Whole Foods to discounters like Grocery Outlet and WinCo. “And,” someone sighed, “Can you believe the prices?” I listened and nodded, secure in the knowledge that I had six fresh eggs, straight from the backyard, on my kitchen counter.”
Essential Reading and Viewing
The richest countries in the world are “exporting extinction” by destroying 15 times more biodiversity globally than they do within their own borders, according to a new Princeton University study. The researchers found that 13.3 percent of biodiversity loss worldwide came from the consumption of high-income countries, a press release from Princeton said.
Shea’s Silent Guardians Restore Uganda’s Traditional Parklands
In northern Uganda’s Pader district, farmers are working to preserve agricultural landscapes that have fed their communities for generations. These shea parklands, where carefully maintained trees grow among food crops, represent centuries of agricultural knowledge at risk of being lost.
Olive oil stirs a deep sense of pride in many a Spaniard. The green gold is a staple of almost every meal here, liberally dashed over slabs of toast at breakfast, drizzled over tuna and onion salads, sizzled on meat and fish, and infused with the eggs and potatoes of a tortilla de patatas.
Nearly three-quarters of Spanish territory is at risk of desertification. In olive and almond growing areas of the country’s southern Andalusia region, farmers are already feeling the effects of climate change with worsening droughts. These droughts not only stump olive production but dry out the soil, leaving it more susceptible to erosion. Poor harvests as a result of these climate factors can send olive oil prices through the roof, as shoppers found to their dismay in 2022/23.
Food Crisis Worsens in Africa: Time for Agricultural Revolution
The number of people affected by hunger in Africa is alarming and continues to worsen. The United Nations report “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World” reveals that Africa is the most food-insecure region in the world. The prevalence of undernourishment is 20.4% (about 298.4 million Africans), more than double the global average. This figure has been increasing since 2015.
Who Can Share Seeds? As Counterfeits Hurt African Farmers, It’s a Growing Question
Climate change and recent troubles with counterfeit seeds have challenged Kenya’s agriculture efforts to improve food security.
How Agroforestry Can Empower Farmers and Protect Our Planet
Small-scale farmers are struggling with mounting challenges, from climate change to food insecurity and biodiversity loss. Agroforestry – the practice of integrating trees and shrubs with crops and livestock – offers a sustainable way forward.
Meet the Woman Who Lives Without Money: ‘I Feel More Secure Than When I Was Earning’
Her “lightbulb moment” came when her parents, retired farmers used to frugal living, gave her a book about people with alternative lifestyles. “When I read about this guy choosing to live without money, I thought, ‘Oh my God, I have to do that!’”
Support Our Work
Dear Friends of Regeneration International
Regenerative Agriculture is under attack by agribusiness. The poison cartels such as Bayer/Monsanto and Syngenta, along with their captive government departments, are trying to hijack regenerative agriculture to greenwash their degenerative systems.
“We need your participation and support as we move forward in this world-changing campaign we call Regeneration International. We need to build a massive international alliance to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, to sequester billions of tons of excess atmospheric carbon in our soils and biota, to regenerate billions of acres of degraded ecosystems, to eliminate rural poverty, to reverse our deteriorating public health and to revitalize rural communities all over the globe. The hour is late, but we still have time to regenerate.”
Please support our campaign to stop this greenwashing and ensure Regenerative Agriculture’s integrity by restoring farmer’s independence, promoting social justice, fair trade and regenerating ecological health.
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