(Preface: Funny the Amazon review of my review is making the same fallacious claims that Monbiot made in his book about the yields of regenerative systems being so much less than those of conventional systems. So here's the truth being demonstrated by farm consultants like John Kempf, Dr. David Mongomery, Dr. Jon Lundgren, etc.....and that's when healthy soils are restored with regenerative systems, there's INCREASED production in these regenerative systems. Monbiot relied on research that made conclusions based on degraded and unhealthy soils for yields as well as for carrying capacities and soil carbon. None of the research Monbiot cited accounted for any of the newer microbial soil science on these and other topics).
With so much dietary and political tribalism nowadays, I find it is very important to listen to and read varying viewpoints including many opposing points of view that challenge my own. So, I picked-up and read a copy of George Monbiot's new book, Regenesis. Not sure I was expecting any great insights, but still I felt it was important to read Monbiot's book cover to cover (as well as some of his references) to understand where he was coming from before offering any sort of critique.
While I appreciated Monbiot's realization as to the importance of soil health and shared his concerns about the worst aspects of agricultural production, the short version of my review is that I didn't find much of what Monbiot had to offer very insightful or challenging. Most of the arguments he puts forth in his book, he's written about in his Guardian column and stated in debates for the past two or three years. I've also previously critiqued some of those arguments. So, aside from a wrinkle or two, at least for me there wasn't much if any new ground covered in Monbiot's new agenda driven book. Plus what's especially ironic is that most of the research Monbiot relies upon doesn't account for any of the newer soil science that Monbiot recently discovered. This is especially true in regards to land carrying capacity, soil organic matter formation and yields of organic systems.
A large part of the problem is that Monbiot, a vegan, relied heavily on advocacy research conducted by other vegans. Besides this research looking at degraded soil systems, such research is also set-up with modeling, methodologies and bad assumptions to make livestock, especially pasture based livestock, look as awful as possible. This research is then used by other organizations (that Monbiot referenced) like One World in Data [OWiD] and the World Resources Institute [WRI] to generate materials (especially graphics) to further this advocacy. All of this research and materials are then given a greater audience by media outlets like the BBC, NPR and the outlet Monbiot works for The Guardian. Coincidentally philacapitalists like the Bill and Medlinda Gates Foundation [BMGF] provide funding and or donations to organizations like OWiD, WRI and media outlets like the BBC, NPR and The Guardian.
So whether Monbiot realizes it or not, his vilification of livestock, and his push for synthetic meat alternatives (which includes fermented proteins), neatly align with and further Bill Gates's agenda and investment strategies. Thus , given Monbiot's politics, it's incredibly ironic that Monbiot doesn't even recognize that he's BMGF's useful pawn. So Monbiot ultimately argues against an egalitarian small 'd' democratic open source system of food production, regenerative Ag, in favor of a capitally intensive corporatist patent protected solution that's funded by billionaires and venture capitalists.
(As explained in an article in The Nation, philacapitalist organizations like BMGF donate a small percentage of their income to maintain their non-profit status. They do this strategically to media outlets, institutions and researchers that will generate favorable content (news stories, editorials, policies, and research) that can be used to manufacture consent for their intellectual property [IP] controlled investment strategies).
As for a longer version of my review and response to Monbiot's book, please continue reading. Monbiot got so many things wrong and ass backwards that one could write another book just correcting all of his mistakes and biases. So my apologies, in advance, for the length of the below reply.
After Monbiot made discoveries about soil health, the complexity of soil ecosystems, and illustrated a few of the many problems with agricultural food production, in the first couple chapters of his new book (which I largely applauded and concurred with), Monbiot very absolutely and confidently proposed solutions to all of these food production problems he described. To people relatively new to these topics, especially soil science and the adverse impacts of industrial agriculture, Monbiot's self-assured black or white absolutism may be mistaken for actual learning. It isn't. This absolutism is actually quite ironic since one of the best tools available to quickly rebuild healthy soils is well managed livestock. I'll detail why further below. Though for those more familiar with this subject matter, it became quickly and painfully obvious that Monbiot's understanding of soil science, range science, atmospheric chemistry, botany, agricultural production...or pretty much all the topics he discussed in Regenesis...was and still is very shallow. This is largely due to Monbiot's over reliance on advocacy driven research that looked at degraded soil ecosystems and thus didn't account for any of the more recent soil microbiological science that Monbiot discovered in the first chapter of his book.
In order to write his book, Monbiot claimed to have read 5,000 papers and a half a shelf of other books on these subjects. If this is indeed true, unfortunately Monbiot lacked the critical analytical ability and sufficient scientific background to properly understand most of the research that he read. In particular, he didn't understand the methodological limitations of all the advocacy papers he read to confirm his biases. Those biases include his religious belief that any and all livestock is inherently destructive, and that any sort of regenerative system inherently will produce lower yields than industrial systems of food production. So rather than more nuanced discussions, based on an honest concerted objective effort to search for best agricultural practices, readers are left with over generalizations, polarization, worst case scenarios (catastrophization), out of context statistics, a new techno-optimistic meta-narrative and Monbiot's never ending neo-colonial mythological pursuit of pristine wilderness. This pursuit of this myth along with Monbiot's propensity to use out of context statistics are especially ironic given Monbiot's admonitions toward the end of his book regarding the need to contextualize numbers and not rely on myths. What's even more ironic is Monbiot's insistence on system thinking when Monbiot seems completely incapable of any in depth holistic thought.
A large part of Monbiot's problem is his over reliance on meta-analysis from ivory tower researchers who share his white hat biases. These researchers also think livestock is the root of all evil. None of these researchers understand any of the newer microbial soil science. So they don't even realize that their respective meta-analysis are primarily looking at degraded soil ecosystems. More importantly many of these researchers in their ivory towers seem to be even more disconnected from their topics of research (food production) than Monbiot. So keyword searches on computer screens replace any in situ empiricism while activism masquerades as science. Some of this disconnection is amusing, though most just borders on satire.
Monbiot directs some of his most vicious vitriol toward pastured or extensive management especially holistic or regenerative grazing. Regenerative grazing is a tool to restore soil and ecosystem health. So naturally Monbiot claims that such grazing management is the absolutely worst kind possible. Why? This form of grazing management undermines Monbiot's mission. Monbiot's mission is to spare land for his myth of pristine wilderness and position precision fermentation as an alternative to meat. To achieve those goals, he cites predictable references to "prove" that extensive or pastured livestock systems are the worse systems imaginable. I note "predictable" since these references are the ones typically cited to "debunk" any form of regenerative grazing system that uses or integrates livestock. So these references include papers by the usual suspects including Hayek, Garnett, Briske and Poore on issues ranging from land use, environmental degradation, soil carbon sequestration and, of course, enteric methane. More specifically in regards to methane, Monbiot also demonstrates that he doesn't understand how the new GWP* metric works. How carbon actually cycles and hydroxyl oxidation works seem to be beyond Monbiot's limited ability to system think.
To get a better sense of how Monbiot's arguments against regenerative grazing systems are nothing but a house of cards, it helps to look at some of the specific references that he cited. So, let's start with a 2018 paper co-authored by animal rights activist Matthew Hayek. This paper basically argued that there's not enough land to produce the same amount of beef in extensive pastured systems as is currently produced in feedlot production. This paper relied on slaughter weight calculations as well as forage data from two prior studies by Gidon Eshel (Eshel et al 2014, Eshel et al 2017) another proponent of plant based diets and getting rid of beef production. Both authors parsed existing data based on a set of assumptions that excluded best practices of forage production as Eshel notes in his introduction as follows:
"...such beef production changes would be accompanied by enhanced grassland productivity (for example, direct integration of cattle ranching with agricultural, enhanced rotations or increased reliance on legume enriched paddocks) and embedded or broader structural changes that take nimble advantage of resource multi-purposing (for example, high yield silvopasture systems in which beef and timber share the same land. Here, however, we set out to explore the narrower problem of quantifying "sustainable" beef availability under existing conditions and practices..."
Hayek made a similar qualification:
"...Statistical and processed-based modeling can assess under performing areas, which could be optimized through better fertilizing, soil conditioning, and rotational management. Currently, less than 2% of all agricultural lands in the US undergo a rotation between cropland and pasture, though this type of management is known to increase forage productivity. The required 30% increase in the overall cattle population must be accompanied by large increases in the productivity of existing pastures, on the order of 40%–370%, to avoid clearing additional native vegetation or competition with the human food supply...."
These two aren't soil or range scientists. They're also not agroecologists. So neither, in their respective data analysis, accounted for the current state of soil and land degradation. Thus they didn't account for the increased quality and amount of forage production that's possible with improved soil health, better grazing management, and the increased utilization of integrated systems. With integrated systems (silvopasture, cover crop grazing, pasture cropping, etc), crops, specialty crops and livestock can all be raised on the SAME land. With higher quality forage (more nutrient dense), higher average daily gains [ADG] can be achieved.
...this review continues on my blog....unfortunately I cannot provide a link to that blog here or my review will not be approved or removed.
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Monbiot’s Regenesis: A review & response
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2022
(Preface: Funny the Amazon review of my review is making the same fallacious claims that Monbiot made in his book about the yields of regenerative systems being so much less than those of conventional systems. So here's the truth being demonstrated by farm consultants like John Kempf, Dr. David Mongomery, Dr. Jon Lundgren, etc.....and that's when healthy soils are restored with regenerative systems, there's INCREASED production in these regenerative systems. Monbiot relied on research that made conclusions based on degraded and unhealthy soils for yields as well as for carrying capacities and soil carbon. None of the research Monbiot cited accounted for any of the newer microbial soil science on these and other topics).With so much dietary and political tribalism nowadays, I find it is very important to listen to and read varying viewpoints including many opposing points of view that challenge my own. So, I picked-up and read a copy of George Monbiot's new book, Regenesis. Not sure I was expecting any great insights, but still I felt it was important to read Monbiot's book cover to cover (as well as some of his references) to understand where he was coming from before offering any sort of critique.While I appreciated Monbiot's realization as to the importance of soil health and shared his concerns about the worst aspects of agricultural production, the short version of my review is that I didn't find much of what Monbiot had to offer very insightful or challenging. Most of the arguments he puts forth in his book, he's written about in his Guardian column and stated in debates for the past two or three years. I've also previously critiqued some of those arguments. So, aside from a wrinkle or two, at least for me there wasn't much if any new ground covered in Monbiot's new agenda driven book. Plus what's especially ironic is that most of the research Monbiot relies upon doesn't account for any of the newer soil science that Monbiot recently discovered. This is especially true in regards to land carrying capacity, soil organic matter formation and yields of organic systems.A large part of the problem is that Monbiot, a vegan, relied heavily on advocacy research conducted by other vegans. Besides this research looking at degraded soil systems, such research is also set-up with modeling, methodologies and bad assumptions to make livestock, especially pasture based livestock, look as awful as possible. This research is then used by other organizations (that Monbiot referenced) like One World in Data [OWiD] and the World Resources Institute [WRI] to generate materials (especially graphics) to further this advocacy. All of this research and materials are then given a greater audience by media outlets like the BBC, NPR and the outlet Monbiot works for The Guardian. Coincidentally philacapitalists like the Bill and Medlinda Gates Foundation [BMGF] provide funding and or donations to organizations like OWiD, WRI and media outlets like the BBC, NPR and The Guardian.So whether Monbiot realizes it or not, his vilification of livestock, and his push for synthetic meat alternatives (which includes fermented proteins), neatly align with and further Bill Gates's agenda and investment strategies. Thus , given Monbiot's politics, it's incredibly ironic that Monbiot doesn't even recognize that he's BMGF's useful pawn. So Monbiot ultimately argues against an egalitarian small 'd' democratic open source system of food production, regenerative Ag, in favor of a capitally intensive corporatist patent protected solution that's funded by billionaires and venture capitalists.(As explained in an article in The Nation, philacapitalist organizations like BMGF donate a small percentage of their income to maintain their non-profit status. They do this strategically to media outlets, institutions and researchers that will generate favorable content (news stories, editorials, policies, and research) that can be used to manufacture consent for their intellectual property [IP] controlled investment strategies).As for a longer version of my review and response to Monbiot's book, please continue reading. Monbiot got so many things wrong and ass backwards that one could write another book just correcting all of his mistakes and biases. So my apologies, in advance, for the length of the below reply.After Monbiot made discoveries about soil health, the complexity of soil ecosystems, and illustrated a few of the many problems with agricultural food production, in the first couple chapters of his new book (which I largely applauded and concurred with), Monbiot very absolutely and confidently proposed solutions to all of these food production problems he described. To people relatively new to these topics, especially soil science and the adverse impacts of industrial agriculture, Monbiot's self-assured black or white absolutism may be mistaken for actual learning. It isn't. This absolutism is actually quite ironic since one of the best tools available to quickly rebuild healthy soils is well managed livestock. I'll detail why further below. Though for those more familiar with this subject matter, it became quickly and painfully obvious that Monbiot's understanding of soil science, range science, atmospheric chemistry, botany, agricultural production...or pretty much all the topics he discussed in Regenesis...was and still is very shallow. This is largely due to Monbiot's over reliance on advocacy driven research that looked at degraded soil ecosystems and thus didn't account for any of the more recent soil microbiological science that Monbiot discovered in the first chapter of his book.In order to write his book, Monbiot claimed to have read 5,000 papers and a half a shelf of other books on these subjects. If this is indeed true, unfortunately Monbiot lacked the critical analytical ability and sufficient scientific background to properly understand most of the research that he read. In particular, he didn't understand the methodological limitations of all the advocacy papers he read to confirm his biases. Those biases include his religious belief that any and all livestock is inherently destructive, and that any sort of regenerative system inherently will produce lower yields than industrial systems of food production. So rather than more nuanced discussions, based on an honest concerted objective effort to search for best agricultural practices, readers are left with over generalizations, polarization, worst case scenarios (catastrophization), out of context statistics, a new techno-optimistic meta-narrative and Monbiot's never ending neo-colonial mythological pursuit of pristine wilderness. This pursuit of this myth along with Monbiot's propensity to use out of context statistics are especially ironic given Monbiot's admonitions toward the end of his book regarding the need to contextualize numbers and not rely on myths. What's even more ironic is Monbiot's insistence on system thinking when Monbiot seems completely incapable of any in depth holistic thought.A large part of Monbiot's problem is his over reliance on meta-analysis from ivory tower researchers who share his white hat biases. These researchers also think livestock is the root of all evil. None of these researchers understand any of the newer microbial soil science. So they don't even realize that their respective meta-analysis are primarily looking at degraded soil ecosystems. More importantly many of these researchers in their ivory towers seem to be even more disconnected from their topics of research (food production) than Monbiot. So keyword searches on computer screens replace any in situ empiricism while activism masquerades as science. Some of this disconnection is amusing, though most just borders on satire.Monbiot directs some of his most vicious vitriol toward pastured or extensive management especially holistic or regenerative grazing. Regenerative grazing is a tool to restore soil and ecosystem health. So naturally Monbiot claims that such grazing management is the absolutely worst kind possible. Why? This form of grazing management undermines Monbiot's mission. Monbiot's mission is to spare land for his myth of pristine wilderness and position precision fermentation as an alternative to meat. To achieve those goals, he cites predictable references to "prove" that extensive or pastured livestock systems are the worse systems imaginable. I note "predictable" since these references are the ones typically cited to "debunk" any form of regenerative grazing system that uses or integrates livestock. So these references include papers by the usual suspects including Hayek, Garnett, Briske and Poore on issues ranging from land use, environmental degradation, soil carbon sequestration and, of course, enteric methane. More specifically in regards to methane, Monbiot also demonstrates that he doesn't understand how the new GWP* metric works. How carbon actually cycles and hydroxyl oxidation works seem to be beyond Monbiot's limited ability to system think.To get a better sense of how Monbiot's arguments against regenerative grazing systems are nothing but a house of cards, it helps to look at some of the specific references that he cited. So, let's start with a 2018 paper co-authored by animal rights activist Matthew Hayek. This paper basically argued that there's not enough land to produce the same amount of beef in extensive pastured systems as is currently produced in feedlot production. This paper relied on slaughter weight calculations as well as forage data from two prior studies by Gidon Eshel (Eshel et al 2014, Eshel et al 2017) another proponent of plant based diets and getting rid of beef production. Both authors parsed existing data based on a set of assumptions that excluded best practices of forage production as Eshel notes in his introduction as follows:"...such beef production changes would be accompanied by enhanced grassland productivity (for example, direct integration of cattle ranching with agricultural, enhanced rotations or increased reliance on legume enriched paddocks) and embedded or broader structural changes that take nimble advantage of resource multi-purposing (for example, high yield silvopasture systems in which beef and timber share the same land. Here, however, we set out to explore the narrower problem of quantifying "sustainable" beef availability under existing conditions and practices..."Hayek made a similar qualification:"...Statistical and processed-based modeling can assess under performing areas, which could be optimized through better fertilizing, soil conditioning, and rotational management. Currently, less than 2% of all agricultural lands in the US undergo a rotation between cropland and pasture, though this type of management is known to increase forage productivity. The required 30% increase in the overall cattle population must be accompanied by large increases in the productivity of existing pastures, on the order of 40%–370%, to avoid clearing additional native vegetation or competition with the human food supply...."These two aren't soil or range scientists. They're also not agroecologists. So neither, in their respective data analysis, accounted for the current state of soil and land degradation. Thus they didn't account for the increased quality and amount of forage production that's possible with improved soil health, better grazing management, and the increased utilization of integrated systems. With integrated systems (silvopasture, cover crop grazing, pasture cropping, etc), crops, specialty crops and livestock can all be raised on the SAME land. With higher quality forage (more nutrient dense), higher average daily gains [ADG] can be achieved....this review continues on my blog....unfortunately I cannot provide a link to that blog here or my review will not be approved or removed.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2022
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2022
With so much dietary and political tribalism nowadays, I find it is very important to listen to and read varying viewpoints including many opposing points of view that challenge my own. So, I picked-up and read a copy of George Monbiot's new book, Regenesis. Not sure I was expecting any great insights, but still I felt it was important to read Monbiot's book cover to cover (as well as some of his references) to understand where he was coming from before offering any sort of critique.
While I appreciated Monbiot's realization as to the importance of soil health and shared his concerns about the worst aspects of agricultural production, the short version of my review is that I didn't find much of what Monbiot had to offer very insightful or challenging. Most of the arguments he puts forth in his book, he's written about in his Guardian column and stated in debates for the past two or three years. I've also previously critiqued some of those arguments. So, aside from a wrinkle or two, at least for me there wasn't much if any new ground covered in Monbiot's new agenda driven book. Plus what's especially ironic is that most of the research Monbiot relies upon doesn't account for any of the newer soil science that Monbiot recently discovered. This is especially true in regards to land carrying capacity, soil organic matter formation and yields of organic systems.
A large part of the problem is that Monbiot, a vegan, relied heavily on advocacy research conducted by other vegans. Besides this research looking at degraded soil systems, such research is also set-up with modeling, methodologies and bad assumptions to make livestock, especially pasture based livestock, look as awful as possible. This research is then used by other organizations (that Monbiot referenced) like One World in Data [OWiD] and the World Resources Institute [WRI] to generate materials (especially graphics) to further this advocacy. All of this research and materials are then given a greater audience by media outlets like the BBC, NPR and the outlet Monbiot works for The Guardian. Coincidentally philacapitalists like the Bill and Medlinda Gates Foundation [BMGF] provide funding and or donations to organizations like OWiD, WRI and media outlets like the BBC, NPR and The Guardian.
So whether Monbiot realizes it or not, his vilification of livestock, and his push for synthetic meat alternatives (which includes fermented proteins), neatly align with and further Bill Gates's agenda and investment strategies. Thus , given Monbiot's politics, it's incredibly ironic that Monbiot doesn't even recognize that he's BMGF's useful pawn. So Monbiot ultimately argues against an egalitarian small 'd' democratic open source system of food production, regenerative Ag, in favor of a capitally intensive corporatist patent protected solution that's funded by billionaires and venture capitalists.
(As explained in an article in The Nation, philacapitalist organizations like BMGF donate a small percentage of their income to maintain their non-profit status. They do this strategically to media outlets, institutions and researchers that will generate favorable content (news stories, editorials, policies, and research) that can be used to manufacture consent for their intellectual property [IP] controlled investment strategies).
As for a longer version of my review and response to Monbiot's book, please continue reading. Monbiot got so many things wrong and ass backwards that one could write another book just correcting all of his mistakes and biases. So my apologies, in advance, for the length of the below reply.
After Monbiot made discoveries about soil health, the complexity of soil ecosystems, and illustrated a few of the many problems with agricultural food production, in the first couple chapters of his new book (which I largely applauded and concurred with), Monbiot very absolutely and confidently proposed solutions to all of these food production problems he described. To people relatively new to these topics, especially soil science and the adverse impacts of industrial agriculture, Monbiot's self-assured black or white absolutism may be mistaken for actual learning. It isn't. This absolutism is actually quite ironic since one of the best tools available to quickly rebuild healthy soils is well managed livestock. I'll detail why further below. Though for those more familiar with this subject matter, it became quickly and painfully obvious that Monbiot's understanding of soil science, range science, atmospheric chemistry, botany, agricultural production...or pretty much all the topics he discussed in Regenesis...was and still is very shallow. This is largely due to Monbiot's over reliance on advocacy driven research that looked at degraded soil ecosystems and thus didn't account for any of the more recent soil microbiological science that Monbiot discovered in the first chapter of his book.
In order to write his book, Monbiot claimed to have read 5,000 papers and a half a shelf of other books on these subjects. If this is indeed true, unfortunately Monbiot lacked the critical analytical ability and sufficient scientific background to properly understand most of the research that he read. In particular, he didn't understand the methodological limitations of all the advocacy papers he read to confirm his biases. Those biases include his religious belief that any and all livestock is inherently destructive, and that any sort of regenerative system inherently will produce lower yields than industrial systems of food production. So rather than more nuanced discussions, based on an honest concerted objective effort to search for best agricultural practices, readers are left with over generalizations, polarization, worst case scenarios (catastrophization), out of context statistics, a new techno-optimistic meta-narrative and Monbiot's never ending neo-colonial mythological pursuit of pristine wilderness. This pursuit of this myth along with Monbiot's propensity to use out of context statistics are especially ironic given Monbiot's admonitions toward the end of his book regarding the need to contextualize numbers and not rely on myths. What's even more ironic is Monbiot's insistence on system thinking when Monbiot seems completely incapable of any in depth holistic thought.
A large part of Monbiot's problem is his over reliance on meta-analysis from ivory tower researchers who share his white hat biases. These researchers also think livestock is the root of all evil. None of these researchers understand any of the newer microbial soil science. So they don't even realize that their respective meta-analysis are primarily looking at degraded soil ecosystems. More importantly many of these researchers in their ivory towers seem to be even more disconnected from their topics of research (food production) than Monbiot. So keyword searches on computer screens replace any in situ empiricism while activism masquerades as science. Some of this disconnection is amusing, though most just borders on satire.
Monbiot directs some of his most vicious vitriol toward pastured or extensive management especially holistic or regenerative grazing. Regenerative grazing is a tool to restore soil and ecosystem health. So naturally Monbiot claims that such grazing management is the absolutely worst kind possible. Why? This form of grazing management undermines Monbiot's mission. Monbiot's mission is to spare land for his myth of pristine wilderness and position precision fermentation as an alternative to meat. To achieve those goals, he cites predictable references to "prove" that extensive or pastured livestock systems are the worse systems imaginable. I note "predictable" since these references are the ones typically cited to "debunk" any form of regenerative grazing system that uses or integrates livestock. So these references include papers by the usual suspects including Hayek, Garnett, Briske and Poore on issues ranging from land use, environmental degradation, soil carbon sequestration and, of course, enteric methane. More specifically in regards to methane, Monbiot also demonstrates that he doesn't understand how the new GWP* metric works. How carbon actually cycles and hydroxyl oxidation works seem to be beyond Monbiot's limited ability to system think.
To get a better sense of how Monbiot's arguments against regenerative grazing systems are nothing but a house of cards, it helps to look at some of the specific references that he cited. So, let's start with a 2018 paper co-authored by animal rights activist Matthew Hayek. This paper basically argued that there's not enough land to produce the same amount of beef in extensive pastured systems as is currently produced in feedlot production. This paper relied on slaughter weight calculations as well as forage data from two prior studies by Gidon Eshel (Eshel et al 2014, Eshel et al 2017) another proponent of plant based diets and getting rid of beef production. Both authors parsed existing data based on a set of assumptions that excluded best practices of forage production as Eshel notes in his introduction as follows:
"...such beef production changes would be accompanied by enhanced grassland productivity (for example, direct integration of cattle ranching with agricultural, enhanced rotations or increased reliance on legume enriched paddocks) and embedded or broader structural changes that take nimble advantage of resource multi-purposing (for example, high yield silvopasture systems in which beef and timber share the same land. Here, however, we set out to explore the narrower problem of quantifying "sustainable" beef availability under existing conditions and practices..."
Hayek made a similar qualification:
"...Statistical and processed-based modeling can assess under performing areas, which could be optimized through better fertilizing, soil conditioning, and rotational management. Currently, less than 2% of all agricultural lands in the US undergo a rotation between cropland and pasture, though this type of management is known to increase forage productivity. The required 30% increase in the overall cattle population must be accompanied by large increases in the productivity of existing pastures, on the order of 40%–370%, to avoid clearing additional native vegetation or competition with the human food supply...."
These two aren't soil or range scientists. They're also not agroecologists. So neither, in their respective data analysis, accounted for the current state of soil and land degradation. Thus they didn't account for the increased quality and amount of forage production that's possible with improved soil health, better grazing management, and the increased utilization of integrated systems. With integrated systems (silvopasture, cover crop grazing, pasture cropping, etc), crops, specialty crops and livestock can all be raised on the SAME land. With higher quality forage (more nutrient dense), higher average daily gains [ADG] can be achieved.
...this review continues on my blog....unfortunately I cannot provide a link to that blog here or my review will not be approved or removed.
Monbiot’s Regenesis: A review & response
By Regenetarianism on 18 July 2022
(Preface: Funny the Amazon review of my review is making the same fallacious claims that Monbiot made in his book about the yields of regenerative systems being so much less than those of conventional systems. So here's the truth being demonstrated by farm consultants like John Kempf, Dr. David Mongomery, Dr. Jon Lundgren, etc.....and that's when healthy soils are restored with regenerative systems, there's INCREASED production in these regenerative systems. Monbiot relied on research that made conclusions based on degraded and unhealthy soils for yields as well as for carrying capacities and soil carbon. None of the research Monbiot cited accounted for any of the newer microbial soil science on these and other topics).By Regenetarianism on 18 July 2022
With so much dietary and political tribalism nowadays, I find it is very important to listen to and read varying viewpoints including many opposing points of view that challenge my own. So, I picked-up and read a copy of George Monbiot's new book, Regenesis. Not sure I was expecting any great insights, but still I felt it was important to read Monbiot's book cover to cover (as well as some of his references) to understand where he was coming from before offering any sort of critique.
While I appreciated Monbiot's realization as to the importance of soil health and shared his concerns about the worst aspects of agricultural production, the short version of my review is that I didn't find much of what Monbiot had to offer very insightful or challenging. Most of the arguments he puts forth in his book, he's written about in his Guardian column and stated in debates for the past two or three years. I've also previously critiqued some of those arguments. So, aside from a wrinkle or two, at least for me there wasn't much if any new ground covered in Monbiot's new agenda driven book. Plus what's especially ironic is that most of the research Monbiot relies upon doesn't account for any of the newer soil science that Monbiot recently discovered. This is especially true in regards to land carrying capacity, soil organic matter formation and yields of organic systems.
A large part of the problem is that Monbiot, a vegan, relied heavily on advocacy research conducted by other vegans. Besides this research looking at degraded soil systems, such research is also set-up with modeling, methodologies and bad assumptions to make livestock, especially pasture based livestock, look as awful as possible. This research is then used by other organizations (that Monbiot referenced) like One World in Data [OWiD] and the World Resources Institute [WRI] to generate materials (especially graphics) to further this advocacy. All of this research and materials are then given a greater audience by media outlets like the BBC, NPR and the outlet Monbiot works for The Guardian. Coincidentally philacapitalists like the Bill and Medlinda Gates Foundation [BMGF] provide funding and or donations to organizations like OWiD, WRI and media outlets like the BBC, NPR and The Guardian.
So whether Monbiot realizes it or not, his vilification of livestock, and his push for synthetic meat alternatives (which includes fermented proteins), neatly align with and further Bill Gates's agenda and investment strategies. Thus , given Monbiot's politics, it's incredibly ironic that Monbiot doesn't even recognize that he's BMGF's useful pawn. So Monbiot ultimately argues against an egalitarian small 'd' democratic open source system of food production, regenerative Ag, in favor of a capitally intensive corporatist patent protected solution that's funded by billionaires and venture capitalists.
(As explained in an article in The Nation, philacapitalist organizations like BMGF donate a small percentage of their income to maintain their non-profit status. They do this strategically to media outlets, institutions and researchers that will generate favorable content (news stories, editorials, policies, and research) that can be used to manufacture consent for their intellectual property [IP] controlled investment strategies).
As for a longer version of my review and response to Monbiot's book, please continue reading. Monbiot got so many things wrong and ass backwards that one could write another book just correcting all of his mistakes and biases. So my apologies, in advance, for the length of the below reply.
After Monbiot made discoveries about soil health, the complexity of soil ecosystems, and illustrated a few of the many problems with agricultural food production, in the first couple chapters of his new book (which I largely applauded and concurred with), Monbiot very absolutely and confidently proposed solutions to all of these food production problems he described. To people relatively new to these topics, especially soil science and the adverse impacts of industrial agriculture, Monbiot's self-assured black or white absolutism may be mistaken for actual learning. It isn't. This absolutism is actually quite ironic since one of the best tools available to quickly rebuild healthy soils is well managed livestock. I'll detail why further below. Though for those more familiar with this subject matter, it became quickly and painfully obvious that Monbiot's understanding of soil science, range science, atmospheric chemistry, botany, agricultural production...or pretty much all the topics he discussed in Regenesis...was and still is very shallow. This is largely due to Monbiot's over reliance on advocacy driven research that looked at degraded soil ecosystems and thus didn't account for any of the more recent soil microbiological science that Monbiot discovered in the first chapter of his book.
In order to write his book, Monbiot claimed to have read 5,000 papers and a half a shelf of other books on these subjects. If this is indeed true, unfortunately Monbiot lacked the critical analytical ability and sufficient scientific background to properly understand most of the research that he read. In particular, he didn't understand the methodological limitations of all the advocacy papers he read to confirm his biases. Those biases include his religious belief that any and all livestock is inherently destructive, and that any sort of regenerative system inherently will produce lower yields than industrial systems of food production. So rather than more nuanced discussions, based on an honest concerted objective effort to search for best agricultural practices, readers are left with over generalizations, polarization, worst case scenarios (catastrophization), out of context statistics, a new techno-optimistic meta-narrative and Monbiot's never ending neo-colonial mythological pursuit of pristine wilderness. This pursuit of this myth along with Monbiot's propensity to use out of context statistics are especially ironic given Monbiot's admonitions toward the end of his book regarding the need to contextualize numbers and not rely on myths. What's even more ironic is Monbiot's insistence on system thinking when Monbiot seems completely incapable of any in depth holistic thought.
A large part of Monbiot's problem is his over reliance on meta-analysis from ivory tower researchers who share his white hat biases. These researchers also think livestock is the root of all evil. None of these researchers understand any of the newer microbial soil science. So they don't even realize that their respective meta-analysis are primarily looking at degraded soil ecosystems. More importantly many of these researchers in their ivory towers seem to be even more disconnected from their topics of research (food production) than Monbiot. So keyword searches on computer screens replace any in situ empiricism while activism masquerades as science. Some of this disconnection is amusing, though most just borders on satire.
Monbiot directs some of his most vicious vitriol toward pastured or extensive management especially holistic or regenerative grazing. Regenerative grazing is a tool to restore soil and ecosystem health. So naturally Monbiot claims that such grazing management is the absolutely worst kind possible. Why? This form of grazing management undermines Monbiot's mission. Monbiot's mission is to spare land for his myth of pristine wilderness and position precision fermentation as an alternative to meat. To achieve those goals, he cites predictable references to "prove" that extensive or pastured livestock systems are the worse systems imaginable. I note "predictable" since these references are the ones typically cited to "debunk" any form of regenerative grazing system that uses or integrates livestock. So these references include papers by the usual suspects including Hayek, Garnett, Briske and Poore on issues ranging from land use, environmental degradation, soil carbon sequestration and, of course, enteric methane. More specifically in regards to methane, Monbiot also demonstrates that he doesn't understand how the new GWP* metric works. How carbon actually cycles and hydroxyl oxidation works seem to be beyond Monbiot's limited ability to system think.
To get a better sense of how Monbiot's arguments against regenerative grazing systems are nothing but a house of cards, it helps to look at some of the specific references that he cited. So, let's start with a 2018 paper co-authored by animal rights activist Matthew Hayek. This paper basically argued that there's not enough land to produce the same amount of beef in extensive pastured systems as is currently produced in feedlot production. This paper relied on slaughter weight calculations as well as forage data from two prior studies by Gidon Eshel (Eshel et al 2014, Eshel et al 2017) another proponent of plant based diets and getting rid of beef production. Both authors parsed existing data based on a set of assumptions that excluded best practices of forage production as Eshel notes in his introduction as follows:
"...such beef production changes would be accompanied by enhanced grassland productivity (for example, direct integration of cattle ranching with agricultural, enhanced rotations or increased reliance on legume enriched paddocks) and embedded or broader structural changes that take nimble advantage of resource multi-purposing (for example, high yield silvopasture systems in which beef and timber share the same land. Here, however, we set out to explore the narrower problem of quantifying "sustainable" beef availability under existing conditions and practices..."
Hayek made a similar qualification:
"...Statistical and processed-based modeling can assess under performing areas, which could be optimized through better fertilizing, soil conditioning, and rotational management. Currently, less than 2% of all agricultural lands in the US undergo a rotation between cropland and pasture, though this type of management is known to increase forage productivity. The required 30% increase in the overall cattle population must be accompanied by large increases in the productivity of existing pastures, on the order of 40%–370%, to avoid clearing additional native vegetation or competition with the human food supply...."
These two aren't soil or range scientists. They're also not agroecologists. So neither, in their respective data analysis, accounted for the current state of soil and land degradation. Thus they didn't account for the increased quality and amount of forage production that's possible with improved soil health, better grazing management, and the increased utilization of integrated systems. With integrated systems (silvopasture, cover crop grazing, pasture cropping, etc), crops, specialty crops and livestock can all be raised on the SAME land. With higher quality forage (more nutrient dense), higher average daily gains [ADG] can be achieved.
...this review continues on my blog....unfortunately I cannot provide a link to that blog here or my review will not be approved or removed.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2022
