Description:
An acclaimed geologists' powerful argument to recognize soil health as the key to global food security.
A century of conventional farming has left our planet with sick soil, accelerating the interlinked crises of food security, biodiversity loss, water pollution, and climate change. In ReGen, David R. Montgomery lays out a practical and productive vision for recovering soil health and safeguarding the future of food. The answer: soil-building regenerative farming. In exploring this much-needed turning point for agriculture, Montgomery marshals more than a decade of research, interviewing innovative farmers and seeing firsthand how they restored degraded farms around the world. ReGen breaks down common myths around conventional and organic farming, animal agriculture, and plant-based diets to frame ten policy recommendations for sustainably nourishing the world. As Montgomery shows, reducing tillage, laying off synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, growing a diversity of crops, and getting livestock back on the land can reverse centuries of soil degradation and harvest nutrient-dense food. Succinct, accessible, and urgent, ReGen points the way to a healthier, more resilient world.
Brief description: David R. Montgomery is a professor at the University of Washington, a MacArthur Fellow, a finalist for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, and an internationally recognized authority on geomorphology. His books have been translated into ten languages. He lives with his wife, Anne Bikle, in Seattle. Their work includes What Your Food Ate: How to Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health, and a trilogy of books about soil health, microbiomes, and farming-Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, The Hidden Half of Nature, and Growing a Revolution.