Connecting people to soil: The role of food landscape networks in promoting improved care of the soil resource

Abstract

While many people understand the connection between soil and human health through the conduit of food in terms of nutrient supply and growth of crops, the connection back to the soil is not as strong. There is a growing disconnect between people and the soil and this disconnect is more noticeable in urban populations. If people can see the positive health benefits of the connection between food and soil and hence the benefits of caring for soil, then they are more likely to manage and understand the soil resource in a better way (Brevik et al, 2018). Recently, there has been a noticeable momentum building in Aotearoa New Zealand around the potential for more ’holistic’ farm systems; and central to this is enhancing food and environmental quality through enhancing soil health. “Te Mahi Oneone Hua Parakore” perspectives on Māori soil sovereignty and wellbeing (Hutchings and Smith, 2020), outlines that a paradigm shift is needed to encourage care for the soil resource. In te ao Māori, soil is part of a wider whakapapa that connects in this context: whenua, takata whenua and mahika kai to hauora. Our research posits that there are 7 factors that influence Food-Landscape Networks. We use mahika kai and terroir frameworks, plus conceptual frameworks of soil health and well-being to inform ways to reconnect people with the soil. Our specific research question is how does a better understanding of Food-Landscape Networks enable soil-food-human connections to be understood and potentially enhanced?