In Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations, geomorphologist…

“grasslands, grazing mammals, and pack-hunting predators evolved together. So if domestic herbivores can be managed such that their behavior mimics that of their wild…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“Consider that farmers are sued when genetically manipulated seeds they don’t even want sprout on their soil. (The pretext: This is “patent infringement” and…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“The use of chemical fertilizers and other treatments has increased worldwide as large tracts of agricultural land are turned over to commodity mono-crops. And…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“the planet’s current vegetative cover captures around 3000 EJ of the sun’s energy. This photosynthetic capacity would appear to be sufficient to feed only…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“Slaps in the face like this provide opportunities for change. A drought definitely gets people thinking about how they can manage resources better. It’s…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“understand that the greatest danger to wildlife was not poaching but habitat destruction—the same thing that ultimately threatened humans.”

— Judith D. Schwartz

“the problem isn’t the amount of carbon per se—the quantity of carbon on earth is constant—but where that carbon is.”

— Judith D. Schwartz

“Every field that’s turned into a parking lot or industrial park means more water siphoned off into gutters and culverts and less water in…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“One farmer I met, Gene Goven of Turtle Lake, North Dakota, put it more succinctly: “You build soil where the roots go—down!”

— Judith D. Schwartz

“Organisms we can’t see are accorded the same respect as those that are big and flashy or promise to give a nice immediate kick…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“from a soil microorganism point of view, a crop monoculture is akin to junk food: “If there’s just wheat or any one thing, it’s…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“According to Christine Jones, soils hold more carbon than the atmosphere and all the world’s plant life combined—and can hold it longer, in a…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“First you’ve got to change the ideology,” she says. “Until you can show people that they’re losing profits, you can’t get them to change.”

— Judith D. Schwartz

“Steven Apfelbaum, a restoration ecologist in Wisconsin, says that every 1 percent increase in soil carbon holds an additional sixty thousand gallons of water…

— Judith D. Schwartz

“The concept of the biotic pump, if correct, brings a new urgency to the need to conserve forests.”

— Judith D. Schwartz