chronolith:

simonalkenmayer:

naamahdarling:

elodieunderglass:

reconstructionist-mothraism:

adiwesga:

I’m serious too when I say that settlers and their aggressive, destructive farming practices were main factors in the dust bowl.

They stripped the prairie by plowing deep, deep into the soil—destroying the deep roots of the prairie grasses and plants that hold onto moisture in the soil and hold it together even during a drought.

Those roots were so important:

They planted voracious plants by themselves acre upon acre—things like corn which is so destructive even here in the Great Lakes region we rotate our fields of corn with soybeans because the corn strips nitrogen and beans put it back.

The soil turned to dust. The plants were not there to hold the soil and hold the moisture. The droughts hit and that was that.

Settlers version of farming is DANGEROUS and harsh and requires so many chemicals—chemicals most white people will never have to worry about in their water

So yes. Fuck your fantasy. Grow some lettuce in a wheelbarrow, put some herbs on your window sill, and raise some backyard chickens instead lmfao.

And make connections with the Indigenous people on whose land you’re living! The people who know how to live on it sustainably, and from whom it’s been stolen. Work with them to restore what can be restored, and create what needs to be created anew. Make friends. Share food. Swap seeds. Support them in their struggles. Realize that the problem of a sustainable and liveable future won’t be solved until this one is.

You’re in this mess because Indigenous land was stolen, and Indigenous methods of living on it were compromised. Idyllic farm fantasies won’t change that.

^ grassroots are important ^

White people were so colossally ignorant that when it became apparent that the land was drying up and blowing away, our solution was to plow up more earth, all the esrth we could find, because we thought that the moisture released from the damp soil would encourage cloud formation. The theory was that “rain follows the plough.” We reacted to an ecological disaster by doubling down. Nobody believed it was happening or that it was that bad. It was a horrible time. Animals drowned, lungs and nostrils filled with dust. Nothing could live, barely even insects. It was BAD.

So like, if you’re assuming that we are going to react to current ecological crisis by just naturally coming to our senses and fixing it, you’re wrong.

We have to fight for it and force change. And I’m terrified.

Absolutely true. Luckily, research is being done on how to amend this and prevent it.

There are a number of Indigenous academics and scientists working on eco-diversity, sustainable farming, and conservation. Support their work! If you are bringing in a speaker on these topics, look to see if there are Indigenous peoples working in that field. We’ve got a twitter tag & a website you can use to look up Indigenous and other POC academics: #pocknowstuff.