“How Can We Help The Helpers?”
Activating the Macro & Micro Biomes
December 3, 2015
Written by: Max Gordon
A new wave of thinking is occurring. Janine Benyus said it best during her appearance at the “SXSW Eco 2015.” A crisis is occurring. Human health is suffering; we are no longer evolving but degenerating. Biodiversity is suffering. Each year, we lose about 20,000 species. Our world is in the heart of a great mass extinction. Let’s face the facts. But now that we see the whole picture, we can begin to heal, regenerate, and acknowledge the need to change our current paradigm.”
Janine discussed two main ideas: agriculture and the internal flora of the human digestive system.
The basis of agriculture is the soil. The soil is what is called the macro-biome. It’s home to insects, bacteria, protozoa, plants, fungi, mammals, reptilians, and amphibians. Our current model of agriculture is frankly destroying this web of life, the macro-biome. We know that agriculture is the foundation of food production. We’ll need its help more than ever due to a rise in the human population and an increase in adopting a Westernized lifestyle. We also need to look to agriculture as a mode of sequestering excess carbon in the atmosphere.
The basis of a human’s digestive system is similar to soil’s. In fact, there’s almost an exact replication, but on a smaller scale (microbiome). In fact, for every human cell in our bodies, there are ten non-human cells. These non-human cells (bacteria, fungus, protozoa) regulate our immune system and digestion and are beginning to be seen as the second brain.
So, what’s the point of this correlation? Well, Janine spoke on our new quest for medicine and agriculture. How can we help these helpers? It will require a biomimetic inquiry.
The inquiry begins on two fronts. First, we must look at healthy soil and see the processes occurring here. When we look at forests, prairies, and oceans, we see natural systems such as carbon sequestration, oxygen production, water production, wildlife habitat, and food protection (the list is endless and beautiful in its simplicity.) How can we replicate these models that produce no pollution and are self-sustaining? For the health of individuals, we must look to the actual displays of human health (hunter-gatherer populations.) They have a tremendous depth of knowledge, which, like our forests and oceans, are under threat.
Essentially, what is required is a new wave of thinking. We cannot fix our issues and global issues through the same model of thinking. Looking to the biological world for inspiration and mimicking is humanity’s only answer.
As we relearn that nature will always have the answers to our questions, we can start to appreciate, conserve, and fight for her existence and our survival. How do we help the helpers?