On March 5–7, we attended the Indiana Small Farm Conference in Danville, Indiana. The keynote speaker was Jean-Martin Fortier, a Canadian/Quebecois sustainable farmer who created La Ferme de Quatre-Temps (Four Seasons Farm) in Hemmingford, Quebec, and who wrote The Market Gardener.

Some of the takeaways from Fortier's speech were as follows: He said small farmers should change the way they grow so that there's more attention to regenerative agriculture that focuses on the importance of soil biology to plant growth and brings nature back into the system of farming. He said, “What we need is food grown with care, by and for people who care.” He sees agriculture essentially as applied ecology on a daily basis which is ecological, human-scale, profitable, and nourishing.

According to Fortier, it isn't a farmer's job to feed the world. And he finds it absurd that many U.S.-based food and agriculture companies tell farmers they should do so. “Feeding the world? People in Africa don’t need the U.S. to feed them.” What we need, he argues, is small farms feeding their communities, and that task is difficult enough.

Fortier, born and raised in Quebec, began farming with his wife, Maude-Hélène Desroches, as interns and WWOOFers. Years later, they started their own project on rented land. Like many others, they dreamed of farming on their own land and worked hard to make that a reality.

Today, they grow a diversified mix of crops including beets, broccoli, salad greens, and carrots on an acre and a half. Their award-winning farm, Les Jardins de la Grelinette, is highly productive. Fortier and Desroches work nine months out of the year, and their CSA feeds 200 families a month during the summer.

Fortier’s philosophy is “grow better, not bigger.” Better to him means not only better food that is grown in better soil, but it also means a better quality of life. He prides himself on the fact that he can take winter vacations with his family.

The couple’s approach to growing food is what Fortier refers to as “biologically intensive,” incorporating permaculture methods like conservation tillage, building permanent beds (as opposed to creating new ones every season), and crop rotation. And, like many young farmers growing in colder climates, he cites Eliot Coleman as an inspiration.

The Market Gardener gives the aspiring farmer the sense that they can pick up the book and follow it step-by-step to start their own farm. The book begins by explaining Fortier’s approach to small-scale farming and ranges from tips on how to choose a site to designing the layout. “The aim is to organize the different workspaces—inside and outside—so that the workflow will be as efficient, practical, and ergonomic as possible,” he says.

He troubleshoots through difficult topics and makes suggestions on how to fertilize organically, start seeds, manage weeds, insect pests, and diseases to practical advice on harvesting: “In order to avoid having to fetch more elastic bands in case we miss some, we always carry an extra box in our harvest cart.”

In the book, he has an entire chapter dedicated to minimum tillage and appropriate machinery, like the broadfork and the two-wheel tractor. (The couple provides detailed information about all the tools they use and where to get them on their website.) The broadfork is the namesake of their farm, explains Fortier. “The broadfork traces its origin back to the grelinette, a tool invented in France by André Grelin in the 1960s,” he says. “We named our business, Les Jardins de la Grelinette, after the tool because it is so emblematic of our philosophy of efficient, environmentally sound, manual gardening.”

Fortier hopes his book will fill a big hole in the existing literature around farming. “What I am presenting in The Market Gardener is not the ultimate set up but it is good enough to get started,” he says. “Growers starting 10 to 15 years ago didn’t have that.” He also believes that his practices can apply in many locations, for many people. “You will hear a lot of people say, ‘what you are doing on your farm, I cannot do on my farm,’ but I’m sorry—farming isn’t that different.”

Fortier’s approach to basic skills and design concepts can be used all over the world. Fortier and Desroches have spent time on farms in Cuba, Mexico, and New Mexico which he sites as inspiration. “We had been to Cuba, and we had seen acres and acres of farms running on permanent beds without tractors and thought that was a brilliant way to do it,” says Fortier.

These practices are commonly used in South America and Africa on both small- and large-scale farms, but they are far from mainstream in North America, and could have a big impact on farm productivity.

“My message is that if you want to get into farming, this is a pretty bright way to do it without a lot of input. And you can make a living,” said Fortier.

We enjoyed having the chance to hear Fortier speak. In a future blog post, we plan to share the insights and practical information we gained from the workshops we attended at the conference.

In order to solve the climate crisis, we not only need to drastically reduce the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that are emitted into the atmosphere, but also capture the greenhouse gases that are already in the atmosphere. Plants can make a big difference helping capture greenhouse gases. One plant that may be well-suited to accomplish this is a kind of fern called azolla.

Azolla has actually done this before. About 55 million years ago, the Earth was in danger of falling into a runaway greenhouse state. The Arctic was a very different place than today. It was a lot hotter, and there was no ice to be found. Also, instead of being a large mass of land (or ice) surrounded by the ocean the way it is today, the Arctic was a large lake surrounded by land, and only connected to the ocean by one main opening: the Turgay Sea. Eventually, this opening to the ocean became blocked off, and the lake that covered the Arctic became the perfect place for a plant like azolla to grow: a warm lake with excess nutrients and no exchange with outside waters.

The abundance of nitrogen and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere allowed azolla to flourish. It formed thick mats over the surface of the lake. The azolla consumed so much carbon dioxide that the climate began to cool. The changing climate caused increased rainfall, which allowed the lake to grow, and with it the surface area of the lake (and therefore the space for the azolla to grow). This process continued for about 1 million years. Over the course of this time, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere fell from 2500 to 3500 parts per million to between 1500 and 1600 ppm.
Over the next 49 million years, the Earth entered a cycle where carbon dioxide levels fell even further. During this time, South America and India shifted northward, causing the Antarctic to become isolated and allowing ice to form in the Antarctic as it became colder and colder. A series of ice ages began about 2.6 million years ago when the CO2 concentration reached 600 ppm, only 200 ppm above what it is today. By the mid-eighteenth century, carbon dioxide levels had fallen to 280 ppm.
Considering the world is heating quickly because of the rapid increase in man-made greenhouse gases, azolla could be a powerful tool to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations to manageable levels, if enough people around the world decide to grow it.
If you decide to grow azolla, make sure to keep it confined to an enclosed area. Azolla is considered a weed in North America and an invasive species in the UK. If it escapes its enclosure, then it can get into lakes or ponds and take over the surface of the water, killing any life under the surface. So be careful to keep azolla contained.
With that in mind, if azolla is grown properly, then it can be a powerful way to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and reverse the greenhouse effect. We at Green Bridge Growers will be piloting the growth of azolla in our greenhouses this spring. Please stay tuned to learn how this project progresses and how it benefits the environment.  

If you're looking for ways during the coming year to reduce your impact on the planet and live more sustainably, this guide has some useful ideas. First on the list is reducing your energy consumption. This means doing things like turning off the lights when you leave the room, adjusting the thermostat to be closer to the outside temperature when you're away from the house, opening windows instead of using the air conditioner, hanging clothes to dry instead of using the dryer, and so on.

Another thing you can do is buy local food. Transporting food requires fossil fuels, and food shipped from another part of the country, or even another part of the world, uses a lot more fossil fuels for transportation than food grown locally. When possible, buy foods from your local farmers' market.

Third, try to avoid using single-use plastics that you throw away after only one use. When you buy something, consider how long it can be used and whether you'll throw it away when you're done using it. Replace these products with renewables if possible.

Also, plant seeds to grow your own food. You don't need a farm to do this; you can plant the seeds in a corner of your yard or in a pot on the windowsill. Also, be sure to recycle (and reduce and reuse, for that matter). Also, be sure to buy products that contain "post-consumer" recycled materials, which are materials that have been recycled by consumers via a recycling service for individuals (as opposed to by manufacturers before the material is ready to be sold to customers, which is "pre-consumer" recycled material). Also, be sure to resell and donate items you no longer need.

Drink from your tap to reduce the amount of bottled water you buy. More than 1 million tons of plastic bottles enter the waste stream every year, and buying fewer plastic water bottles can help reduce the number that get sent to the landfill. Also on the topic of water, try to limit the amount of water you use. Do things like installing water-efficient toilets, adding aerators to your sink faucets, setting up sprinkler systems so that they only cover the lawn and not any paved areas, etc. A couple final tips are to find alternatives to using your car, like walking, biking, or taking public transportation; and buying fair trade products, which were produced using sustainable practices and which the workers were paid a fair price for.

I hope these tips are helpful. Reducing our impact on the environment is hard, and none of us are ever perfect, but these are at least a few beginning tips.

How can those of us concerned about sustainability, climate change, and agriculture work toward the goal of becoming carbon-neutral? The start-up company Indigo Agriculture has developed a new project to use sustainable farming techniques to remove 1 trillion metric tons of carbon from the Earth’s atmosphere. The project, called the Terraton Initiative, advocates for regenerative agriculture, in which plants store carbon in the ground, instead of releasing it back into the atmosphere. This is a process called carbon sequestration, in which plants capture and store carbon in their body, and use the carbon to grow leaves, stems, and roots. Plants also release some of the carbon into the soil in the form of simple sugars. According to David Perry, CEO and director of Indigo Agriculture, carbon sequestration is the “single most actionable, immediate, and affordable thing we can do to impact climate change.”

Perry says that farming on average sequesters one percent of carbon, as opposed to untouched land, which captures between three and seven percent of carbon. But regenerative agriculture can bring farmers closer to the three to seven percent, says Perry.

The Terraton Initiative tries to bring together farmers, scientific researchers, businesses, investors, and nonprofits to achieve higher profitability, the most sustainable practices, and better consumer health.

To put together useful data, the Terraton Initiative analyzes tens of thousands of farms to correct data on carbon sequestration. It will release the data it finds to researchers and the general public in order to enable innovation.

Regenerative agriculture looks like a great way to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in order to reduce climate change while at the same time growing food for people. On its own, this may not be enough to stop climate change, but put together with other methods for reducing CO2 emissions and removing CO2 from the atmosphere, regenerative agriculture could have a big impact on reducing carbon dioxide levels back to a point where they're manageable once again.

There are some very promising ways that sustainable farming can help combat climate change. We've researched these new developments and blog what we've learned in this post and the next. ​

Maybe you've seen the term "regenerative agriculture" around and you're wondering what it means.

According to Dr. Urvashi Rangan, Chief Science Advisor for FoodPrint, regenerative agriculture is "organic plus". Sustainable farming aims to only use the resources that are available; whereas regenerative agriculture focuses on "building health into the ecosystem," starting with increasing soil fertility, according to Rangan. Regenerative agriculture is a holistic approach that focuses first on the soil, and then after the soil, it takes into consideration the health of the animals, workers, farmers, and community.

Chemical-heavy farming techniques—as well as erosion from deforestation, and climate change—are causing a loss of topsoil around the world, which is making land less fertile. The United Nations estimates that if current rates of soil degradation continue, then all the world's topsoil will be gone in 60 years, which will be catastrophic for farmers' ability to grow food for people. With that in mind, we need to stop farming in ways that deplete the soil, and instead farm in ways that renew it. Healthy soil can act as a carbon sink by pulling carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. If implemented worldwide, regenerative agriculture practices have the ability to sequester 50 parts per million of carbon dioxide over the course of a century.

Regenerative agriculture also helps make soil more resilient against weather extremes, such as flood and drought. This is especially important as weather extremes become more likely due to climate change. Regenerative agriculture also helps promote higher nutrient density in plants, which is important considering that climate change is expected to cause plants to suffer nutrient losses.

Thinking our own consumption habits is important for thinking about how we contribute to climate change. Maybe you already use reusable grocery bags, stopped using plastic straws, and switched to plant-based milks, and like me, you’re thinking “what else can I possibly do to help the environment?” Did you know that our diets have an impact on the planet?

Right now, producing the world’s food is responsible for about ¼ of human generated greenhouse gases each year. However, not all foods contribute to these greenhouse gases equally. The meat and dairy industry are among the biggest culprits. According to the New York Times, the meat and dairy industry contribute over 14% of the world’s greenhouse gases every year, which is almost the same as all of the emissions from every automobile, airplane, and ship in the world.

How does food production contribute to climate change and greenhouse gas emissions? Food production contributes to climate change when forests and natural landscapes are cleared to make room for new farms and more livestock, when cows and other livestock digest food they release methane, and when fossil fuels are used to operate a greater amount food production related machinery. 

Seafood and fish provide us with an interesting look into how food can help or harm the planet. Fish and other seafood potentially contribute the lowest amount of greenhouse gases as they feed naturally in the ocean and can be harvested in ways that are low fuel. Like other food, not all fish are equal contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. For example, a recent study found that wild fish like tuna, sardines, cod, and herring on average have a smaller carbon footprint than pork or chicken.

It is also useful to know the different ways farmed and wild fish and seafood contribute to climate change. Wild fish and seafood potentially have a small carbon footprint, however, currently, wild fish and being caught at their maximum level. For some types of fish, fish farms—called aquaculture—can be more environmentally friendly. For other fish and seafood, like shrimp, aquaculture can have a large carbon footprint. So, it depends on geography, farming practices, and type of fish or seafood being produced.

Organizations like Aquaculture Stewardship Council and Friend of the Sea are working to certify fish farms that practice environmentally friendly standards. While these certification standards aren’t perfect they are steps in the right direction for ensuring planet safe seafood and fish production.

Finally, perhaps one of the most important ways to use diet as a way to help the planet is to look at how other cultures eat. Taking a look at countries like Vietnam, India, and Lebanon, traditional foods offer a mixture of meats and vegetables. In Vietnamese Pho meat is used to enhance vegetables and grains in the soup. In India meat is present, but the star of the show are legumes. Lentils and beans are high in protein and fiber, can easily adapt to changing weather patterns, and can improve soil quality. Lebanese diets are similar to those of India and Vietnam as they emphasize variety. These are not a meatless diets, but rather includes meat along with a variety of vegetables, herbs, nuts, and grains.

These diets can be useful referents for thinking about how our diets could help the planet. Introducing more variety, eating less meat, and knowing more about where our food comes from are important steps to using foodways and eating habits to improve our planet’s health! 

For more resources check out: 
Healthy Hyna: https://www.healthyhyna.com/about-me
Quiz: How Does Your Diet Contribute to Climate Change? https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/30/climate/your-diet-quiz-global-warming.html
Decolonize your diet: http://decolonizeyourdiet.org/about

-Anna Ortega

Here at Green Bridge Growers, our mission to provide sustainably grown food is driven by an ideology of social justice. We not only believe in the power of organic and green growing, but we also believe that our food should benefit our community. About 1 million people in the state of Indiana currently face food insecurity.  This means that there are people in our community that are at risk of facing or are currently facing some type of food insecurity. But what does that mean to be “food insecure”? Who is most at risk of being food insecure? How does our venture at Green Bridge hope to contribute to addressing this issue here in the Michiana area?

Food insecurity is defined as a lack of sustained access to healthy high quality food. It affects every community in the United States, but those most at risk of becoming food insecure are low income communities, people with disabilities, seniors and children, rural communities, and Black and Latino populations. Food insecurity is often related to the issue of food deserts. The USDA defines food deserts by their proximity to food providers and not by a communities access  or continued to healthy or culturally appropriate food choices.  

It is important to recognize that any community of people regardless of age, race, and ability are susceptible to food insecurity, however, it is impossible to look at the issue of food deserts without talking about racism and poverty, as food deserts are often found in communities of color and low-income communities. While about 23.5 million people live in food deserts, nearly half are considered low-income. While food insecurity can also be tied to economic and race issues, food deserts in particular highlight how necessary food justice is for at risk communities. Both food insecurity and food deserts are intersectional issues that require intersectional understandings for them to be properly solved.

Although these might seem like big issues to tackle, the first step is to become educated about food access inequality and the vocabulary used in relation to these topics. At Green Bridge Growers, we address food injustice in our work through supporting other small business in the area that provide locally and sustainably grown food to the wider community. We believe that by providing healthy affordable food to our community we are taking a big step towards addressing food insecurity and unequal food access by providing our community with the option to decide from where and from whom they purchase food.

For more resources on Food Justice, Food Insecurity, and/or Food deserts check out these websites:

https://hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/
https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-food-deserts
https://foodispower.org/

-Anna Ortega

At Green Bridge Growers, we enjoy making recipes with fresh ingredients. One of our favorite recipes to make is homemade salsa. In my opinion, opening up a jar of salsa from the store is nothing compared to making salsa with fresh ingredients.

Whenever I make homemade salsa, this is the recipe I use. It calls for 3 cups of chopped tomatoes, 1 cup onion, ¼ cup minced cilantro, 4 teaspoons jalapeño peppers, and ½ teaspoon salt. I usually skip the bell pepper, lime juice, cumin, and black pepper (although you can add these if you choose to), and I add a few cloves of garlic even though the recipe doesn’t call for it (because I really like garlic a lot, and I think garlic tastes really good in salsa). This recipe will give you chunky salsa, but if you want to reduce chunkiness, then you can put half of the chunky ingredients in a blender. In my opinion, there isn’t any other salsa in the world that can compare to this one, not even the salsas from authentic Mexican restaurants that I’ve had (although those are really good too).

I might add that when I use fresh tomatoes (i.e. locally grown and recently picked tomatoes from our own garden or the farmer’s market), the salsa tastes better than when I use tomatoes from the supermarket (which were probably shipped long distances and are probably technically not even fresh). So I encourage you to use fresh, locally grown tomatoes when possible. If tomatoes are out of season, though, then you can get some from the supermarket.

I hope you enjoy this salsa recipe as much as I do!

-Chris