Azienda Agricola Iside, Italy
Creating ecosystems and healing the land one bite at a time
The term "regenerative" is gaining attention lately. However, it's more than just a marketing phrase or a way to distinguish products. Regenerative goes beyond that – it involves a deliberate commitment to obtaining ingredients from farms that prioritize practices fostering the regeneration of land and soil health. And what human nutrition has to do with the health of the soils? Everything!
What is healthy soil?
Healthy soil means a soil that is balanced in minerals and biologically active (teeming with bacteria, fungi, algae, protozoa, nematodes, and other tiny creatures). Those soil organisms play an important role in plant health, producing natural antibiotics that help plants resist disease and assisting plants in absorbing water and nutrients.
You are what what you eat eats
Nutrients are chemical elements all plants and animals require for growth. There are 118 elements in the periodic table and we need them all and in a balanced form in our soils. Plant growth and development largely depend on the combination and concentration of mineral nutrients available in the soil. If key plant nutrients are missing or out of proportion then the food it produces cannot be nutrient-dense.
Know your farmer
Most likely, big scale or conventional farmers don't care about the health of their soil or the nutrient density of the foods they are producing. But there are some small and passionate farmers that do! What might it look like to connect with the person who grows or raises your food? A big part of why it’s important to know where your food comes from is knowing the conditions that your food is grown in and also knowing that your food is coming from the local. It’s going to be more nutritious if it’s got a shorter way to travel to get to you. And you don't need any certification, you certify yourself!