Regenerating Earth (hardcover)

Living in rural Indiana, author Kelsey Timmerman witnesses firsthand the damage inflicted by modern industrial agriculture. He’s afraid to let his kids swim in the nearby pond because it’s filled with farm runoff. There are times it’s hard to breathe, especially after manure from giant chicken factories has been spread on the surrounding fields. Industrialized agriculture has disconnected farmers from fields, neighbors from neighbors, and communities from the harsh realities of how their food is produced. Timmerman comes from generations of farmers and recognizes that conventional farming can be the source of many problems, but he also suspects it doesn’t have to be that way.

In Regenerating Earth, Timmerman travels across the US and around the world to meet farmers and activists who see agriculture not as the problem but the solution. Their farming practices build soil, promote ecological diversity, provide people with meaningful lives and livelihoods, and sequester carbon—maybe even enough to combat climate change.

Timmerman takes readers along on his global adventure: standing barefoot in a traditional Hawaiian kalo patch, venturing into the Amazon rainforest, and traveling down forgotten rivers. He protects a herd of cattle from lions alongside the Maasai warriors of Kenya, sees firsthand how chocolate could save the rainforest in Brazil, and meets American farmers who’ve rejected the agrochemical industry for an approach inspired by ancient and Indigenous peoples.

By weaving the local with the global, Timmerman shows readers that how they live, what they eat and their relationship with nature are connected to environmental and social justice. And how this newfound awareness can add meaning and purpose to our lives.

Agricultural practices can be a gift that connects us to chloroplasts, lions, mycorrhizal fungi and our fellow humans near and far, if we accept our responsibility to play an active part in a regenerative future. Reading this book is a place to start.