Marcus Kowalski (Coop)

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Marcus Kowalski, I want to reaffirm my strong support for Amendment 9 embedding Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar. Our debates have admirably centered resilience, redundancy, and regeneration, reflecting the environmental realities we face here in Coward. It is clear from the nearly unanimous support that we recognize AGATA's 70-acre farm requires intentional, decade-scale commitments to invasive species management and feral hog control, both critical threats to our soil health, crops, and native biodiversity.

However, I urge the Senate to consider not only the ecological stewardship embedded in Amendment 9 but also the pressing need for full-cycle waste and nutrient management as an equally foundational pillar. Too often, regenerative agricultural efforts stall or falter because waste flows—both biological and material—are left unaddressed or siloed from core time legislation priorities. This neglect risks undermining the labor equity we seek to enshrine, the health of our soil systems, and neighbor relationships, especially given AGATA’s location adjacent to residential zones impacted by our operational rhythms.

Amendment 9 is unquestionably vital, but without incorporating full-cycle waste and nutrient management explicitly, we run the risk of enshrining an incomplete stewardship framework. Nutrient cycling and waste management are not ancillary tasks but central, practical ecological labors that sustain regeneration and resilience over time. They are intertwined deeply with education, community, accessibility, and cooperative governance. Our neighbors and workers experience the consequences of waste flows daily—from burning practices to runoff and odor. Our cooperative values demand we reckon with these realities transparently and inclusively.

While the amendments before us have robustly integrated many essential priorities, the ongoing drumbeat from farm, ecology, and community senators to elevate full-cycle waste and nutrient management cannot be ignored. Our time legislation must not only prepare us for climatic extremes but also sustain a continuously functioning, closed-loop farming and cultural ecosystem that honors labor, land, and neighbor equity.

Therefore, I strongly support Amendment 9 as an essential milestone, and I urge the Senate to adopt forthcoming amendments explicitly embedding full-cycle waste and nutrient management as a co-equal, co-founding pillar. This inclusion is not a mere addition but a crucial corrective and extension, forging a truly resilient, regenerative, and just future for AGATA.

Thank you.

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Marcus Kowalski, I rise to strongly affirm the importance of Amendment 8, explicitly enshrining Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar of our AGATA Time Priorities Charter. Our 70-acre farm sits at a critical intersection—not only geographically at a highway junction but ecologically at the threshold of complex, decade-scale challenges such as invasive species and feral hog pressures that threaten our regenerative efforts. Embedding this pillar is not an abstract ideal but a practical necessity that aligns with the urgent realities shared by our ecology, farm, and community senators. This amendment grounds our collective commitment to stewardship in a concrete timescale, ensuring that our resilience and regeneration efforts are sustained over the long haul, complementing Education, Accessibility, and Community pillars. Beyond this, well-crafted ecosystem stewardship is intertwined with our cooperative values—strengthening our farm’s vitality and deepening local embededness while safeguarding our neighbors from spillover impacts. Let us not leave ecological stewardship to chance or temporary programs; explicit, binding commitment here will safeguard AGATA’s viability and mission for generations. I urge my colleagues to support Amendment 8 and solidify this indispensable pillar.

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Marcus Kowalski, with firsthand experience in how AGATA’s unique location at a highway junction shapes flows of goods and people, I wish to underscore a critical oversight in our current debate: while we have justifiably codified Accessibility alongside Resilience, Redundancy, Regeneration, Community, and Education, our shared Time Priorities Charter remains incomplete without fully enshrining Full-cycle Waste and Nutrient Management as a foundational pillar.

The agricultural and ecological health of our 70-acre farm cannot be sustained solely by broad principles of regeneration and ecological stewardship if we neglect the operational realities of managing waste flows and nutrient cycling with rigor and foresight. Our work intercepting flows on the roadside — be it fresh produce, compost, or repair materials — depends on closed-loop systems that honor the labor and knowledge embedded in waste transformation and nutrient return. This dimension of ecological labor directly impacts the health of our soil, the productivity of our seed bank, the vitality of our shelterbelts, and the quality of life for our neighbors, particularly those most vulnerable to exposure or marginalization.

I emphasize this now because many senators, including farm and ecology colleagues (notably Senator Soraya Haddad and Senator Dr. Júlia Costa), have articulated the indispensable role that full-cycle waste and nutrient management plays. It is not an optional addendum but a necessary pillar that ensures our regenerative practices endure beyond the next season. The tension between long-term stewardship and immediate operational needs demands explicit recognition in our Charter, ensuring that the commitments we legislate are actionable and measurable.

Moreover, integrating this pillar alongside Accessibility and Education enhances our community embeddedness by fostering transparent, accountable, and inclusive systems of ecological care. It respects the embodied emotional labor underscored by Senator Ella Jo Simmons and mirrors the cooperative values central to AGATA.

Therefore, I urge us all to support the forthcoming amendments that explicitly enshrine Full-cycle Waste and Nutrient Management as a core pillar. Without it, our time legislation risks remaining aspirational rather than transformative, leaving critical ecological and community needs unaddressed. Our commitment to resilience and regeneration must be comprehensive, and this pillar completes the foundation essential to the longevity of AGATA’s mission.

Colleagues, as Cooperative Senator Marcus Kowalski, I rise once more to affirm my strong support for Amendment 6. This amendment solidifies the core priority of Long-term Ecological Stewardship for AGATA’s 70-acre farm and cultural lab. From my vantage point at the crossroads of cooperative governance and regional logistics, I have seen how vital it is that our work not only sustains agricultural resilience but also preserves the ecological integrity that underpins our shared future. This explicit focus on decade-scale invasive species and feral animal management aligns directly with our responsibility to both our land and our neighbors. The long-term health of our farm systems, the stability of our community, and the viability of our cultural programming all hinge on this steadfast stewardship. I urge my fellow senators to stand with me in endorsing this foundational amendment that ensures the durability and vitality of AGATA’s mission for generations to come.

Colleagues, Senator Kowalski here once more. As we near the conclusion of our vote on Amendment 5, I want to emphasize how deeply the inclusion of Long-term Ecological Stewardship as a core pillar resonates with AGATA’s intersections with both our land and our neighbors. From my vantage at the crossroads where our farm and art collaborative meet bustling highways and freight routes, I witness firsthand the delicate balance between ecological care and community engagement. Embedding decade-scale commitments—like invasive species and feral hog management—are indispensable for ensuring AGATA’s sustainability beyond immediate seasons. This is not just about farm vitality but about sustaining accessible, educational, and culturally vibrant spaces that our neighbors rely on and cherish.

Furthermore, I urge the Senate to consider the complementary pillars many have raised: full-cycle waste and nutrient management. As a cooperative senator attentive to operational flow, I know that waste systems and nutrient recycling are the quiet infrastructure that turn resilience into lived reality. Without explicit recognition and prioritization, our regenerative ambitions risk being undermined by unseen breakdowns. We must guard against ecological debt that echoes in both our soils and community relations.

I commend the Senate’s broad support thus far and suggest that before we adjourn this vote, we prepare to integrate these complementary priorities—Long-term Ecological Stewardship paired with Full-cycle Waste and Nutrient Management—in our final charter. This integration aligns with AGATA’s mission to transform from a hidden gem at a highway junction into a vital, necessary stop that embodies ecological and social resilience for decades to come.