Rosanne Greco is a retired Air Force colonel, a former chair of the South Burlington City Council and an advocate for climate actions and environmental protections. Greco writes from South Burlington.
Growing problems are coming our way. Not, as in difficulties that are getting bigger; but rather as in difficulties growing food.
Experts are warning that our agricultural soils are in peril. The condition of the soils that grow our food has been deteriorating primarily because of industrial farming. Large corporations, which have taken over farmlands across the United States and the world, use non-sustainable and outright destructive farming practices.
The massive use of chemicals, including fertilizers and pesticides, along with over-growing and other detrimental actions have destroyed the quality of the soil to the point that soon the food grown in it will not possess enough nutrients to sustain human life.
Half of all agricultural lands worldwide are in trouble. Assessments are that we have only another 60 years of harvests. Climate crisis impacts from droughts, floods, storms, fire, insects, invasive species, loss of pollinators, etc., have made a bad situation much worse. The pandemic, wars and international conflicts are also contributing to food supply problems.
If you stop reading now, thinking you can’t handle yet another national or global crisis, you will miss the good part. Unlike many of the other problems we are facing, we have the ability within some of our own cities to cope with this potential catastrophe — if we act now. We don’t have to hope for or rely on national or international leaders to take the necessary actions. We have the resources in some Vermont towns and cities to ensure we and future residents will have access to nutritious food. All we need to do is save the land.
For example, here in my hometown of South Burlington, we have enough fertile soils to feed most of the residents of the city. A few years ago, the city commissioned a study to determine whether there was sufficient arable land to grow enough nutritious food to feed the entire population of South Burlington. The conclusion was YES! Since that report, some of those fertile soils have been paved over for housing and the population of South Burlington has increased.
However, this is not an all-or-nothing effort. South Burlington still has enough land areas to feed thousands. I bet other Vermont towns do, too. But this can’t happen if we don’t save the land from being paved over for housing developments. Housing on open lands eliminates the soil, and, at the same time, adds more people who will need to be fed. Our city has plenty of space for affordable housing in areas that are already developed. Any new housing should be located far from open lands that possess arable soils.
For decades, experts have known about the climate crisis and tried to get decision makers to change course. Tragically, elected officials did not take the necessary actions. Now we find ourselves precariously close to the point of no return. If leaders had taken the recommended steps when they were first alerted, we would not be in the climate crisis we are in today. Now, experts are sounding the alarm that our food system is in jeopardy. Will this threat also be ignored?
We have the time and the resources to address the impending food crisis. Vermont’s elected officials can set in motion actions that will help feed thousands. It all hinges on saving our soils — one of our most precious natural resources. If we do this in our towns and cities in Vermont, perhaps other places will follow our example and do the same.
Specifically, I am advocating that our city and state officials enact robust regulations that protect all of the remaining arable soils from development, and establish guidelines and incentives to enable local food production. Preserving the ability to feed ourselves will be life-saving. Will you join me in asking your councilors, selectboard members and state representatives to save our soils?