A Framework for Anti-Colonial Regenerative Agriculture at LaFarm

 

Delaware Nation is a sovereign federally recognized Nation of Lenape people, whose ancestral homelands included eastern Pennsylvania. Through a fraudulent treaty, Thomas Penn stole over a million acres of land from the Lenape people, an act instrumental in their removal which continues to be protested.

The entangled values and practices we seek to apply are founded in Indigenous principles of loving-caring for the Earth. Including individuals of Delaware Nation is critical if we are to truly engage in Regenerative Agriculture on this land.

 

Values:

  • Reciprocity: We acknowledge that we rely on beings and systems outside of ourselves. When the land gives to us, we must give back, just as when we give to the land, we expect it to give to us.
  • Respect: We have an awareness of the importance of human and non-human units of this network and are thoughtful and intentional about how we treat them.
  • Collective (human and non-human) wellbeing: We understand that the wellbeing of each unit of this network is critical to the wellbeing of all.
  • Knowledge co-creation*: We seek to continuously learn from each other and value all backgrounds and identities.
  • (Re)localization: We seek to understand the unique place where we are and pay attention to the microclimate and how the land we are working with responds to different practices.

 

Practices:

  • Minimal soil disturbance → no-till
  • Maintenance of vegetative soil cover→ cover crops grow when nothing else does
  • Maximizing diversity → intercropping
  • Minimizing synthetic agrichemicals → leaf mulch for organic matter, compost for nutrients, organic fertilizer as needed