These days there is a lot of discussion about sustainability – and for good reason! The life-support systems that sustain humans and our economies have been deteriorating for centuries at an accelerating rate; and if it continues like this we will not be a happy humanity, to say the least.
So, what is a sustainable economy? At Regenerate, we take the science seriously – it’s time to live in a way that prioritizes our own health and the health of our planet. Sustainability is about the purpose of the economy and the scale of the economy, so we’re focused on how to transition to such a state – we can call this a regenerative transition, or a regenerative economy.
The image below is from a plan for a car-free neighborhood in Arizona. That’s more like it!
Sustainability requires a shift, not only in the way we produce and consume things, it also requires new aims, new values, and new ways of making decisions. For example, businesses that are connected to place, are more likely to take responsibility for stewarding environmental resources because consumers can see the impacts. When the Regenerate team celebrates producers and consumers in the DC food region, we consider the following criteria:
- Organic Food.
Organic certification is complex, so we don’t necessarily mean certified organic. Nonetheless, growing food without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers is enormously important to us. Pesticides and fertilizers are particularly damaging to local habitats and waterways; on the other hand, good organic production can have positive benefits for the ecosystem. We like to think long term: on organic farms, when weather patterns change, so do the soils, the plants, the pollinators and the bird populations. We are wary of controlling this change from distant laboratories, and much prefer the more natural co-evolution of nature and food that can take place in organic systems.
- Local.
Support your local farmers and food businesses! We recognize local food is not inherently better food, and it is not necessarily much better for the climate (it turns out a local farmer driving a pickup truck is not much better than a tractor trailer driving far on the highway). However, local food matters because it allows communities to work together for a healthy food production process. When people meet their farmers, and know their land and waters they can take responsibility through consumer choices and civic choices. These choices impact local wellbeing, and wellbeing around the world.
- Bio-cultural diversity
On earth, there are approximately 200,000 edible plant species – all fit for certain climates, soil types, and ecosystems. Today, we get about 60% of our plant protein and calories from just three crops: rice, corn and wheat. It’s enough to make anyone sad: we’ve lost about 80% of our plant diversity in a single century, and it’s unsurprising that ecosystems are unraveling around us. Insect collapse, wildfires, and climate change are just a few signals of a system squeezed too tight. Yet, here in the DC region, we still have so much diversity to celebrate. Sustainable food ecosystems require a diversity of practice, knowledge, and tradition – in everything from plant production, to meal preparation – so we’ve mashed up this diversity into one criterion.