Tag Archives: systems thinking

The Lessons I Learned from Soil & Water

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The functioning and health of our soil not only determines the vitality of the plants that grow out of it, but also has cascading effects on other socio-ecological symptoms. Soil that has a balanced amount of nutrients, a supportive root system, and is well-aerated, has the potential to prevent massive algal blooms, lessen the negative effects of flooding events, and even capture carbon. Healthy soil is the foundation of a robust and resilient food system. 

A visual demonstrating the value of a healthy soil.

Photo by: The Ecological Landscape Alliance

Through the soil & water contemplative practice, I began to make the connection between soil and our socio-ecological systems. Similar to how soil serves as the foundation of our food system, our current linear model of production, and capitalist ideology, serve as the foundation of the global socio-economic system. By enabling waste, encouraging constantly increasing rates of production, and relying on environmental and social externalities to keep prices low, we have an inherently unsustainable and unhealthy foundation. 

The failures of this system have been exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a series of expected self-perpetuating injustices. Although watching these negative consequences unravel has been frustrating to say the least, it is hardly surprising. The foundation of our economy is based on unsustainable, and inequitable principles, so it is expected that in the face of a disturbance our socio-economic systems do not demonstrate resilience.

Image by: LiberationNews.org

Currently, there is a push to integrate systems thinking in regard to soil health; as Alan Richardson, a member of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation says, ““Historically we’ve fertilized the crop… We’ve been interested in the crop. The paradigm shift is in thinking that you have to fertilize the system, the microbes and all that. And through that you support the crop.” This contemplative practice made me realize that if we ever want to achieve sustainability within our socio-ecological systems, this same mindset needs to be applied to our socio-economic system. By creating a foundation that is rooted in a circular model of production, and values quality of life as opposed to quantity of money, we have the potential to create a healthier, more resilient society.

Resources:

https://www.resilience.org/stories/2017-11-09/healthy-soil-healthy-plants-healthy-people/

https://grist.org/food/heres-a-solution-for-those-out-of-control-toxic-algae-blooms/

https://www.700milliongallons.org/types-of-gsi/

https://landinstitute.org/our-work/perennial-crops/

https://theintercept.com/2020/03/17/naomi-klein-and-jeremy-scahill-discuss-coronavirus-the-election-and-solidarity-in-the-midst-of-a-pandemic/

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/world/europe/coronavirus-inequality.html

https://www.liberationnews.org

https://www.ecolandscaping.org/about/

https://grist.org/food/the-secret-to-richer-carbon-capturing-soil-treat-your-microbes-well/

Food Lines: A Response to “Hunger and the Hungry”

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Having had time to reflect on a post by wisdaub entitled “Hunger and the Hungry,” a thoughtful contemplation of spiritual fasting, hunger, and food system shocks amidst the coronavirus pandemic, I will try to extend the conversation using a systems thinking approach. If we put “food insecurity” in the center of a systems map, the maze of feedback loops is dizzying, even without considering the effects of the current pandemic on the food supply network. Factor in the pandemic crisis and the triple inequalities multiply as those already least prepared for catastrophe are hit with another wave of hardship. There is no single cause or solution to global hunger, and many causes have complicated relationships among themselves.

Food System Map                                                                                     Image Source: thebigraise.fr

Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen, an expert in issues of famine, declares poverty and lack of democracy as primary drivers of hunger, and suggests increased trade, tariffs and democratization as solutions, and self-sufficiency as a less powerful solution other than in times of war. A different view from physicist and food sovereignty advocate Vandana Shiva sees globalization and lack of import regulations as some of the larger systems responsible for poverty and displacement in the first place. Both perspectives would be appropriate in a systems-thinking map – the 135 million currently facing food shortage are victims of systems that cause or perpetuate poverty.

Children wait in line for food                                                      Image Source: weforum.org

If food is a human right (which, of course it is), how can we prevent projected estimates that the number of hungry may double by the end of 2020? Part of the answer is that people can’t afford food, especially with the economic fallout from the pandemic. Another is that nations who rely on imports are feeling food supply shocks deep in their bellies without the resources to grow or secure food closer to home. Increasing food sovereignty can build nimble resilience as shock absorbers for current systems vulnerable to price fluctuation and supply bottlenecks.

Widaub’s post describes fasting as “a way in which we recognize our common human fragility.” This is both humbling and empowering. Humbling in that the fragilities within  the food system are wounds pulled wide open during Coronavirus. These wounds may heal not by applying bandages of food aid and imports alone, but by empowering the world’s hungry with land, the resources to feed the land, and their children. Poverty is a reason many will not eat today. The systems perpetuating poverty are reasons many may not eat tomorrow.

Farmers in Indonesia
Image Source: viacampesina.org

 

In Response to ”What Contemplative Practices Have Taught Me About Problem Solving”

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What I found most intriguing about Sydney’s analysis of contemplative practices was the relationship between her argument and the concept of individualization as a whole. Indeed, her conclusion that “finding solutions to a complex problem first requires an analysis of one’s relationship to it” brought me straight back to Michael Pollan and Michael Maniates. In this way, I will agree with Sydney’s thesis and further a brief argument that reflecting on contemplative practices works against the pitfalls of individualization.

What power does the individual have in influencing a system larger than itself? How should this answer change how we approach problem solving?
Image courtesy of www.ruzivodigitallearning.co.zw

A chilling case-study of individualization can be found in reviewing Pollan’s New York Times Magazine article “Unhappy Meals”. In Pollan’s universe, problems like industrialization of agriculture can be addressed by eating carrots rather than chips. Pollan fails Sydney’s test because no aspect of his argument attempts to analyze the power of the individual in relation to the power of the existing structures that he claims must be changed. This is to say that Pollan’s solutions cannot be comprehensive for want of self-reflection.

In contrast to Pollan, Maniates’ article “Individualization: Plant a Tree, Buy a Bike, Save the World?” (abstract) embraces Sydney’s thesis in its recognition that the power of the individual relative to the system they seek to change determines the feasibility of making a difference at all. Maniates’ solutions to climate change are thus comprehensive to the extent that they recognize power limits inherent to an individual.

Examining Sydney’s thesis is how I’ve come to understand the relationship between contemplative practices which force integrative thinking and the validity of the solutions furthered by the authors we read for this course. Though I agree that the utility derived from these practices is contingent on my mood, going through them shows me which authors have considered their relationship to the structures they study and which haven’t.

For further reading, and to address Sydney’s point that finding the correct headspace is necessary to reap the benefits of contemplative practices, I suggest this article on learning to meditate which proved quite helpful in teaching me how to approach these contemplative practices after a number of admitted failures.

Finding our purpose and place

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In response to ‘Sustaining Myself’ by @aliyahw : 

In my last blog post, I noted how insignificant and overwhelmed I feel when studying the complexities of the global food system and the many injustices that support it. How are we ever to tackle the weak links in our food systems that are soon to collapse? When reading through my classmates’ blog posts, I realized we share a similar feeling of smallness and are seeking answers to often the same questions. I was particularly struck by Aliyah’s post, “Sustaining Myself’ in which she contemplated the living systems within and outside of her body. She expressed how it is easy to feel disconnected from our bodies, and lose attention to what we nourish them with. The contemplative practices gave Aliyah the opportunity to grasp the many complex systems that we as consumers are so reliant on.

Deploying this type of holistic systems thinking that Aliyah described can help us tackle the fragile pillars that uphold our food systems and realize our purpose within them. I propose to Aliyah, as well as my other classmates, what leverage points will you choose to make change towards a sustainable food system, and what sector is important to you?

Reflecting on Aliyah’s question, “who am I?” I think of how being a farmer, I feel a deep connection to my body and food, and also a responsibility to practice what I speak. I am determined to run my own farm one day, but am daunted by the environmental degradation that has ensued as a result of unsustainable agricultural practices. Dwindling topsoil, diminished soil microbe diversity, domination of agribusinesses, and decreasing seed stocks are just a few of the challenges that small-scale farmers are facing (Little, 2009). One solution to our collapsing food system is nourishing and rebuilding soil composition. The complex system of microbes that make up soil is the foundation of food production, and holds many solutions to sequestering carbon, reducing pesticide use, and attaining food sovereignty. It is small solutions like soil that we need to focus on to solve the larger issues of the global food system. Realizing our personal connections to the food systems we are the beneficiaries of can make the daunting problems our generation will face seem more approachable. So, who are you in our interconnected world of complex systems?  

Soil at Plum Forest Farm, Vashon. Photo by me.

Squash seedlings breaking through the soil. The beginning of the food system! Photo by me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Reily S. 

Sources:

Edelman, Marc. “Critical Perspectives on Food Sovereignty.” Journal of Peasant Studies, Feb. 2017, doi:10.4324/9781315689562.

Johnson, Nathanael. “The Secret to Richer, Carbon-Capturing Soil? Treat Your Microbes Well.” Grist, Grist, 1 July 2014, grist.org/food/the-secret-to-richer-carbon-capturing-soil-treat-your-microbes-well/.

Johnson, Sandhya. “Thinking in Systems (Donella Meadows) Chapters 1 to 3.” LinkedIn SlideShare, 30 Dec. 2012, www.slideshare.net/sandhyajohnson/thinking-in-systems-donella-meadows-chapters-1-to-3.

Little, Amanda. “Cooking Oil.” Power Trip, Harper Academic, 2009.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03066150.2014.963568?needAccess=true