Penguin 2022
ISBN: 978-0141992990
Reviewed by Ian Mowll
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Back in the 1970s, there was a TV programme called Tomorrow’s World ; it was a showcase of new technologies and how our lives might change as a result. I really enjoyed this programme as I felt a sense of adventure into the new. Regenesis by George Monbiot not only gives me this same sense of adventure, it also adds ethics. Added to this is Monbiot’s strong analytical approach in which he fearlessly searches for what is right, and this makes this book strong medicine for the ills of modern food production.
Soil is one of the main themes of the book and the first chapter describes in fascinating detail the amazing number and varieties of life-forms in healthy soil. I found this section awe-inspiring; how complex Nature is and how very little we really understand. Monbiot then picks up the theme of complexity with a description of complexity theory. In order for systems to be robust they need to be modular and with as few connections as possible so that shocks to the system are contained. Therefore, in terms of the world’s food production, we need to be less global, that is less reliant on a small number of sources for most of the crops. The world’s dependence on wheat production in Ukraine is a good example of this point.
The book is wide ranging in the areas that it covers. Themes include farm pollution, the benefits of not ploughing, the dangers of commercial fertilisers and the advantages of natural ways of farming.
Monbiot visits various farms and describes how some pioneer organic farmers are using innovative techniques and how they can get a great yield from their crops. However, since some such approaches are incredibly hard work for very little money it can be a real labour of love.
The use of bacteria to produce protein is discussed and how this could revolutionise food production. One of the advantages is that this process uses little land as it is ‘farm free’ although it is energy intensive. Monbiot thinks that the current trend of trying to create good plant-based meat substitutes may be a dead end as the processes may be too complex to be commercially viable. What does seem to be more promising is producing new foods – even though that may be challenging to sell to the wider public. Interestingly, Monbiot supports genetic modification specifically when it is used for gene transfer in bacteria, both because of its benefits in producing new foods and because this kind of genetic modification has been done since the 1970s and is widely accepted.
The book ends with the hope that a techno-ethical shift is coming as long as there are enough people willing to support it. I certainly support this and I hope that Monbiot is right.