21st March 2023
“According to the United Nations, 75% of crop diversity has been lost over the past century as farmers abandoned numerous local varieties of crops for high yield monocultures that are often shoehorned into environments they are poorly adapted to.
“On the edges of the field are giant heirloom sunflowers – used to attract pollinators – and rows of amaranth. “By companion cropping, you’re replicating those systems you see in nature,” said Lowden, describing the traditional Indigenous practice of interplanting crops to deter weeds and pests, maintain moisture and enrich the soil. “This is thousands of years of knowledge passed down,” he added.mFor the past decade, Lowden, 34, has worked to restore traditional crops and farming practices in Acoma. As program director for Ancestral Lands, a non-profit that supports land stewardship in Indigenous communities, he reintroduced traditional Acoma crops into the community and created a bank of 57 arid-adapted seeds native to the region. His work is part of a broader movement to build food and seed sovereignty on tribal lands amidst staggering global biodiversity losses created by the modern agricultural system and growing food insecurities caused by climate crisis.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/18/seed-keeper-indigenous-farming-acoma?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
A better world is possible.
The Green Tau 