Carolina Farm Stewardship Association
by Nicole Sanchez
My second visit to the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) for a workshop on high tunnels, Oct. 4, did not disappoint. Since my first visit to this research farm on the outskirts of Goldsboro, N.C., I had been looking forward to my opportunity to return.
As an agriculture agent working with commercial fruit and vegetable producers, this workshop was of special interest to me. High tunnels are similar to greenhouses, but are less permanent in nature, and usually without a traditional heat source. High tunnels perform several functions depending on the crop grown within. A major function is to extend the growing season either at the beginning or end.
The three-hour session began with opportunities for hands-on demonstration and discussion. Participants learned about organic composting steps, seeding, using cold frames and ginger production in high tunnels. It was encouraging to know that so many are interested in learning more about this under-used way to extend the growing season to have vegetables available when other producers don't. High tunnels, while not for everyone, provide a unique opportunity for some growers to fill a much needed niche in our local food systems.
Extension associate Rick Holness described in detail the ongoing tunnel trials. Row after row of beautiful, large, ripening tomatoes beckoned within. The CEFS team are trying different fertilizer and composting methods to determine what resulted in the highest yield. It appeared that all treatments resulted in impressive yields. Clearly, fresh from the farm tomatoes are possible in eastern N.C. in October.
High tunnels are lots of work, but the price commanded by out-of-season vegetables means the extra effort comes with a financial return. From an environmental perspective, high tunnels are attractive because they rely less on supplemental heat, and more on making the most of heat already present in the environment. High tunnels are not heated or artificially lit all winter, so they will not provide us tomatoes in January or March. But they do enable us to have a greater variety of fresh, local produce for a longer portion of the year without additional reliance on fossil fuels.
High tunnels can also help to ward off disease. For instance, powdery and downy mildew are major problems of the cucurbit family (pumpkins, squash, cukes and melons). Using a high tunnel to minimize splashing and wind can help reduce pressure from these diseases. In this case, the crop could be drip irrigated under cover, reducing the incidence of mildew disease that comes with regular thunderstorms. High tunnels are also used in berry production in some operations.
High tunnels are intended to be movable. Some are built on skids so they can be moved back and forth along a track. This way, a grower can provide protection to plants while they are young, and then move the cover off the plants once they are established. Or, a crop can be started in the open at the end of a warm season and then given protection as the nights grow colder by moving the tunnel over the established crop. Some high tunnels are designed to be easily taken down and rebuilt. Be sure to understand the wind and snow load needs in your area if you are considering a high tunnel.
I’m already looking forward to my next opportunity to visit CEFS. There's some incredible research related to sustainable farming methods. Visit their website at www.cefs.ncsu.edu to stay informed about future workshops and classes at this facility.
For more information, click here.
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There's a track devoted to high tunnels at this year’s Sustainable Ag Conference. To register, click here.
Though made in large part of plastic, glass, ceramics, gold and copper, they also contain critical resources. The gallium used for LEDs and the camera flash, the tantalum in capacitors and indium that powers the display were all pulled from the ground — at a price for nature and people.
"Mining raw materials is always problematic, both with regard to human rights and ecology," said Melanie Müller, raw materials expert of the German think tank SWP. "Their production process is pretty toxic."
The gallium and indium in many phones comes from China or South Korea, the tantalum from the Democratic Republic of Congo or Rwanda. All in, such materials comprise less than ten grams of a phone's weight. But these grams finance an international mining industry that causes radioactive earth dumps, poisoned groundwater and Indigenous population displacement.
Environmental Damage: 'Nature Has Been Overexploited'
The problem is that modern technologies don't work without what are known as critical raw materials. Collectively, solar panels, drones, 3D printers and smartphone contain as many as 30 of these different elements sourced from around the globe. A prime example is lithium from Chile, which is essential in the manufacture of batteries for electric vehicles.
"No one, not even within the industry, would deny that mining lithium causes enormous environmental damage," Müller explained, in reference to the artificial lakes companies create when flushing the metal out of underground brine reservoirs. "The process uses vast amounts of water, so you end up with these huge flooded areas where the lithium settles."
This means of extraction results in the destruction and contamination of the natural water system. Unique plants and animals lose access to groundwater and watering holes. There have also been reports of freshwater becoming salinated due to extensive acidic waste water during lithium mining.
But lithium is not the only raw material that causes damage. Securing just one ton of rare earth elements produces 2,000 tons of toxic waste, and has devastated large regions of China, said Günther Hilpert, head of the Asia Research Division of the German think tank SWP.
He says companies there have adopted a process of spraying acid over the mining areas in order to separate the rare earths from other ores, and that mined areas are often abandoned after excavation.
"They are no longer viable for agricultural use," Hilpert said. "Nature has been overexploited."
China is not the only country with low environmental mining standards and poor resource governance. In Madagascar, for example, a thriving illegal gem and metal mining sector has been linked to rainforest depletion and destruction of natural lemur habitats.
States like Madagascar, Rwanda and the DRC score poorly on the Environmental Performance Index that ranks 180 countries for their effort on factors including conservation, air quality, waste management and emissions. Environmentalists are therefore particularly concerned that these countries are mining highly toxic materials like beryllium, tantalum and cobalt.
But it is not only nature that suffers from the extraction of high-demand critical raw materials.
"It is a dirty, toxic, partly radioactive industry," Hilpert said. "China, for example, has never really cared about human rights when it comes to achieving production targets."
Dirty, Toxic, Radioactive: Working in the Mining Sector
One of the most extreme examples is Baotou, a Chinese city in Inner Mongolia, where rare earth mining poisoned surrounding farms and nearby villages, causing thousands of people to leave the area.
In 2012, The Guardian described a toxic lake created in conjunction with rare earth mining as "a murky expanse of water, in which no fish or algae can survive. The shore is coated with a black crust, so thick you can walk on it. Into this huge, 10 sq km tailings pond nearby factories discharge water loaded with chemicals used to process the 17 most sought after minerals in the world."
Local residents reported health issues including aching legs, diabetes, osteoporosis and chest problems, The Guardian wrote.
South Africa has also been held up for turning a blind eye to the health impacts of mining.
"The platinum sector in South Africa has been criticized for performing very poorly on human rights — even within the raw materials sector," Müller said.
In 2012, security forces killed 34 miners who had been protesting poor working conditions and low wages at a mine owned by the British company Lonmin. What became known as the "Marikana massacre" triggered several spontaneous strikes across the country's mining sector.
Müller says miners can still face exposure to acid drainage — a frequent byproduct of platinum mining — that can cause chemical burns and severe lung damage. Though this can be prevented by a careful waste system.
Some progress was made in 2016 when the South African government announced plans to make mining companies pay $800 million (€679 million) for recycling acid mine water. But they didn't all comply. In 2020, activists sued Australian-owned mining company Mintails and the government to cover the cost of environmental cleanup.
Another massive issue around mining is water consumption. Since the extraction of critical raw materials is very water intensive, drought prone countries such as South Africa, have witnessed an increase in conflicts over supply.
For years, industry, government and the South African public debated – without a clear agreement – whether companies should get privileged access to water and how much the population may suffer from shortages.
Mining in Brazil: Replacing Nature, People, Land Rights
Beyond the direct health and environmental impact of mining toxic substances, quarrying critical raw materials destroys livelihoods, as developments in Brazil demonstrate.
"Brazil is the major worldwide niobium producer and reserves in [the state of] Minas Gerais would last more than 200 years [at the current rate of demand]," said Juliana Siqueira-Gay, environmental engineer and Ph.D. student at the University of São Paulo.
While the overall number of niobium mining requests is stagnating, the share of claims for Indigenous land has skyrocketed from 3 to 36 percent within one year. If granted, 23 percent of the Amazon forest and the homeland of 222 Indigenous groups could fall victim to deforestation in the name of mining, a study by Siqueira-Gay finds.
In early 2020, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill which would allow corporations to develop areas populated by Indigenous communities in the future. The law has not yet entered into force, but "this policy could have long-lasting negative effects on Brazil's socio-biodiversity," said Siqueira-Gay.
One example are the niobium reserves in Seis Lagos, in Brazil's northeast, which could be quarried to build electrolytic capacitors for smartphones.
"They overlap the Balaio Indigenous land and it would cause major impacts in Indigenous communities by clearing forests responsible for providing food, raw materials and regulating the local climate," Siqueira-Gay explained.
She says scientific good practice guidelines offer a blueprint for sustainable mining that adheres to human rights and protects forests. Quarries in South America — and especially Brazil — funded by multilaterial banks like the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group have to follow these guidelines, Siqueira-Gay said.
They force companies to develop sustainable water supply, minimize acid exposure and re-vegetate mined surfaces. "First, negative impacts must be avoided, then minimized and at last compensated — not the other way around."
Reposted with permission from DW.