All life depends on food. It is that commonality that connects diverse species and is the basis for a relationship with our environment. From the microorganisms in the soil food web like the mycorrhizal fungi that exchange nutrients with plant roots to the woke gourmand at Chez Panisse ordering roasted, pasture chicken and local organic greens, all species depend on the cooperative interactions of the web of life to eat.
For those of us inspired by indigenous wisdom, biomimicry and regeneration, we understand that food and agricultural are the biological, cultural and commercial nexus at the center of many important issues that touch people’s lives day-after-day — and the health of the biosphere we all live within.
How many of us, who are fortunate enough to have three meals daily, are mindful of all that it takes to get food to our plates? As we nourish our bodies, do we slow down enough to feel a sense of gratitude, kinship and responsibility to those who work in the fields, to the land where it is grown, and to the seeds and stocks that support our vitality?
Food Web, our newest Bioneers newsletter, will share the stories, explore the issues and celebrate the people whose work builds local food systems that serve people and embed ecological stewardship into agricultural practices. The diverse stories of food culturally and spiritually nurture our identity as humans and inspire the quest for food sovereignty — the right to define, design and determine how our food system will serve nature, individuals and the community. Food sovereignty is a grassroots movement that is taking power back from an industrial system that sickens people and damages ecosystems. This democratic, locally-adapted movement is building a food system that is fair, healthy and regenerative.
Sign up for the Food Web newsletter and learn more about how a transformed food system can be a source of community wealth, creative culture, and individual health, as well as a way to fulfill our sacred calling as humans for environmental stewardship.
And please let me know what topics and people you would like to see covered in the Food Web.
Sincerely,
Arty Mangan
Bioneers Director — Restorative Food Systems
