Carbon Impact

When purchasing UPS shipping labels to send out fiber arts kits or boxes of ordered jams or pancake mix, I’ve noticed there is a carbon offset option as I checkout. A little green leaf icon sits next to it, indicating this is the environmentally friendly choice. But what does it mean, and what does the extra payment actually do?

Purchasing carbon credits has become a big business to some big businesses. Carbon credits can be purchased and sold, primarily with an eye to the maintenance of forests and their prevention of clearcutting. The number of acreage and types of trees is calculated to offset the carbon footprint of the enterprise, allowing them to claim carbon neutrality. But the forests whose credits are being sold are already there, doing their work, so how much of this is change and how much of it is a game?

Instead of theorizing delivery truck emissions vs forest sequestrations somewhere far away from the delivery route, I like to keep my carbon work close to home…right at home. I like to see it, to work it, to make the impact manifest not by buying credits but by doing the work every day.

Regenerative farming is completely intermarried with carbon cycles and sequestration. Exposed, heavily tilled soils lose carbon and nitrogen at alarming rates and are susceptible to erosion. Nature abhors bare soils, as any gardener who weeds by hand will note. Something will always seek to colonize the exposed earth and cover it up. Understanding why this is nature’s way is important to valuing the regenerative process and reinventing how we grow and raise foods for a healthier planet.

Covered soils retain moisture. Mulch is our big friend on the farm when we want to suppress weeds while building a healthier environment for the crops in our garden. Our winter squash patch is a huge festival of mulch and a great way to use up old hay. Eventually, that old hay decomposes into new, rich soil called humus. As aquafers deplete across the nation, being smart about how we use our water and how we can naturally retain it is becoming more imperative.

Covered soils retain nutrients. Exposing soil to air hastens the decomposition of organic materials so fast that they literally release into the air and are no longer available to plants. Less organic matter means less ability to hold nutrients and water. Soils bereft of natural organic matter are weak and infertile, which plays into the agribusiness dependency on chemical fertilizers to prop up plant growth. These fertilizers burn or damage natural soil flora and fauna, further sterilizing the soil and making it even less resilient. Healthy soils are critical to a healthy planet.

Covered soils are biodynamic. Think about a well-maintained pasture compared with a corn field. In the corn field, there is just corn and perhaps a few stalwart weeds that have become resistant to herbicides. Only one plant type for acres and acres is not how nature likes to roll. Look at a prairie or a forest and note how many different species are living all together in the same square yard. Walking our pastures, you can see this as well. There are many different types of grasses (each with its own strengths and weaknesses), clovers and other legumes, wildflowers, and even the occasional mushroom. There is habitat for worms and bees and ants and birds and creatures of all kind. Because we haven’t tilled these soils in over 20 years, the interrelationships of these plant and animal species are deep and intertwined. Biodiversity is critical for resilience in a changing climate.

Covered soils sequester carbon. We all know that trees sequester carbon, but interestingly rotationally grazed pastures sequester carbon even faster. When the grasses and plants are grazed, they slough off their deep roots to match the height of the remaining growth above. As the animals are moved to a different part of the pasture, the grasses and plants regrow and build new roots. Powered by the fertilization from the grazing animals, this regrowth is amazingly fast, capturing robust amounts of carbon not only in the greenery but in the new roots. The old roots provide food for worms and beneficial bacteria, and that sloughed carbon stays in the ground, adding to the biomass and organic matter of the soil. Soils are our number one potential for carbon banking and sequestration.

Covered soils tended with regenerative practices can literally change what’s happening to our planet, and that change is powered by the choices we make as growers but especially as consumers. Everyone eats, and the choices that we make about what we eat and how we source that food empowers either the status quo or a shift to regeneration.
This week, look beyond the green leaf icon and the marketing around carbon credits and really find out what’s going on with real practices on the ground. Every action towards change begins with awareness. Let’s start today. See you down on the farm sometime.