“I think the fate of humanity ultimately rests on how we conserve and protect that thin, magical layer of soil on this planet” – David Van Tassel
David Van Tassel is a lead scientist at The Land Institute, a non-profit research, education, and policy organization dedicated to sustainable agriculture.
In this episode of Deviate, Rolf and David discuss Agriculture 101 (3:00); the impact of agriculture on the formation of society (25:00); farming, modernity, and the Green Revolution (39:00); The Land Institute and the push to develop perennial staple plants (47:00); and politics and the long game of sustainable agriculture (1:13:00).
Notable Links:
- Perennial plant
- Annual plant
- Green Revolution
- Evolutionary biology (subfield of biology)
- Sexual selection (mode of natural selection)
- Origin of domestic dogs
- Monoculture (agricultural practice)
- Polyculture (agricultural practice)
- Kernza (perennial grass)
- Silphium (perennial sunflower)
- Upland rice (type of rice)
- Japonica rice (type of rice)
- Indica rice (type of rice)
- Columbian Exchange
- Farmers of Forty Centuries, by F.H. King (book)
- Wes Jackson (Founder and President, The Land Institute)
- Nature as Measure, by Wes Jackson (book)
- Maya Civilization (ancient civilization)
- Anasazi (ancient civilization)
- Mesopotamia (historical region)
- Ancient Egyptian agriculture
- Jerry Glover (soil scientist at The Land Institute)
- Scree (geological feature)
- Loess (type of soil)
The Deviate theme music comes from the title track of Cedar Van Tassel’s 2017 album Lumber.
Note: We don’t host a “comments” section, but we’re happy to hear your questions and insights via email, at deviate@rolfpotts.com.
