It’s an uphill battle.
Regenerative land use is different from sustainable land use. Sustainable land use is different from conventional land use. Each has a relationship with the soil and it all begins with how land is perceived.
The intention behind regenerative land use is to leave things in a better state than how it was found today and for future generations. There is a profound understanding in this type of agriculture that Nature has it all perfectly figured out already, and the connection to land use is to first understand, then assist and then protect all of the ecosystems that interact with one another. It is a holistic viewpoint and relationship.
Sustainable agricultural practices maintains what already exists. It doesn’t restore what has been destroyed or damaged (soil erosion, toxicity of land, plants and water, loss of genetic and species diversity, destruction of rural communities, or the cultural destruction of animal husbandry...the overall culture). Sustainable land use looks at only a few systems and only in a compartmentalized way. It leaves a misperception that this type of relationship with the soil is able to last long term, and it is appealing because on the surface it seems to be a better solution that the status quo.
Currently, the status quo is conventional land use, also referred to as Big Ag or Industrial farming practices. It is a mindset that relates to land like a commodity - something to be used, or exploited for monetary gain. It is a highly abusive relationship that has resulted in a ripple effect of destruction.
The North is being opened up again for agricultural purposes. Much land has already been cleared for this purpose and much more land is being earmarked over the next 5 years. This is being supported by local economic development corporations and the Ontario government as well as private enterprises.
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada website posted this picture which describes the average number of expected frost free growing days in various regions across Ontario.
The follow picture describes the anticipated number of frost free growing days in various regions of Ontario with climate change considerations factored in (based on A2 Climate Change Scenario) from 2010 to 2039.
It is time to start enquiring how land in treaty #9 territory is intended to be used.
Previous mining and forestry practices with the cultural mindset of extraction and commodification allowed the pollution and mistreatment of many northern places because they were ‘nowhere’.
It is important to me that our northern ‘nowhere places’ should be listened to, and spoken for, now and in the coming years for our future generations. It is very important to me, that the mistakes of the past are not repeated again with a new and developing economic sector to our region.
Regenerative agriculture requires a mindset shift in how we relate to the land around us. It requires deep commitment of time, it requires physical and mental effort, it also requires a continual effort to define and understand what is possible — not only what is desirable, but what is possible in the immediate circumstances.
We can choose to work with nature and her systems rather than wage war against the natural world, like we have done so many times, and for so many years before in the name of ‘economic gain’ and ‘technological progress’.
Before us lies an rare an unique opportunity to have a voice in how this region may be reshaped by climate change and by a new industry.