Online--Talk on Soil and Climate

Kristin Ohlson.

Until the coronavirus hit, Kristin Ohlson was scheduled to discuss her book, The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet on Thursday, April 2, as part of the carbon-storage focused, free speaker series, “From Ridgetop to Reef”, hosted by the MidCoast Watersheds Council. Ohlson’s talk was entitled “Promoting Soil Health for Food Production and Carbon Storage."

As a substitute, the council is calling attention to a video of a talk by Ohlson which covers much of the same ground:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP_t-kOO_R4&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=....

Ohlson will explain how regenerative agriculture—an approach to farming that mimics natural processes instead of fighting them—removes CO2 from the atmosphere to build healthy, carbon-rich and fertile soil, which is good for the farmer and good for the climate.

“We're told that we have to choose between boutique farms raising a little food in a way that’s kind to the land and climate or industrial farms raising lots of food with chemical fertilizer, pesticides, and high-tech seeds,” says Ohlson, “but this is a false dichotomy. We can have lots of food, robust farm incomes, and heal landscapes and climate at the same time.”

Recent studies demonstrate the ability of several beneficial agricultural practices to increase soil carbon sequestration. For example, compost use has been shown to increase the amount of carbon stored in both grassland and cropland soils, while also increasing their water-holding capacities and plant production. Implementing some of these regenerative agriculture practices can help to ameliorate the impacts of climate change, build resilience to drought, and produce plenty of food.

Kristin Ohlson is an independent journalist based in Portland, who has published articles in the New York Times, Discover, Gourmet, and many other publications. Her work has been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing and Best American Science Writing.

Other talks in this free series about natural climate solutions will likewise be made available online.