“The food farmers produce determines the health of the people”
As many of you know, Rick and I spent 3 days last week at the Sustainable Agriculture Forum, learning from Dr Arden Anderson (physician, agricultural consultant, author of Science in Agriculture, Real Medicine Real Health, Life and Energy in the Soil and more).
It was mind blowing. I’ve heard snippets of what Rick studies and implements on the farm here at Birdsong, but never delved right into it myself. When this conference came up, I knew it was time to get an education on soil health, because I need better understanding of this…and so do the people…the customers, the general public.
So, back to the title “The Hidden Physicians- Farmers.” We have such an allopathic view of health in the west. You get sick, and then you run to the doctor for a diagnosis and remedy. Some people will run to a naturopath or homeopath instead for the same…a diagnosis and remedy. And that’s ok, most of the time, but the real issue is why did you get sick in the first place? And do you think just taking some drug/supplement/remedy is going to fix everything? We’re a band-aid society, just wanting quick fixes to mask the symptoms we experience of deeper issues.
And the Agricultural industry has the same problem as a whole. Farmers are becoming increasingly powerless, as they fall into depending on chemical companies to tell them what seed to buy, what poisons to use to keep weeds away, what “supplements” to put out on their crops in order to make them grow and yield higher profits (so they think).
When illness hits, the real question is “why am I sick” rather than “what can I take to make me feel better?”
When a plant is ridden with insects, disease and failure to thrive, it’s not random. It’s not an accident. It’s a very clear sign to the gardeners and farmers that there’s a deficiency in the soil. Something is seriously lacking.
Insects do NOT have the same digestive system as humans and do NOT go seeking out food that is optimal human food. Most insects seek out free nitrogen (not joined to a carbon) and free amino acids. Simple nutrients. A plant that has failed to optimally photosynthesize, provides them with just this. If your crop has properly photosynthesized into complete proteins, insects just aren’t interested. The structure of your crop is too complex for their digestive system. If you are interested more in the way insects seek out suitable food for themselves, there’s a book “Tuning into Nature” which goes deeper into that. Insects antennae actually tune into signatures given off by plants as to whether those plants are suitable food for them or not. Ammonia in particular, gives off an amplifying signal to the bugs.
And weeds. A lot of you have probably heard weeds have a purpose. If your soil is lacking suitable nutrition for the crops you’re attempting to grow, the crops will suffer and the weeds will come in to “fix” the soil by sending deep tap roots to draw up deeper nutrients.
This is our paddock before the market garden went in. Virgin soil.
Same paddock, about a year later. Rick’s made soil amendments, put up 12% shade net, gives foliar sprays to the crops. It’s by no means “arrived” at perfection, but it’s come a LONG way!
Anyway, back to the fundamentals. Why are we sick? Why are you sick? I have a friend who gets headaches frequently, and she uses some natural remedies to heal them. It does take away the pain, but when I asked her “Have you looked into what’s causing them?” She said “No.” Like, if the remedy is working, people don’t seem to care what the cause is. But that headache or symptom is your body’s way of sending you a very clear message “something’s wrong in here!”
Your body, and everything else in this Universe, is made up of minerals and elements…all listed on the periodic table of elements. Your body does not create it’s own minerals however. You need to replenish them with food. But if your food is lacking these basic nutrients, your body will lack them too. Your body can put up with a lot of garbage…years and years of nutrient depletion, before it manifests a problem. A lot of people think they are healthy, when really they are just “pre-disease symptoms.”
Most people probably believe when they’re eating their veg that they’re getting the nutrients they need…but the majority of farms are not only failing to replenish their soil, they’re also using chemicals like glysophate which chelate whatever minerals were in the crop. Chelation is binding or inactivating. So for example, manganese is a mineral your body needs and should be in your food. But if that food also contains glysophate (which most of it does from the excessive spraying of crops with poisons) then the manganese is chelated by that gylsophate and oxidised and made unavailable to your body!
I’m going to try and keep blogging more info as time permits, but for now, just understand that sickness indicates a weakness and depletion in your body. And know that if you’re eating food containing glysophate (roundup), then you are being robbed. It will bind, inactivate and oxidise what little nutrients should have been available to your body.