In a city like Bangalore, that was known for its green cover, with absolutely no regard trees have been chopped down to make way for flyovers and apartment complexes. In the 2 decades that I have known this city, there are apartments as far as the eye can see. I didn’t even have any control over the life of a tree in my backyard because it is heavily depended upon the quality of soil, air and water surrounding it.
As serendipity would have it, my quest led to Beforest. A company that seemed to have struck a balance between protecting the forests and creating a sustainable livelihood around it.
Every day has been a learning experience since. The concept and possibility of a Food Forest have been a revelation. While we have all studied biology and botany to some extent, it is only now that I have begun to appreciate the critical relationships between flora and fauna, the value of maintaining natural systems that have evolved over millions of years and how important it is to protect every small link in the chain. The enormity and complexity of nature has left me humbled. The fantastic Mycorrhizal network is my personal favorite.
I have had the opportunity of meeting individuals striving to make a difference in how humans perceive and interact with the natural world. We hope to organize events where our members and fellow agriculturists will be able to gain some wisdom from them too. I have also started curating a list of great minds in the field who I can follow over podcasts and social media to keep learning and stay inspired.
Food Forests are the need of the hour. It is my sincere hope that we are able to inspire farming communities along the way to adopt regenerative farming methods so we can all thrive together.
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