Studying macrobiotics my first awakening was around food – we can choose a healthy plant-based diet! Having grown up with the mantra that meat is essential, this was quite a revelation. 

We can largely control what we eat. It is also necessary to practice sensible lifestyle choices and to reveal an inner capacity to embrace and transform perennial external influences, which are not so under our control – diet is more than food, it embraces everything we hear, see, smell, eat and receive from the cosmos! 

A second awakening was about how we grow and distribute food, with attention to ecological, human, and planetary health. These awakenings revealed something crucial: that we need to connect more with each other to live in a more unified way, where people and communities have more autonomy and agency over the decisions they make. 

Regenerative farming and agroecology (see Nurturing Nature to Feed Ourselves) have emerged as an agricultural counterpart to my personal transformation – a way to heal the land while building community, resilience and food sovereignty. 

Macrobiotics also introduced us a modern play on ancient wisdoms and the whole adventure of ‘eastern’ philosophy and practice some of which I have incorporated into these paragraphs. 

Reading an engaging book by Satish Kumar, ‘You Are, Therefore I Am’, the big take away for me was, Head, Hands, and Heart. In this ‘Age of Separation’ – it’s helpful to appreciate the simultaneous dance of intellect, doing and feeling. 

 In the world of ‘wellness’ there are countless paths for a happier, healthier life, but still the unexpected occurs. We must learn to develop self-education and encourage solutions from within.   

Regenerative farming: Real Practice beyond Marketing.  

Politics, and grant systems have forced farmers down a more unilateral path focussed on yield per acre. Thus seasonal, local, toxin-free food is still not readily available and, for many, difficult to afford. “Regenerative” is becoming a popular farming practice and, inevitably, a marketing tool. Groundswell, the annual regenerative farming gathering, has grown into a very large event.   

There is no single formal definition, however the principle of regenerative farming is to bring the soil back to life – and keep it alive. ‘Conventional’ farming has bought us fragile monocultures and compacted soils which have endured more than 70 years of toxic assault from synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides.  

In nature, soil is rarely bare, so herbal leys and cover crops are used to protect and nourish the soil. Biodiversity increases, moisture is held in the ground, and the organic content of the soil steadily rises.  As documented in the films Common Ground and Six Inches of Soil, many farmers – at horticultural and field-scale – are now working regeneratively. They are saving enormous amounts of money by avoiding chemical inputs, achieving higher yields, and starting to make a decent living. However, there is always a transition period.    

Regenerative practices generally include minimum ploughing or ‘no till’  in order to let the earthworms, fungi and micro-organisms create and maintain .’a labyrinth of microscopic air pockets surrounded by aggregates of soil particles’.  

Without ploughing and chemicals weed control takes time and practice, there is no formulaic answer, every field, microclimate and available resources are unique.  

Agribusiness, recommends using glyphosate as standard in regenerative systems. However as the soil improves and systems develop this is demonstrably not necessary.   

The debate around the herbicide glyphosate ( formerly known as Roundup)  is enormous. Producers claim it is safe, while plenty of evidence suggests otherwise. Most adults and children have traces of it in their bodies. Similar tactics are being employed as those once used by the tobacco industry. It took 25 years for the harms of tobacco to be ‘accepted’, how long will it take for the truth about glyphosate to settle?  

Biodynamic farming, organic farming, permaculture, agroecology, and agroforestry are all effectively regenerative, but cannot or do not embed synthetic chemicals into their systems. So when you see the word regenerative being used, please take time to investigate.  

Unilateral Peril – Multilateral Protection  

Everything is multidimensional and ephemeral. A unilateral viewpoint is dangerous when it tramples over the threads of reality with cleverly constructed words. Anything constructed with words can also be deconstructed by them. Theory and ideology need practical application. We must see with the heart as well as the head.  

Head, hands, and heart exist simultaneously in ever-shifting proportions – amplifying, diminishing, stabilizing. To live only in the head – intellectually, ideologically, analytically – is to detach and reduce ourselves. A more unified way of living brings equilibrium and invites serendipity.  

In Brazil there is an ancient saying: “you see the face but you don’t see the heart.” , you see the external but not the internal, but reality is micro-macro dynamic!   

Farming is a profound human activity, though it has become heavily technological, increasingly chemical, and ever more depopulated. Yet, a properly funded transition back to natural, ecological, regenerative practices transforms everything: national health, clean water, biodiversity, vibrant living soil, community, nutrient-dense vibrant food, and shorter, more traceable supply chains. Through this, we can become more whole.   

In a nutshell, whilst it is essential to focus on detail at times, a non-integrated reality leads to linear solutions for non-linear problems and they just don’t work for long!  

Discovering the Lever  

Using yin and yang, it becomes easy to see opposites. We can train to perceive them as the principal and complementary sides of a dynamic lever. Consider this:-   

• Self-education     formal education.   
• Principle              technique   
• Necessity            desire   
• Adaptation          mitigation  

Nothing is still; these elements coexist. Each situation invites us to discover the disproportion that works. In applying the leverage we can discover, mobilise, and refine in a multidimensional way. If we invert the lever, we end up using maximum effort for minimal result. But when we perceive what is primary and what is complementary, we can apply our leverage in a more useful way.  

Use Everything  

United in a vibrational world, we also need to embrace the void and let instinct speak!! Surrounded by so much compelling and contradictory information, this is the perfect moment to trust our instincts: choose a direction, make a decision, and if it’s a mistake, learn from it. It’s free – and in that sense, nothing is really a mistake.  

Everything exists, and everything is useful to those who know how to use it. Everything that happens has happened before. We all get sick, unhappy, and disturbed. But when we understand the paradoxical nature of life, we don’t need to be despondent. Sickness can strengthen health. Chaos pushes us to seek order. Clutter can be cleared. And resolving difficulties is what develops us.  

Walking the Talk: Building Autonomy  

It’s up to us to seek out naturally grown produce and products, and grow some of our own food if we can!   

Supermarkets are an easy trap. Farmers have been led into a trap too – dependent on expensive machinery, chemical inputs, and global commodity markets. Let’s help them return to the old ways, which can indeed feed the world. Rachel Carson warned us in the 1960s in her book Silent Spring. We have been distracted too long!!  

We’ve adopted degenerative habits, but that’s okay. We are waking up - ”fatal degenerative easiness” or “vital regenerative difficulty“! Many people and groups understand. And for sure the transition to authentic regenerative farming with its’ multiple manifestations is difficult.   

I am fortunate to volunteer at a local market garden; next year, the landowners will build a café, farm shop and meeting place where co-workers will cook the regenerative, agroecological food we grow. This is the work – hands in the soil, building real connections, creating the autonomy we need.  

Let’s have fun!  

With gratitude and respect to all farmers and growers, working in good faith, the agrochemical industry have led most into a dependency now we need to help them out of it!     

For reference  

• Designing Regenerative Food Systems – And why we need them now by
  Marina O’connel  www.apricotcentre.co.uk  
• Oxford Real Farming Conference . Online or in person 8-9 Jan 2026 
  www.orfc.org.uk  
• Groundswell (Annual Regenerative agriculture festival)  
  www.groundswelag.com  

Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, by John Kempf 
Also with thanks to Tomio Kikuchi – 1926 – 2019 ( Sao Paulo, Brazil )