Climate change is a real problem and farmers can help  

At Sunspot Urban Farm we strive to reduce our atmospheric carbon footprint by building up our terrestrial carbon storage. As with many other farmers around the planet, we store carbon by implementing certain farming practices. What is carbon? It is the fourth most abundant element in the universe. Carbon is core to our existence and touches every aspect of life on earth. The carbon cycles through the planet very much like a water cycle, with both atmospheric and terrestrial components. This cycle has both fast and slow speeds. As farmers who want to mitigate climate change, we use the fast part of the cycle. Here our vegetables crops, in the amazing process of photosynthesis, separate carbon from oxygen. This liquid carbon is then stored in the roots of plants and in the soil. It cycles back to the atmosphere upon death and decomposition. We try to store as much carbon in our soil as possible by maintaining healthy soil and keeping plants in our vegetable beds.

Courtney White in his book "Grass, Soil, Hope: A Journey through Carbon Country," presents part of this cycle in equation form: healthy soil + healthy carbon cycle = storage of atmospheric soil. Soils here and around the world have been greatly degraded by conventional farming practices (e.g., leaving soil bare; this releases CO2 in the atmosphere at rapid rates). Regenerative farming practices (e.g., reduced tillage, improved fertilizer management, elimination of bare fallowing, the use of perennials in rotations, and the use of cover crops and intercropping) sequester carbon. This act of sequestration allows farmers to be an important part of the climate solution while increasing microbial and pollinator diversity, improving nutrient cycles, increasing water holding capacity, creating systems with greater resilience to perturbations, and providing meaningful and life-giving employment.

For us, sequestering carbon is an act of love and hope. We have much to learn and are constantly experimenting.