Wellbeing: The value of soil

Satish Kumar

16 September 2013

Guest blog: Satish Kumar, Editor-in-chief of Resurgence & Ecologist magazine, previews his talk at Resurgence Trust's Festival of Wellbeing.

We need to embrace an inclusive and holistic concept of wellbeing.

This is something Resurgence & Ecologist will be addressing in its second Festival of Wellbeing, in London on 12 October.

Speakers include former Friends of the Earth Executive Director Tony Juniper, environmental activists Vandana Shiva and Tamsin Omond, gardening expert Alys Fowler, and the former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

Wellbeing and bioproductivity are linked.

Soil is the source of all life, literally and metaphorically. It represents nature and sustains the entire life-system. Everything comes from the soil and returns to the soil. Food, which sustains life, comes from the soil. Water is held by the soil.

Without it, there is no food and without food there is no life, no trees, no forests, no animals, no people.

When I give my talks, I often refer to how Friends of the Earth is such a wonderful title for an organisation. We all need to be a friend to the Earth. The Earth is a true friend of ours and we need to learn from it. 

Sadly, soil is often devalued. It is seen as dirt, rather than the source of life. Nature is alive and if we humans continue to destroy it, we are doing nothing more than destroying ourselves. This is certainly not wellbeing.

We need to be as compassionate to nature as it is to us. Only when we have reverence for the earth, will we achieve true sustainability.

Satish Kumar will be speaking on Soil, Soul, Society at the Festival of Wellbeing on 12 October 2013 at the Bishopsgate Institute, London. For information please phone 01237 441293 or visit www.resurgence.org/wellbeing.

Satish's latest book, Soil, Soul, Society is published by Leaping Hare Press, £16.99.