Why Soil, Why Now, Why REAP
A resident sheep enjoying the REAP Center buffet.
I may have taken some things for granted.
Perhaps many things. Perhaps we all have. So many it's hard to figure out where to start this story. I personally have been so caught up in the day-to-day activities that I keep forgetting to tell the big picture, at least as I see it. Why this endeavor? Why now? Why so holistically and urgently? Especially while the world quite literally burns and ecosystem collapse is accelerating at a rate that's frankly unfathomable. So, yeah. Why am I so optimistic? And why soil?
I'm embarrassed that 18 months into what is a massive effort to make a real difference for climate and community, I haven't yet stopped to communicate our baseline principles:
The Earth already has systems in place to help us.
The combination of biomimicry, machine learning, and permaculture may yield a path forward.
The intersectionality of social, racial, and environmental justice provides an inclusive framework to overcome many challenges at once, and is as critical as the intersectionality of art, science, technology, and policy.
That a design-science systems approach embracing ecological interconnectedness can be elegant and simple while addressing complex global challenges.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. We're talking about soil, planetary health, and survival. I digress.
From organic to sustainable to biodynamic, none of these approaches has done enough to fend off climate calamity.
They weren't adopted widely enough, weren't holistic enough, we missed the window of time where it mattered, or we optimized for the wrong target. Probably a bit of all of that. Right now it is quite clear that many things are broken beyond a scale that’s difficult to comprehend. And yet still most of us are aware that something is wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong. We sense it at an almost primal level.
What we call “climate change” is only a symptom, and falls short of diagnosing the actual problem. But at least it is named. Global temperature targets are absolutely critical to maintaining a habitable planet, yet they also are merely an indicator, and frankly a blunt-force instrument. While the importance of reducing carbon emissions cannot be overstated, that endeavor, too, lacks nuance and does not rise to meet all that is wrong. Yes, we need to stop doing harm through our emissions, but there is more to it. The single largest nature-based lever for global impact, for example, is the restoration of soil at an individual, municipal, commercial, and global level.
Using permaculture practices to build soil at the REAP Center
FUN FACT
With the use of cover crops, compost, crop rotation and reduced, tillage, we can actually sequester more carbon than is currently emitted, tipping the needle past 100% to reverse climate change. (A byproduct of all this is enhanced nutritional yield and overall food security.)
We have pushed Earth’s natural systems out of balance past the point where ecosystems and carbon cycles can regenerate themselves. And those systems are what the Earth has fine-tuned for millennia, in partnership with the countless species that have evolved alongside us . So, the REAP Center seeks to support those systems. To acknowledge, identify, and further the understanding that Nature is Technology, and it has the ability to heal us and itself.
When the scale of the problem is so incredibly massive, one must seek a solution that can meet that scale.
Are there any existing systems and processes already built that can solve the problem? Is there an established partner that can start right away? And can this be done in harmony with nature? The good news for us is that the answer to all these questions is yes.
“Regeneration” is a new concept for many people, but it has been the default for Earth’s natural systems for millions of years. Indigenous populations have been practicing it for tens of thousands of years. Permaculturalists have been espousing aspects of it for hundreds of years. It is only recently that traditional Western science and global financial markets have begun to notice.
As a relatively young nonprofit, we are incredibly honored by how many people and organizations have come together to achieve so much, so quickly, in developing our half-mile-long art and science center.
Of course, our primary purpose is to support biodiversity in soil because at scale it can enhance nutrition globally while capturing gigatons of carbon. Along the way to that journey, we touch upon food security, equity, resilience, community building, the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and so much more. It's rare to find such an optimistic bright spot as the REAP Center in the context of climate change.
People who know the San Francisco Bay Area may appreciate our ambition to emulate – to a degree – the Exploratorium, but with a focus on climate competence, regenerative agriculture, outdoor experiences, and community building. Ultimately we hope to whimsically serve youth-through-PhD-level curiosity.
Our expansive campus is well underway and almost entirely volunteer-driven.
Some finished, some in progress, the four main areas are:
an edible park food forest with a sculpture garden,
interactive soil exhibits including Worm World, Fungi Hut, Fermentation Station, Microbe Mine, Biome Boutique, and a Hydrology House. All are supported by a multitude of composting technology demonstrations.
a permaculture community garden with a free farm stand, plus our bees, sheep, and chickens.
and our community area, which includes an extensive makerspace and climate-minded co-working, plus an event area with a large earthen stage.
All of these elements help teach and reteach people that we can finally move past a mindset of externalities. Showing how regenerative processes and natural capital support human health and reshape traditional capital models. True value achieved through convergence.
The REAP Center follows a biomimicry-based mandate embracing nature's technology as a road map. From design science to systems thinking to closing loops in waste streams, integrating play with progress, we are truly working to create a place where people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities come together to work on solutions.
There are many ways to get involved: Visit | Volunteer | Join | Donate