Regnerating Soil To Change Human Health

My best friend who lives in Italy and I have a pact - every decade we take a sabbatical - to travel, to meet new people, to experience life through different eyes.  To many it sounds indulgent, but for me it has been an essential part of continually widening my point of view and reinvigorating my zest for life.

The restriction of the covid era was challenging, and more than ever I felt the need to get off our beautiful little island and see what the rest of the world was up to.  So 2022 was a year of travel, firstly in South America, specifically Peru, then into the States.  

In the last few years, watching the exponential rise of chronic disease, I have become very passionate about the earth’s soils, and the destruction that is wrought by modern agriculture.  They say if we keep going along our current trajectory, we only have sixty years of harvests left, before we will have destroyed the soil beyond repair.  Sixty years.  That’s well within the lifetime of our babies.  

Moreover, the food we are growing today is making us sick.  Chemical and pesticide residue in our food is damaging our microbiome.  Affecting our digestion, our immune system and our nervous system, and greatly impacting our capacity to make a positive contribution to this world as we battle chronic disease that effects our wellbeing.

It can all feel a little hopeless at times.

Then I came across Dr Zach Bush.  A thought leader and visionary who  teaches about how we can turn around ecological and human health through regenerative agriculture.  As we regenerate our soils, restoring microbial diversity on the earth, we create food that restores our gut microbiome, regenerating human health.  Best of all, we don’t need to wait for someone to invent new technology or for major progressions in science, we know exactly the principles required to regenerate our agricultural systems, and there are divine humans all around the world who are on the bandwagon. Check out www.farmersfootprint.us for inspiring farmers who are changing the trajectory of our planet.

I now feel as though I have a dual mission.  Help humans reconnect to their blueprint of health, and help to regenerate the earth’s soils and biodiversity.  We are deeply connected to the earth.  While the earth is struggling, it is very difficult for us to thrive as a species, as human health and planetary health are deeply intertwined.

So as I travelled in the States I volunteered at a number of community gardens.  Looking to learn and connect with others who were similarly passionate.  I learnt so much!!! And in 2023 I was offered the opportunity to go back to the States and volunteer at a very special urban farm called LEAF, in the Bay Area near San Francisco.  

LEAF is an urban regenerative farm that grows food for local food banks, and educates the local community about growing, beekeeping, composting and sustainable living.  While there I taught regenerative agriculture practices, herbal medicine and mushroom farming, and had a ball being part of a little organisation doing inspiring work.

Check out www.fremontleaf.org or @fremontleaf on instagram.

Now I’m back in New Zealand, and I’m bringing all that passion back home.  I’m growing food and herbs and regenerating soil so our food becomes our medicine and our way of growing food becomes a medicine for the earth. 

The Benefits of Eating Seasonally

When you eat seasonally, you also tend to eat locally grown food. Both factors have a huge impact on the nutrient content of food.

• Food that is picked seasonally is more likely to stay on the tree until it is ripe. That way it reaches its full nutrient potential. And that's why just-picked produce tastes so good.

• The longer the time between picking and eating, the fewer nutrients are left. Refrigeration and storage all increase the lifespan of produce, but as soon as it's harvested it begins losing its life force and nutritional value.

• Eating seasonally means the food is more likely to be grown conventionally, within the natural life cycles. It's likely to have fewer pesticides, fertilizers and sprays to make it grow. All of these chemicals decrease the nutrient value of our food and we need more vitamins and minerals to deal with them.

• Modern transport and food preserving techniques are new. Our bodies are made to eat different foods in different seasons. For instance, in summer many fruits are ripe. These are cleansing and cooling, and help us to deal with hotter temperatures. In winter many of the root vegetables are in season. These are warming and building, and help protect us from winter cold. Staying within natural life cycles makes sense to our body.

• Seasonal foods are cheaper. They're grown locally and usually in plentiful supply. It's not often that the better option is less expensive!

The Tricks:

• Buy fresh produce regularly, not just in your fortnightly shop.

• Only choose produce that is grown in NZ, or as close to home as possible.

• Choose fruits and veges that are in season. You'll know this by the greater availability of the product, its relative cost and its taste.

• Buy organically if you can. Organic foods are always seasonal as they are spray-free and are not plied with chemicals to help them survive out of season. They are easiest to find at your local farmers market. The benefit is that they will have been picked the day before and so will be much fresher than what you typically get in the supermarket, and therefore packed full of taste and nutrients.