Land Use in Utopia: From the Commons to Regenerative Organic Agriculture

In “Utopia,” More encourages citizens to restrict their consumption of resources to the land whence these resources came to prevent starvation resulting from the practice of enclosure at the time, similarly to the regenerative organic agriculture initiative today. In discussing how he would prevent idleness and its associated ills, More states that man, "but into what part of the country soever he cometh he hath no meat given him until he have wrought out his forenoon's task or dispatched so much work as there is wont to be wrought before supper" (More 68). As More rejected the privatization or enclosure of common land, he sought to develop a sustainable practice of equal distribution of labor and consumption of resources in Utopia to ensure that returning to the commons would be viable. Thus, he required each person to contribute to the cultivation of their land or whatever land they were visiting to prevent overconsumption and depletion of that land's resources.

This idea of consuming local food and resources is reminiscent of the movement advocating for regenerative organic agriculture today. In pointing to the damaging effects large factory and corporate farms have on the ground's topsoil and its ability to sequester greenhouse gases, the regenerative organic agriculture practice encourages people to consume food from local farms instead (Rodale Institute). These local farms adhering to this practice use sustainable forms of crop rotation to maximize land use without expanding it and contributing to deforestation. Many of these initiatives also urge community involvement in the maintenance of these farms. Although More was not advocating specifically for regenerative organic agriculture in “Utopia,” he recognized the value in each individual obtaining their food locally and contributing to its cultivation to preserve the land’s value and prevent starvation resulting from unsustainable practices.

Works Cited

More, Thomas. “Utopia.” In Three Early Modern Utopias, ed. Susan Bruce. NY: Oxford UP,

2008. 1-129

Rodale Institute. “Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change.” Kutztown,

https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/rodale-white-paper.pdf#:~:text=Regenerati

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Wikipedia contributors. "Enclosure." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free

Encyclopedia, 16 Sep. 2021. Web. 17 Sep. 2021.