Soil Science Resources

Soil Solutions to Climate Problems – Narrated by Michael Pollan
Why Soil Matters – Kiss the Ground
Nature Is Speaking – Edward Norton is The Soil | Conservation International (CI)
Regeneration of Our Lands: A Producer’s Perspective | Gabe Brown | TEDxGrandForks

500+ Indigenous Groups Leading Regenerative Development

Nature-Based Solutions Database (via the Equator Initiative): Connecting communities around the world to share local solutions that work. Five continents, 500+ communities and thousands of ideas. Explore our Solutions Database to learn how outstanding local communities and indigenous peoples around the world are making possible the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through nature-based actions.

Books:

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
- As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these two lenses of knowledge together to take us on “a journey that is every bit as mythic as it is scientific, as sacred as it is historical, as clever as it is wise” (Elizabeth Gilbert). Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.

Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land
- Some of our most cherished sustainable farming practices have roots in African wisdom. Yet, discrimination and violence against African-American farmers has led to their decline from 14 percent of all growers in 1920 to less than 2 percent today, with a corresponding loss of over 14 million acres of land. Further, Black communities suffer disproportionately from illnesses related to lack of access to fresh food and healthy natural ecosystems. Soul Fire Farm, cofounded by author, activist, and farmer Leah Penniman, is committed to ending racism and injustice in our food system. Through innovative programs such as the Black-Latinx Farmers Immersion, a sliding-scale farmshare CSA, and Youth Food Justice leadership training, Penniman is part of a global network of farmers working to increase farmland stewardship by people of color, restore Afro-indigenous farming practices, and end food apartheid.And now, with Farming While Black, Penniman extends that work by offering the first comprehensive manual for African-heritage people ready to reclaim their rightful place of dignified agency in the food system. This one-of-a-kind guide provides readers with a concise “how-to” for all aspects of small-scale farming, including:
  - Finding Land and Resources
  - Writing a Farm Business Plan
  - Honoring the Spirits of the Land with Planting and Harvesting Rituals
  - Restoring Degraded Land through No-Till and Biological Tillage
  - Crop Planning for Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs
  - Preserving the Harvest and Saving Seed
  - Raising Animals Sustainably and Humanely
  - Urban Farming, including a guide to laws and land access
  - Movement Building through education, direct action, & policy change

Organizations:

Films & Media:

Gather, a New York Times Critic’s Pick is an intimate portrait of the growing movement amongst Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political, and cultural identities through food sovereignty, while battling the trauma of centuries of genocide.
“Tending the Wild” shines light on the environmental knowledge of indigenous peoples across California by exploring how they have actively shaped and tended the land for millennia, in the process developing a deep understanding of plant and animal life. This series examines how humans are necessary to live in balance with nature and how traditional practices can inspire a new generation of Californians to tend their environment.

NY Times: To Combat Climate Change, Start From the Ground Up (With Dirt)
NY Times: A Boon for Soil, and for the Environment
NY Times: Can Dirt Save the Earth?
Washington Post: A secret weapon to fight climate change: dirt
Upworthy: A down-and-dirty look at a groundbreaking discovery that could save the planet.
Huffington Post: A Weapon Against Climate Change May Be Right Under Our Feet
Fusion.net: An overlooked answer to climate change right beneath your feet
The Atlantic: Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People
FastCo: Restoring Global Soil Quality Is One Of The Best Things We Can Do For Climate Change
Yes! Magazine: What’s a Carbon Farmer? How California Ranchers Use Dirt to Tackle Climate Change

International Climate Initiative – and Hope – Emerges at COP21: The historic Paris Agreement for emissions reduction wasn’t the only groundbreaking thing to come out of COP21, the UN Global Climate Summit in December, 2015.
“Regeneration Coalition” Press Release: Learn About the 4/1000 Initiative
This Idea Could Transform Global Food Systems, from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
International Year of Soils: United Nations, 2015.

Holistic/Managed Grazing: How to Fight Desertification and Reverse Climate Change
Holistic/Managed Grazing: Soil Carbon Cowboys
Healthy Soil=Healthy You: Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People
Cover Crops: A Farming Revolution With Deep Roots in the Past
Keys to Building Healthy Soil: Gabe Brown
The Benefits of Composting
No-Till Farming
Biodiversity: The Hidden World Under Our Feet
Biodiversity: Role of Soil Biology in Improving Soil Quality
Biodiversity: Climate-Smart Soils, Paustian et al. (2016)

Soil Carbon Restoration: Can Biology do the Job?
Soil-Climate Connection Fact Sheet
Soil and Carbon: Soil Solutions to Climate Problems
Global Cooling by Grassland Soils of the Geological Past and Near Future
Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas
Long-term Climate Change Mitigation Potential with Organic Matter Management on Grasslands
Grassland Management and Conversion Into Grassland: Effects on Soil Carbon
Carbon Sequestration in Tropical Agroforestry Systems
Regenerative Capitalism: How Universal Principles And Patterns Will Shape Our New Economy
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Trade and Environment Review 2013: Wake Up Before It’s Too Late
Climate Smart Soils: The Potential for Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Soils
A Review of the Potential for Soil Carbon Sequestration: by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
The Feasibility and Cost-Effectiveness of Sequestering
China’s National Ecosystem: Improvements in Soil Carbon
Cost-Effective Methods: Improving Adoption of Soil Health and Carbon Sequestration Practices

COMET: Farm and Ranch Carbon Accounting System
Marin Carbon Project: Carbon Farming Plans
Carbon Cycle Institute: DRAFT Carbon Farm Plan — ABC Ranch
Carbon Farming vs Farming for Carbon: How to Improve Soil Organic Matter
Open Agriculture Learning Series
Soil Conservation: Success Stories and Tips from Across the Nation

The Carbon Farming Solution
Grass, Soil, Hope
Braiding Sweetgrass
Cows Save the Planet
Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations
Farming While Black
Water in Plain Sight
The Soil Will Save Us
Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up
Restoration Agriculture
Permaculture, Designer’s Handbook
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Holistic Management Handbook
Rodale’s Basic Organic Gardening: A Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Healthy Garden
The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener
Tending the Wild
Grounded
See More From: Soil Not Oil Coalition

Regenerate America™ is an unprecedented coalition of farmers, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals from every corner of our country and all political stripes. Together, we are elevating the voices of farmers and ranchers demanding that the 2023 Farm Bill shift resources & support towards regenerative agriculture.

Soil Action Policy. This site, created by Farmers Footprint, Nerds for Earth and Kiss the Ground shows you how to contact your government representative and encourage them to learn about the importance of improving soil health through regenerative agriculture! soilpolicyaction.us

Some of the main policies, bills, and initiatives we’re tracking across California, the US and the globe:

Regenerative Agriculture Industry Map (Ethan Soloviev)
Lineages of Regenerative Agriculture (Short Version) (Ethan Soloviev)

Find a local farm. Healthy Soil is the foundation for healthy food. Here’s a map to find local regenerative food grown by regenerative farmers that are focused on building healthy soil. (Created in collaboration with Regeneration International, Organic Consumers Association and Kiss the Ground). Search the map.

Take action. Contact your government representative and encourage them to learn about the importance of improving soil health through regenerative agriculture. (This initiative was created in partnership with Farmers Footprint, Nerds for Earth and Kiss the Ground. soilpolicyaction.us

Kiss the Ground’s Free Middle School Curriculum that we developed in partnership with Life Lab is designed to introduce young people to the magic of soil and the fascinating connection it has to the food we eat, our health and our climate. The 5-lesson curriculum, written to serve as supplemental material for the Next Generation Science Standards, teaches about the carbon cycle, photosynthesis, soil science, various agricultural practices, and concludes with a regenerative soil-based project. Our aim is to have this curriculum in every US state and translated for global distribution. It’s free, help us get the word out!

You might not think much about the soil under your feet. It’s just dirt, right? Actually, soil is an essential foundation for all life on earth! Soil affects the food we eat, the nutrients our natural ecosystems need, the air we breathe, and the climate that makes our planet habitable. Crazy connections, right?

Here’s the problem: Earth’s healthy soil is rapidly disappearing. This is impacting our food supply, ecosystems, and air. It is also speeding up changes to our climate.

And here’s the good news! We can all work together to restore soil’s health, and in doing so, help slow changes to our climate. As a Soil Hero, you become a part of the solution.

GET STARTED!

An open source slide deck that connects the importance of soil health to business, identifies best practices and showcases private sector actions. The deck is usable by anyone to manipulate and adapt to fit your needs. Pull slides that are relevant to you and your audience, change colors to align with your brand, and share freely! Supporting information and statistics relevant to each slide are included in the notes sections for reference in discussions.
Supporting appendix slide deck with a bit more detail for those interested in digging in and a list of resources.
A compilation of soil health fact sheets from NRCS, FAO as well as infographics.
Short animated videos that simplify the critical role soil health plays in agriculture and outline best practice solutions. Watch animated videos: Leaky System and Sources & Sinks.

Soil Science Resources

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