The conception of the soil and the relationship of humans with it is one of the drivers of change towards the sustainability of the planet. This new vision has constituted the pillar on which the journalist and habitual columnist of The GuardianGeorge Monbiot, has built his new essay Regenesis. Feed the world without eating the planet which will go on sale in Spain on March 13.
This work –edited by Captain Swing and with the translation by Enrique Maldonado– stands as a documented plea for an urgent food revolution and a new link with the soil, far from the perception of it as the greatest focus of resource extraction.
Faced with a climate crisis context, Monbiot proposes to know the soil as a fundamental factor to be able to solve the future problems of the planet in terms of food. Thus, this Briton, awarded by Nelson Mandela with the Global 500 of the United Nations due to his environmental achievements, is committed to a change in the human relationship with the earth that does not destroy the pillars of subsistence and survival of the species.
Through its pages, the author intends to invite reflection on how the smallest forms of life can lead to regenesis with the planet. Monbiot encourages knowledge of the land and through different stories shows other ways to achieve food sustainability in a scenario where, according to the author, certain farming systems have led to environmental changes and have endangered 28,000 species.
The reader will know stories like that of a horticulturist who cultivated a plot of land without pesticides, herbicides, manure or any fertilizer and produced in amazing abundance; a laboratory with scientists working to create synthetic meat; and the existence of perennial cereals that free the land from plows and poisons, among others.
World food production should increase by 70%
The essay responds to the problem that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, society will have to face in 2050 and for which world food production must increase by 70% to supply the increase of the population of 7,000 to 9,000 million inhabitants and avoid qualitative malnutrition.
Currently, some institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO) have warned of a sharp growth in the number of people suffering from food famine on the planet. After the COVID-19 pandemic and during 2021, the lack of food reached 9.8% of the world population, which means the existence of 800 million people in a situation of nutritional vulnerability and of which 150 million are children. . In addition, 45 million children under the age of five suffer from malnutrition in its most fatal degree (emaciation), which increases the risk of infant mortality up to 12 times.
However, the European Commission estimates that every year more than 1,300 million tons of food (89 million tons in good condition) is wasted, which constitutes a third of world production. Likewise, Monbiot proposes, as the only hope to achieve a secure future, the planned withdrawal and the drastic reduction of the cultivated area to heal the current food system and reverse the situation.
The publication of Regénis also occurs in a context of destabilization of the global models and systems of food production and transport. Thus, Monbiot contributes new knowledge related to soil ecology to allow growing more food with less agriculture.