Call of the Reed Warbler A New Agriculture, A New Earth, reviewed

We look at this influential and wide ranging ecological tome, which looks at regenerative agriculture, permaculture and a range of influential deep thinkers by Charles Massy, published in 2017 by  Chelsea Green publishing, available here.

Call of the Reed Warbler A New Agriculture, A New Earth, reviewed

This is a deeply considered book that is well researched and thoughtfully laid out. Massy travelled far and wide and spoke to many of the leading exponents of those who are questioning how we have conducted agricultural practices. He asked, again and again, why is it failing and what can be done differently, and better.

There is a strong Australian element to the book, and yet Allan Savory’s experiences in Africa influenced and inspired many of the other Australian regenerative farmers in this book. Similarly while permaculture evolved from the ideas of two Australians, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, this concept has had a massive impact globally, including within Ireland. The point therefore is that by having a regional element and focus a book like this still offers great potential to inspire and influence farming practices all over the world.

This book will take you a while to read, as there is a lot packed into it, and it comes in at over 440 pages. This is not a bad thing though, as it is an inspirational piece of work and may yet come to take it’s place along classics like Silent Spring by Rachel Carson, and the Gaia books by James Lovelock and other classics that have influenced future generations. In many ways the key concepts espoused here are about teaching humans to get out of the way of nature and let it do its own thing.

Why on earth did European settlers to Australia ring bark and kill so many of the local trees in an almost pathological manner? Trees that had perfectly adapted to the local climate and environment. It is always slightly depressing when you realise that humans have messed up their surroundings in a way which helps them less than if they had taken the time to understand what was around them.

This is overall though a positive and inspiring book, check it out.

More about the book ->

“Charles Massy has written a definitive masterpiece that takes its place along with the writings of Aldo Leopold, Wendell Berry, Masanobu Fukuoka, Humberto Maturana, and Michael Pollan. No work has more brilliantly defined regenerative agriculture and the breadth of its restorative impact upon human health, biodiversity, climate, and ecological intelligence.” –Paul Hawken

In Call of the Reed Warbler, Charles Massy explores regenerative agriculture and the vital connection between our soil and our health.

It is the story of how a grassroots revolution—a true underground insurgency—can save the planet, help reduce and reverse climate change, and build healthy people and healthy communities, pivoting significantly on our relationship with growing and consuming food.

Using his personal experience as a touchstone—from an unknowing, chemical-using farmer with dead soils to a radical ecologist farmer carefully regenerating a 2000-hectare property to a state of natural health—Massy tells the real story behind industrial agriculture and the global profit-obsessed corporations driving it. With evocative stories, he shows how other innovative and courageous farmers are finding a new way.

At stake is not only a revolution in human health and in our communities, but the very survival of the planet. For farmers, backyard gardeners, food buyers, health workers, policy makers, and public leaders alike, Call of the Reed Warbler offers a tangible path forward and a powerful and moving paean of hope.

It’s not too late to regenerate the earth. Call of the Reed Warbler shows the way forward for the future of our food supply, our planet, and our health.

See more stories here.