Mitigating Climate Change through Agriculture
Silk Grass Farms practices regenerative agriculture to help reverse climate change, boost local economic prosperity, and increase ecological resilience.
In conventional agriculture, food often takes a long and complex journey from the farm to the plate, leaving a deep environmental footprint. The process usually begins with monoculture farming — the growing of a single crop — that degrades our soil, relies on the use of synthetic chemicals, and releases enormous amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. After crops are processed, products are often transported long distances and are then traded among several different intermediaries before reaching our tables. Conventional agriculture also has a human cost. Too often, the people who grow and process our food are unfairly treated and compensated — a fact that is hidden from many consumers.
This extractive approach to agriculture is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, the solution is right under our feet. Regenerative agriculture, also known as carbon farming, offers a path to reversing climate change by balancing the carbon cycle and building climate resilience. Silk Grass Farms is working to add value at every stage of the process, including the people who make this vision a reality, and harness the power of agriculture to heal damaged land and restore ecological health.
The Soil Solution
Our atmosphere has too much carbon in it while our soils have too little¹. We can reverse this by using practices that move carbon from the atmosphere into plant and soil ecosystems. By working with our farms' natural ecological processes, we can build healthy soil, support biodiversity, and naturally increase agricultural productivity. Examples of farming practices that build soil health include growing diverse crops, reforestation, biochar production, and responsible water management.
Soil is a sleeping giant in the fight to reverse global warming². Under the right conditions, healthy, biodiverse soil can serve as a vast carbon reservoir, with the capacity to reverse climate change by storing billions of tons of CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gasses. Soil health is the basis of the regenerative farming practiced at Silk Grass Farms.
Organisms in carbon-rich soil create conditions that retain water, prevent flooding, make nutrients available to crops, and convert harmful gasses into stable, stored forms. Because it plays such a vital role in climate resilience, soil health considerations make up more than half of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. These goals are intrinsic to our vision at Silk Grass Farms as we work to develop a truly sustainable, closed-loop food system that generates zero waste and is climate positive.
How Silk Grass Farms is Mitigating Climate Change
Silk Grass Farms has joined the global movement to change the way our modern food systems work, from farm to table. Our model transforms food from a faceless industrial commodity to a colorful story of nutrition, nature, and people. We are reimagining how food is grown and processed: identifying how we can add environmental and economic value at every stage.
Our approach includes supporting our extraordinary team by providing superlative compensation and benefits, on-site housing and professional development. We are happy to offer meaningful local employment opportunities that benefit our community and the natural environment.
Through careful planning informed by our farms’ unique microclimates, our agricultural methods work with (not against) nature. Our farms operate on simple principles that make the land healthier. These principles include responsible water management, soil replenishment, and crop diversity.
Our approach to regenerative farming also includes identifying ways to reduce waste and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Silk Grass Farms' “waste nothing" practice includes repurposing post-production biomass into biochar, turning our waste into valuable soil amendments. Our operations — planting, growing, harvesting, preparing, processing, and packaging — occur onsite, reducing fuel consumption and maximizing resource efficiency.
Sergio Morales holding coconut pith.
By vertically integrating our nurseries, farms and factory, we minimize transportation costs and associated greenhouse-gas emissions. We believe food should be fully traceable from origin to final consumer, retaining its unique background and quality, and allowing consumers to make well-informed choices. We are committed to creating positive environmental and social impact at scale. Our farming boosts local economic prosperity, protects ecosystems, and mitigates climate change.