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Amir,
Today's
newsletter is all about soil, but with so much happening at Food Tank,
I wanted to quickly share three opportunities and announcements:
1. Food Tank is doing a free webinar with Winrock
International's John Fisk on Wednesday, January 14 at 1pm
EST. Fisk will speak on how innovations are spread, replicated, scaled
out, and shared among farmers, researchers, and other stakeholders.
Register today by clicking HERE.
2. Food Tank launched two years ago this month! Join us,
Edible DC, and Sustainable America for a very special
reception and dinner in Washington, D.C., including keynotes
speakers Washington Post Food and Dining Editor Joe Yonan, Chef Jose
Andres, and Farmers Restaurant Group founding oartner Dan Simons.
Also, I'm giving our newsletter subscribers $50 off for dinner tickets
-- just use promotional code: FTDinner. Tickets are selling fast so
please purchase yours today HERE.
3. The Food Tank Summit, in partnership with The George
Washington University, is less than two weeks away! We are bringing 75
amazing speakers together for two incredible days at the famous Jack
Morton Auditorium. I am giving you a first look at the agenda by
clicking HERE. The
event is totally sold out with an additional waiting list of more than
1,000 people! With that said you don't need to miss a minute of it --
the entire event will be live-streamed for free!
Now, let's
talk about soil.
Soil is vital to the health of both people and the planet.
Unfortunately, it is often the most overlooked of all agricultural
inputs. The U.N. General Assembly declared 2015
the International Year of Soils (IYS) to increase
awareness and understanding of the many important roles of soil.
According to The Land Institute, soil
is every bit as non-renewable as oil, and it is essential for human
survival.
Healthy soil is the foundation for
food, fuel, fiber, and medical products, and is a vital part of
ecosystems. It stores and filters water, provides resilience to
drought, plays an important role in the carbon cycle, and is the
foundation of agriculture and food production.
According
to plant geneticist and president of The Land Institute Wes Jackson,
and farmer and author Wendell Berry, “our present ways of agriculture
are not sustainable, and so our food supply is not sustainable. We
must restore ecological health to our agricultural
landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to
our rural communities.”
Jackson says we’re plowing through
our soil bank account and sending those riches downstream to the
ocean. He believes that the
loss of topsoil is the single greatest threat to our food supply and
to the continued existence of civilization.
The Land Institute is working on the development of
mixed-perennial-grain crops to restore the planet’s natural landscape.
Since the beginning of agricultural production, one-fourth of the
Earth’s surface has been converted for agriculture; and currently,
two-thirds of global cropland is used for monocultures and annual
crops. These practices are accompanied by widespread use of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, altering the soil biota landscape and
depleting its health. Perennial
crops, agroforestry, intercropping, and other agroecological practices
can be more efficient methods, conserving soils, preventing erosion,
and protecting water.
“In this new century,
farmers will need to produce more from their lands as they have in the
past, but with fewer chemicals, fertilizers, and nonrenewable energy
sources; all while causing less harm to the soil, water, and
surrounding environment,” says Jerry Glover, an
agroecologist for the U.S. Agency for International Development and
National Geographic emerging explorer.
According the U.N.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the synergies between the
International Year of Family Farming (IYFF) and the IYS are evident:
family farmers depend on healthy soils as much as soils depend on
them. We need both for a healthy planet and food security.
"We need to support family farmers in order to support
soils," said FAO Director-General, Jose Graziano da Silva.
"We must manage soils sustainably. There are many ways to do this.
Crop diversification, which is used by most of the world’s family
farmers, is one of them. This gives time for important nutrients to
regenerate. This is only one example of the role family farmers have
in producing food, preserving our natural resources, and safeguarding
biodiversity."
This year, Food
Tank will promote the importance of soil and the objectives of the
IYS, which include:
- Raising awareness among civil society and decision makers
- Educating the public about the crucial role soil plays in food
security, climate change, adaptation and mitigation, essential
ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable
development
- Supporting effective policies and actions for the sustainable
management of and protection of soil resources
- Promoting investment in sustainable soil management
activities
- Strengthening initiatives in connection with the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) process and post-2015 agenda
- Advocating for rapid capacity enhancement for soil information
collection and monitoring at all levels
We
ALL need and depend on soil.
Join Food Tank
and support the IYS! Share this article by clicking HERE.
All the best,
 Danielle Nierenberg President, Food Tank foodtank.com

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Celebrate Food Tank's two year anniversary with Washington Post Food
and Dining Editor Joe Yonan, Chef Jose
Andres, and Farmers Restaurant Group Founding
Partner Dan Simons. Read
more...


Fisk will speak on how innovations are spread,
replicated, scaled out, and shared among farmers, researchers, and
other stakeholders. Register
Here.


The U.N. General Assembly declared 2015 the International Year of
Soils (IYS) to increase awareness and understanding of the many
important roles of soil. Read
more...

The world’s second-largest country boasts an impressive team of
chefs, farmers, educators, and activists working to improve its food
system. Read
more...


The Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) supports the
implementation of farmers’ rights at local and national levels and
into international policies and research programs. Read
more...

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