Grow, Grow, Grow Your Boat
Organic.
From our supermarkets to our department stores, the word “organic” crops up time and time again. It’s a surprisingly divisive term – many people make a point of seeking out organic products, while others seem to avoid them like the plague. As such a ubiquitous concept, it’s worth exploring organic principles in greater depth, particularly when it comes to textile farming.
According to Metabolic, an Amsterdam-based collection of organizations promoting sustainable agriculture, organic crops are grown “without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation.” In the case of cotton, this takes the shape of removing pesticides, fertilizers, and genetically modified seeds from the growing process. This is different from “conventional” methods of farming, which often employ synthetic elements to fight diseases and enrich the soil, thus increasing crop yields.
What’s curious about the labels of “organic” and “conventional” is that, up until the 20th century, all farming was done organically. The common practices of “conventional” farming would have seemed decidedly unconventional as little as 150 years ago – imagine telling someone in the early 1900s you were going to genetically modify their food! It’s a testament to the conventions of our times – and the profound effects of industrialization on what we consider “normal” – that these labels appear the way they do.
There are many benefits to organic farming – improved water quality, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, and increased food nutrition, just to name a few. However, it might also be fair to levy some criticism against it. For one thing, organic yields tend to be around 25% lower than conventional yields, meaning organic farms often need more land to produce an equivalent amount of crops. Given that the global population is projected to be north of 10 billion by 2100, the problem of land usage in organic farming is only likely to increase.
More importantly, though, certification standards for organic crops can differ widely, and often they do not stand up against rigorous, sustainability-focused cross examination. Appropriately, many sustainability experts have labeled organic farming as a step in the right direction, rather than a fix-all solution to the current ecological problems we’ve gotten ourselves into.
I don’t mean to be overly critical of organic farming in the slightest – incremental progress, after all, is still progress. But, if we want to take a further step in the right direction, it’s worth asking how we might do that.
One possible solution: Regenerative farming.
According to the Noble Research Institute, an independent nonprofit fighting for increased sustainability in agriculture, regenerative farming is the process of restoring degraded soils using management practices based on core ecological principles. In simpler terms: While organic farming primarily seeks to avoid harm, regenerative farming looks to actively improve the land. Cover crops, no-till farming, composting, and intercropping are all methods employed in regenerative farming to revitalize the soil. These techniques help prevent erosion and increase soil fertility, which in turn improve soil quality. Regenerative farming also promotes natural pollinators and predator insects in lieu of pesticides – helping both plant and animal life in the surrounding ecosystem.
Outside of the advantages of organic farming, regenerative farming carries with it a host of additional benefits. Healthier soil absorbs more water, meaning regenerative farming can help more efficiently irrigate crops. This is especially important for cotton – a water intensive crop that typically requires close to ten thousand liters of water to yield a single kilogram. Through regenerative farming, farmers can minimize the amount of water needed to produce cotton. Additionally, by reducing soil disturbance, and thus increasing the quality of the soil, regenerative farming can contribute to biological carbon sequestration – less CO2 in the atmosphere, more in the soil.
What’s more, regenerative farming principles can help address the issues of lower yields from organic farming in the long term. For example, a study from the Rodale Institute found that corn grown organically with cover crops – a principle of regenerative farming – produced 28-34% higher yields in drought years. By improving the quality of the soil, instead of simply avoiding synthetic pesticides and GMOs, farmers may be able to improve their crop yields in the future.
A great example of regenerative textile farming is the Cooperativa D’Irituia in Brazil – a women-led farming cooperative in northern Brazil. Since 2021, Cooperativa D’Irituia has partnered with the sustainability consultancy group FarFarm to institute regenerative farming and agroforestry practices in their production of cotton. Not only are they producing great organic cotton, this cooperative is lowering their water usage, minimizing their carbon footprint, and benefiting the surrounding ecosystem – now that’s a cause worth celebrating!
There’s no doubt about it – regenerative farming is the way to go. As such, it’s worth taking the time to support brands that get their materials from farms that utilize regenerative and organic practices. We feature a number of brands here at Doo Dah that get their materials sustainably, and there are countless others out there as well who do the same.
So, the next time you’re buying a new garment, do a little research into where the company gets their materials. Maybe you’ll find that the idea of regenerative farming has ~ grown ~ on you.
As always, thanks for reading – and no apologies for the puns.
Alec Matulka
Doo Dah Apparel
