“An understanding of nature lies beyond the reach of human intelligence. It is perfect…”
-Masanobu Fukuoka
Famed philosopher and a mentor of mine, Dr. Reggie Gold talked often about a farmer who changed the world by turning back to a trust in God, nature, and the ability of the universe to bring itself continuously back into balance. This, with the subsequent warning that if you punch the universe in the face, it will punch back MUCH harder; God will not be mocked.
Plant pathologist turned farmer, Masanobu Fukuoka, became famous for his revolutionary approach to farming. He saw perfection in nature and believed that to maximize the quality of the soil, the quality of the food, and the quantity that a farm could produce per acre, farming practices had to be changed to align themselves with nature – and not to oppose them as modern farming practices had done.
Where modern agricultural practice asks the question, “What if we try this or add that, the One Straw Revolution asked the question, “What if we didn’t?”
Typically, farmers are continuing to add new technologies, chemicals, genetically modified seed, soil treatments, and pesticides. Masanobu, on the other hand, looked away from these types of practices and towards nature. He did not cultivate, as nature doesn’t plow. He did not use fertilizers or any prepared compost, there was no weeding by tilling or the use of herbicides and no pesticides. In fact, weeds and all types of insects were welcomed. This type of farming has no dependency on chemicals. His farm was the only one that grew rice without flooding the field. If it wasn’t part of the flow nature, then he removed or avoided the process.
The results of this revolution were both shocking and spectacular. The surrounding farms had soil that suffered from the kind of nutrient depletion and damage that occurs over time with conventional practices. On the contrary, the natural farming approach improved soil structure, increased fertility, and resulted in the gain and not the loss of important organic matter and water retention.
As this organic agricultural pioneer discovered, if you let the wisdom of nature take its course, the weeds become part of the endemic soil enrichment process and by having all of the bugs, they balance each other out and many of them play an important role in the pruning process required in order to experience the most abundant harvest possible.
The farming community believed that Masanobu was careless, incompetent, destroying good farmland, and likely to fail miserably; he was an “Anti-pesticider.” Yet again, the revolution was an impressive success. He was able to grow as much or more crop per acre than the neighboring farms, with far less effort, and at a fraction of the cost.
The moral of the story is clear; the elements of nature follow specific, natural laws. If you adhere to them, the growth of life ultimately flourishes.
If you eliminate the ozone layer, the rain forest, pollute the ocean, and warm the climate, mankind and all their ways will die. However, if you eliminate the ways of mankind, the ozone starts to heal, the rain forest starts to grow, the ocean starts to re-stabilize, and the globe stops warming. Thus, it is not really that nature needs our help, the components of nature just need us to stop interfering. Support it and don’t distort it and even when there are challenges short term, you maximize the benefits in perpetuity.
Where Masanobu Fukuoka needed a revolution away from modern agricultural practices in order to thrive amongst the trolls and challenges of neighboring farms, we need a health revolution if we desire to rise above what the other people of the world struggle with today. As Mr. Fukuoka said, “To the extent that people are separated from nature, they spin further and further from the center.”
YOUR BODY IS A MICROCOSM OF NATURE
Your body is a microcosm of the world you live in – it’s a mini version of nature. Inside of you is a universe apart. Natural health care, whole foods, organic diets, toxin-free personal care products, and going green are all popular because cooperating with nature makes common sense. (Although there is nothing common about common sense).
Trust the body you have been given, take care of it, don’t interfere with it, and build health so you do not have to worry about fighting disease….
Dr. Ben
