2015 - International Year of Soils | The Biosafety Alliance 'Soil Not Oil' Campaign

Regenerating rainforest soils.

Photo courtesy of: Rain
Forest Healing Center

Moderator’s Note: As a biodynamic
farmer, I am interested in soil conservation but I am also even more so
dedicated to soil regeneration. There
is a substantial difference between the two and I hope the principles of
regenerative agriculture will become clearer as we share knowledge, beliefs,
and practices over the coming year which the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) has declared as The
International Year of Soils. Yesterday,  December 5, was designated as the International Day of
Soils, launching a yearlong global initiative focused on protecting and nurturing one
of the most vital of all elements in our planetary life support systems.

The Biosafety Alliance is launching a parallel campaign focused on the theme of “Soil Not Oil”. I am posting the
announcement of this important initiative and encourage my readers and
followers to tune-in to the campaign activities outlined below.

I will be using this as an
opportunity to highlight the theme of soil and food justice. Soil – along with
water – is the most precious and vulnerable source of right livelihoods and
bio-cultural diversity and is also greatly threatened. The threats to soil are
not limited to the usual suspects – clearing and plowing lands that are ill
suited to agriculture (e.g., rainforests); urban sprawl into farmlands; and the
industrialization and mechanization of food production.

There are newer and more insidious
threats today including assaults on the micro-biome ecosystem integrity of
soils as a result of the over use of agro-industrial chemicals. At the top of
the list of such threats are the herbicides and pesticides used by growers who
are trapped into the transgenic treadmill created for profit-play by the likes
of Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer Cropscience, and other transnational agricultural
biotechnology corporations. 

For e.g., the herbicide glyphosate –
marketed by Monsanto as Roundup® – has the effect through a process called
chelation of interfering with the ability of plants to uptake nutrients in the
soil. Indeed, the persistent and repeated use of herbicides – which is
celebrated as the key to following sustainable soil conservation practices like
minimum tillage – destroys the rhizoid fungal and bacterial communities that
enrich the soil and sustain fertility, ultimately affecting the nutrient
density of crops. This threat is nearly invisible because it does not result in
visible soil erosion. Rather, it leads to soil deformation and a micro biome
version of ‘nutricide’, which is in many ways a more serious long-term threat.
I will be presenting the scientific and ethno-scientific materials on this
threat over the course of this International Year of Soils.

I welcome contributions and comments
on the theme of “Soil Not Oil” and invite readers and followers to offer their
own lessons on how farmers can contribute to ecosystem services by following
the lead of indigenous communities by producing soil as part of sustainable and
resilient agroecological practices.

2015
– International Year of Soils

BIOSAFETY
ALLIANCE LAUNCHES ‘SOIL NOT OIL’ CAMPAIGN

Miguel
Robles | Biosafety Alliance | December 5, 2014

Dear Friends and Allies:

As you know 2015 has been designated
as the International Year of Soils by the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations, honoring our commitment to protect healthy soils
for healthy life. The Biosafety Alliance and allies are pleased to announce the
2015 Soil Not Oil Campaign to advocate for the sustainable and regenerative
management of soils while reducing dependency on fossil fuels.

The Soil Not Oil Campaign will
promote respect for soils worldwide, highlight the ways that shifting
agricultural practices is key to combatting climate change, and call for
integrated action on sustainable agriculture and clean energy to ensure a safe
and healthy planet for generations to come.

Soil is not just ‘dirt’. It is a
living ecosystem of interacting

 plants, animals, and
microorganisms that are sensitive to toxins.

Diagram courtesy of Chauncey
Gardens, UK    

That is why – in partnership with
dozens of other kindred organizations – the Biosafety Alliance is the calling
on all like-minded organizations, scientist, farmers and individuals, to join
the Soil Not Oil Coalition to participate in an educational campaign
and/or endorse two major events planned for 2015:

Soils Not Oil International
Conference,
(Tentative date) September 4 & 5, Richmond, California.

Confirmed
and tentatively scheduled speakers include: Vandana Shiva, Adelita San Vicente Tello,
Miguel Altieri, Naomi Klein, Ignacio Chapela, John Wick, Winona LaDuke, Devon G.
Peña, Ray Seidler.

Soil not Oil Mass March, (Tentative date) September 6th,
San Francisco, California

This
will be a mass march demanding urgent, large-scale action addressing climate
chaos and dangerous agricultural practices that threaten our soil, air, water,
and way of life.

Supporters of this effort are:

Biodiversity
for Livable Climate, Biosafety Alliance, California State Grange, Center for
Biological Diversity, Center for Farmworker Families, Community to Community,
Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition,
Food Democracy Now, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, Global
Exchange, NUTIVA Foundation, Organic Consumer Association, Semillas de Vida,
South Central Farmers Cooperative, The Acequia Institute, and Amazon Watch.

If you are interested in endorsing
and partnering, please email soilnotoilcoalition@gmail.com find out more
information about the coalition, and how your organization can engage in the
campaign and events.

In solidarity,

Miguel Robles

Executive Director

Biosafety Alliance