HEALING GROUNDS

Liz Carlisle's HEALING GROUNDS is a story that digs deep into the fertile intersection of science and social justice, and will make you rethink your relationship to the land.

Can soil really save us? In the face of climate change, "soil health" has become a rallying cry for a growing number of politicians, major corporations, and self-described carbon cowboys, who say regenerative agriculture techniques can suck carbon out of the atmosphere and store it underground. Some believe these techniques could offset a quarter, a third, or even all of human caused emissions. But others say they make little difference. In this book, award-winning author and Environmental Studies professor Liz Carlisle sorts through the science to highlight deeply regenerative agricultural approaches, rooted in communities of color, that truly could transform our food system and rebalance our climate. Indigenous peoples restoring bison and native prairie. Returning generation black farmers reaching back to their African roots to inform agroforestry initiatives. Latinx and Asian immigrants cultivating highly diverse microfarms, teeming with beneficial soil fungi. These communities have not only directly witnessed the wounding of land that has fueled climate change. They have experienced the exploitation of these lands as their own exploitation. And only they have the answers for how to repair what's been broken. Building this kind of regenerative agriculture will require a deeper understanding of what happened on these lands that we in the United States now call home. It's a complicated story and a painful one. But facing it squarely offers an irresistible promise: by coming together to heal these farmlands, we can not only heal our planet and its carbon cycle: we can heal ourselves and our communities too. Liz Carlisle is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where her work focuses on fostering a more just and sustainable food system. Born and raised in Montana, Carlisle had an early career as a country singer, opening for artists such as Sugarland, LeAnn Rimes, and Travis Tritt. But touring rural America opened her eyes to the devastating impacts of industrial agribusiness, setting her on a path to seek out farmers who were working to heal their lands and communities. Her first book, Lentil Underground, (2015) won the Montana Book Award and the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, and she recently co-authored organic farmer Bob Quinn's memoir, Grain by Grain (2019). Her writing has also been featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Yes! Magazine, and Civil Eats. Carlisle holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and a B.A. from Harvard University, and she formerly served as Legislative Correspondent for Agriculture and Natural Resources in the Office of U.S. Senator Jon Tester.