Regenesis by Geo Monbiot. How good is the science?

Currently reading the above and , so far, it's been a grim read. I am only a 100 pages in.

As this is not my area of expertise I'd like to know more about how good the science he's relying on is.
So, is anyone else reading or has read it?
If you are and you understand the science and data better than me then how good is his evidence and is he over stating the consequences of animal grazing and farming .

I have this bookmarked to read as a counter argument when I finish it.
https://smallfarmfuture.org.uk/?p=1978

The book has upset a lot of farmers on twitter but haven't seen many refute the arguments robustly.

I ve seen him criticised for cherry picking data but nothing yet that says he's wrong and then uses data and science to challenge him.

It's also suggested that he relies too much on activist data and science, ie work that's more likely than not to support his polemic.

Now back to the book.

Hi, I’m currently doing my PhD in what I would describe broadly as the field of ‘land system’ science and in fact I share an office with an Agronomist who specifically research’s agricultural sustainability.

I haven’t read this book in particular but have read his other books and listened to him speak about the content of this book so I have a good overview of the points he’s making.

I would start by saying that it’s important to be aware that, despite the system of peer review, scientific research of dubious quality still makes it to publication in all fields. But the evidence base regarding the negative impacts of the current global system of industrialised farming is too extensive to not be considered good science. Monbiot’s critics tend to respond by highlighting research conducted by agricultural lobby groups that are all to often opinion pieces masquerading as robust science.

If you find a reference in the book for a scientific paper you want to read but can’t because it’s behind a paywall (as most are unfortunately) send me a message and I’d be happy to download a copy for you.

I’m just about to read it. I may well take you up on that very kind offer.
I’ve followed him for many years and have tried to find fault with his work before, but his research is very thorough. There’s one area where he has done work with that I’m reasonably familiar with on a practical level; natural woodland recolonisation, and another where he has done work on an organic farm I’ve been involved with for a long while, and if his research elsewhere is on a parallel then I am confident it’s sound.
Unlike most of those currently farming he has no vested interests other than trying to save humanity from itself. Many farmers will feel threatened by having their practices so roundly critiqued. A bit like taxi drivers having their rat runs closed off.

Sarah Langford is quite a public critic of Monbiot, and specifically regenesis. Don’t know enough about her stuff to know if she’s kosher but she’s not advocating for industrialised farming. If you’re interested in balance she maybe worth looking out.

One scientist I know called him out on Twitter on something he’d got wrong and he was good enough to come meet her and her colleagues to chat about it.

what's the tl/dr of it? (the Monbiot book)

it seems fairly well accepted that industrial farming has significant downsides but otoh, feeding 8Bn+ people is a big challenge however we go about it.

feeding 8Bn+ people meat is a big challenge however we go about it.

Corrected

They don't all eat meat afaik but point taken.

I have the Sarah Longford book to read next. I think she's a proponent of regenerative farming.

This is the cliffsnotes
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/16/most-damaging-farm-products-organic-pasture-fed-beef-lamb

Thanks, just read this as well - does sound like it's worth reading:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/05/regenesis-by-george-monbiot-review-hungry-for-real-change

My wife works in this field - her business does direct soil carbon measurement. So farmers can measure a baseline for current soil carbon and then adjust methods (eg move toward regenerative farming methods) and then measure again to see how much more carbon is being sequestered back into the soil.

She recently met Monbiot and to paraphrase her account he is not convinced that regenerative methods can quickly produce enough food for the general population, but does believe it is a better method than current farming.

I remember reading the Rewilding book and thinking it’s really nice and worthy, but given the change in actual levels of food production at Knepp this is not a way to mass produce food. I stayed there and the produce is fantastic but for such a large area the food produced is limited and they are much more an eco tourism venture than a productive farm these days.

There is so much junk science and sponsored research from agri business akin to the climate change deniers who were funded by fossil fuel companies. I think Monbiot is careful to use independent sources for his information.

Generally I think Monbiot is sound but is also having to raise alarm bells just to try and get people to act before it is too late.

I do find him , Monbiot, rather messianic and has sense of his own righteousness that can be off putting. Also takes a rather Manichean view of the world.

https://sustainablefoodtrust.org/news-views/more-extreme-claims-from-george-monbiot-the-sustainable-food-trust-responds/

but given the change in actual levels of food production at Knepp this is not a way to mass produce food.

Not read Monbiot, but does he offer a better option for producing enough food for everyone to live off? The move from hunter/gatherer systems to agrarian ones is basically the reason we’ve been able to sustain such huge population growth for so long. It’s hard (for me at least) to imagine a way to genuine sustainability without quite a lot of people going hungry/dying.

precision fermentation

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jan/08/lab-grown-food-destroy-farming-save-planet

https://twitter.com/GeorgeMonbiot/status/1549325711407718400

Thanks. Interesting, tech to the rescue!

Previously marketed under the brand name Soylent Green?

Facetious comments aside, how long will it take to get the accreditation of hundreds of governments? How long to set up the mega industrial plants (behind every one will be a Tory)? Will the people of the World accept it? What happens to the millions of farmers large and small Worldwide? Will the agricultural lobby kill it dead or hold it up for decades? Who will control it, governments (see also Soylent Green)? Will the Planet be over with before any of the above happens?

I heard there is a book that might hold the answers :)

The gospel according to St George?

The idea and process isn't necessarily silly, but the naivety of believing it could happen is.

A good example of the current battles between rewilding and farming, worth reading the following page as well
https://documents.nationaltrust.org.uk/story/agm-booklet-2022/page/7/1

COP27 related piece
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/12/replace-animal-farms-micro-organism-rewilding-food-precision-fermentation-emissions

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/09/leaders-cop27-livestock-farming-carbon-budget-governments

has anyone finished this? I am finding it too hard / grim.