When it comes to ecologically produced food, to sustainable agriculture, to farmers welfare; there is no diverse person that can tackle and better discuss these matters, than Tammi Jonas.
Tammi has been farming for about 10 years, and recently started a Ph.D. around the agroecological transition. Hopefully, soon in biodiverse and decolonizing practices of farmers. She’s also the President of the Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, working for everybody’s right to democratically determine our own food and agricultural system which makes her prominent and overhanging.
Her willingness to participate and act, led her to establish a community-supported agricultural farm (CSA) which includes 80-household members. Over the years, they held a lot of workshops to teach people the basics of butchery, meat literacy, agriculture, and food sovereignty. Tammi considers it as a genuine community vibe where they are looking after each other in many ways.
What I admire the most about Tammi is that she encourages everyone to join various organizations for she believes that representing our own views to the government can make things change. That is a great move so far for our voices could be heard, and actions will follow if taken seriously.
Her history in urban farming had a great impact on her, so she takes it seriously on how important it is for people to get their hands dirty to create positive actions that can decrease the rates of mental health issues in a fast-paced society, even with all these lockdowns. She believes that you can have all the opportunities to have put your hands in soil grounding ourselves and be one with nature.
She always believes on how and by whom the food is produced which determines the health of our entire planet, let alone ourselves.
Tammi then added considering that when we think about the ground it’s not just the surface of the ground up. You must relate to what’s underneath in many ways that can be quite hard until you’re living a very grounded life. Getting to know what’s underneath the surface of the ground is just as important as what’s above it.
For Her, the idea of regenerating something means to bring life back into it. Regenerating soil, according to her, means bringing back as much of its life and of its diversity as you possibly can that it wants to express. In return, it will repay us with an abundance of healthy life on earth.
So, the next time you eat, remember what Tammi has to say ‘’when you eat you are relating to many things that land is the law and it tells us everything, and what we relate to comes from that relationship with soil. We really need to value what’s underneath that soil and how important it is for us to nurture it instead of destroying it”.
This brings about a great sense of responsibility and dedication in us, For If We Learn to Value and Understand How All of Us Are Connected, then We Can Have a Vision of a Better Healthy Life ahead of Us.
Let’s not forget, WE ARE WHAT WE EAT!
Listen to the SECRETS OF THE SOIL podcast episode 10 below as Tammi talks about Understanding Agroecology & The Ground Up Approach to Food Sovereignty.