May 2020

Support Sustainable Agriculture. 

 
Tips to meet the challenge:
 
1) Learn how sustainable farming practices can support water health:
  • Cover crops have been shown to decrease, or almost completely eliminate erosion from agricultural fields, increase rainfall infiltration to the soil layer, keep nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorous in place and prevent the loss of these nutrients to vulnerable waterways, and increase soil organic matter (a measure of soil fertility).
  • Increasing plant diversity around monoculture crops can increase the population of beneficial insects and reduce the need for pesticides. 
  • No till or conservation till methods keep vegetation matter intact and keep soil in place reducing erosion. 
  • Buffer strips help reduce erosion and run off.  There are several profit generating crops that can be planted as buffers including fruit and nut trees and berries. Mushrooms can be cultivated and bees sheltered. The Minnesota based Midwest Elderberry Coop provides a market for Elderberries - a buffer strip crop. 
2) Consider a CSA (community supported agriculture) or Co-op or Farmer’s Market for sourcing produce and meat:
  • At Minnesota Grown you can search for CSAs and Farmers Markets by zip code.  You can also search by certification - such as Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certified.
  • Landstewardship Project and Localharvest.org also maintain lists of CSAs.
  • The Twin Cities is home to 12 food Co-ops - the highest rate of food co-op per capita in the United States.  You do not have to be a member of the co-op to shop.  Co-ops tend to focus on organic and locally produced food.
3) Grow a few items yourself and practice sustainable agriculture on a micro-scale:
  • Compost - even in an apartment - with a worm bin or with a bokashi system.
  • Avoid pesticides and herbicides and when they are absolutely necessary, seek out organic options that won't remain in the ground or water.
  • Rotate your "crops"  We're creatures of habit, but planting from the same family in the same spot year after year can make your garden less productive and more suseptible to disease.
 
 
This challenge originated after Sharon Day told the EcoClub about Nibi Walks, indigenous led ceremonies to pray for water.  At the end of the meeting, Sharon led us in a meditation and asked each of us to consider what we will do to protect a body of water we care about.  Our group had many different bodies of water that were top of mind and many different approaches of stewardship.  One of our members focused on the effects agriculture can have on water health.  Thus a challenge is born. 
 
In 2000, the EPA found that agriculture non-point source pollution was the leading source of impact to surveyed lakes and rivers and the secondary source of impairment to wetlands and a major contributor to contamination of ground water. Pollutants include sediment, nutrients, pathogens, pesticides, metals, and salts.  Changes in farming practices such as grazing, tilling, fertilizing, and irrigation can dramatically reduce pollution. 
 
By participating in the Rotary EcoClub EcoChallenge for May 2020, you will learn more about sustainable farming practices, you will discover ways to support these practices through your consumption behaviors, and you can put these practices to work in your own agriculture activities. 
 
Share your progress - the hurdles and the success - with Rotary EcoClub and your family and friends!