by Kiara Kamara

There is nothing quite like the liminality of a new year’s arrival. Within this space of uncertainty and possibility, many of us feel called to plant seeds of hope in the form of resolutions. We are emerging from 2021 grappling with a multitude of ideas, questions, lessons, and desires. Regardless of how we enter, we have a chance to make this new year better by leaning into our communities and investing in our goals. 

Here at Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice, our staff members have taken a moment to reflect on the past year and to offer up the regenerative resolutions we hope to plant, grow, and harvest in 2022. 

When asked what 2021 has taught us, staff members spoke on the imperative need for local food systems that can support communities during times of crisis and in the face of the sustained uncertainty of a global pandemic. 

“We entered 2021 in a state of continued uncertainty surrounding COVID-19. It has reminded me that now, more than ever, establishing and supporting local regenerative food systems is paramount.” 

Others spoke on how during this past year, their work with Agraria taught them about how sacred the land around us is and emphasized the need to “ embrace it and care for it in order to preserve its sacredness and abundance”.

Some members of our staff learned about how regenerative practices such as composting, cover crops, and the long-term rebuilding of topsoil are “ more effective when undertaken by a community, rather than individuals”. This aspect of community, togetherness, and being in relationship with the land and others proved to be a common theme. 

Above all, 2021 taught us that we are empowered and emboldened by the ways in which regenerative agriculture offers hope. Hope for ourselves. Hope for each other. Hope for our soil. Hope for our food systems. Hope for our planet.

Equipped with these insights, what are some of our regenerative resolutions for 2022? 

The main hopes expressed by our staff were centered around the need to expand the reach of regenerative agricultural practices to more and more communities and to further implement regeneration into the many aspects of our day-to-day lives. 

One staff member shared, “My hope for 2022 is that the groundwork that was paved in 2021 surrounding local regenerative food systems, particularly in communities suffering from food apartheid, will progress in a meaningful, measurable manner.”

Another shared “We're all busy, and in the hustle and bustle of it all we make compromised choices. Many of these choices are based on convenience and consumption, but many are behavioral as well. My personal hope for 2022 is to take little moments each day to reflect on my choices. Choices like what foods am I putting in my body, how far I'm driving my car, do I need what I'm purchasing? Many of these choices are around consumption, but I hope to also apply regenerative practices toward my relationships as well. Take a moment to check in with an old friend, make a new friend, and practice forgiveness for me as well as others.” 

For members of our staff, we hope more than anything to be a part of the change. To facilitate and influence changes in ourselves, our spheres of influence, and within the structures, we are all a part of. To bring restoration, regeneration, and abundance wherever we go and into everything we hope to accomplish this coming year 

From all of us at Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice, we wish you all a happy new year. 

Here is to many plantings, discoveries, connections, and harvests to come.