Agroecology: From Annual to Perennial Crop Farming | Tim Crews, PhD | The Lands Institute

The future of food can only be secured through the adoption of sustainable renewable practices. Tim Crews, PhD, Chief Scientists at the Land Institute, joins Corinna Bellizzi to discuss how the principles of agroecology can turn such a dream into reality. He explores agroecology’s overlapping concepts with other practices such as permaculture and emphasizes the urgent need to reduce energy use in most farming methods today. Dr. Tim also breaks down the many benefits of perennial crop farming, particularly its efficient water use, and the production of grain crops like Kernza.

About Guest:

Tim Crews is the Chief Scientist and Director of The Land Institute’s International Initiative. The Land Institute is a non-profit agricultural research organization based in Salina, Kansas dedicated to developing agroecosystems that capture key functions of natural ecosystems through the integration of perenniality and diversity. Tim has been fascinated for most of his life with how we can improve our food producing ecosystems—agriculture—by studying how people grew food before the fossil fuel era, and also how natural ecosystems function. Tim studied agroecology at UC Santa Cruz, ecosystem ecology in Graduate Studies at Cornell University and in a post-doc at Stanford. Before coming to The Land Institute, he developed an agroecology program at Prescott College in Arizona.

Guest LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-crews-2080a015/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-land-institute/

Guest Website: 

https://landinstitute.org/our-work/new-roots-international/

https://kernza.org

Guest Social: 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-land-institute/

https://www.instagram.com/thelandinstitute/

https://www.facebook.com/TheLandInstitute

Additional Resources Mentioned:

• ARTICLE: Wheat On Repeat: A tantalizing new breed of climate-friendly crops never need replanting
• EPISODE: Regenerative Agriculture with Tom Newmark
• EPISODE: How Regeneration Can Change the Future of Farming & Wine Making with Carlo Mondavi
• EPISODE: How Regenerative Farming Can Solve The Climate Chaos with Mark Easter
• EPISODE: How Permaculture and Regeneration Can Lead to a Better World with Starhawk
• EPISODE: How Animal Sanctuaries Can Survive Severe Weather & Flooding with Helbard Alkhassadeh

BOOK: The Unsettling of America: Culture & Agriculture by Wendell Berry