Eat Well, Live Well: Organic Farming

The close of one year and the beginning of another often sees many of us setting New Year resolutions to better ourselves and the world around us. However, unreachable goals and unrealistic expectations cause so many to go uncompleted every year and, with the year we’ve just had, we don’t need resolutions letting us down too!

At Soil and Sea, we believe that small changes can make a big difference to the kind of life we live. It’s no secret that we’re big supporters of food being the source of life’s enjoyment – we aren’t joking when we say enjoy food, enjoy life.

With this in mind, we’ve complied a few simple changes you can make to your daily lifestyle to benefit both yourself and your surroundings this New Year. Our Eat Well, Live Well four-part blog series continues with the environmental benefits of supporting organic farming and shopping sustainable food.

From the Ground Up

In our last blogpost introducing our Eat Well, Live Well campaign, we talked about the benefits of switching to organic food on human health… and there were quite a few! However, it didn’t stop there as we also hinted towards supporting organic farming to help better the environment, starting from the ground up.

In our previous post, we explained that organic farming methods avoid the use of artificial fertilisers, improving the nutritious value of products grown organically. Not only does this reduce the need for fossil fuels but it also helps to build naturally fertile soils, and with nutritious soil comes nutritious produce – makes sense, right?

On our farm we use organic compost to feed our soil, allowing only the good stuff to be used on what we see as a vital investment into our future. The earth is non-renewable, meaning when it’s gone, it’s gone, making the preservation of the ground one of the top priorities for organic farmers. Organic farming methods help to improve the natural humus (not to be confused with the chickpea variety) of the ground, which helps to ‘glue’ the soil together and hence boosting fertility. One way we work to improve this is through our closed loop sustainability system, in which we use organic waste as natural compost. We aren’t fans of food waste, so we put any un-loved produce and manure to good use as healthy, organic soil allows for the surrounding wildlife to flourish.

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, healthy soils go one step further. In addition to aiding the natural microenvironment, fertile soils also begin to draw CO2 out of the atmosphere in what is known as carbon sequestration. Such soils can also hold carbon dioxide within and store it there long-term and with this, organic farming actively begins to reverse the negative environmental impact. Although you may be on a post-Christmas Netflix detox, if you want to know more about this form of regenerative agriculture, we suggest watching the documentary Kiss the Ground.

Birds, Bees and Everything In-between

From the ground to the sky, treating soils with TLC encourages all kinds of surrounding wildlife to thrive. Evidence shows plant, insect and bird life is 50% more abundant on organic farms and supports 75% more wild bees. A whole, healthy native biodiversity means we can employ more sustainable farming methods to continue the fight against climate change. For example, our friendly and inquisitive Aberdeen Angus cattle take part in a rotational grazing system in which the livestock are moved to other areas of the fields. This allows the ground to breathe and recover as well as curbing some of the cattle’s curiosity – they are never in one place for too long!

This system combines beautifully with the growth of cover crops. These are plants grown specifically to cover the soil, not for harvesting. This again helps with soil erosion and fertility – and not to mention creates delicious grub for our grazing cattle (find out more about grass-fed benefits in the next post!).

By signing up for an organic delivery or paying a visit to an organic shop, even just a few times a month, means you’re not only making positive contributions to the health of your family but also to the planet. Supporting organic farmers allows them to continue with regenerative farming methods for a more sustainable future.