The soil revolution

For lovers of soil life, we want to mark the passing of Dr. Elaine Ingham — founder of the Soil Food Web School and pioneering soil microbiologist. She contributed so much to soil science, and in the end, gave her body back to the life of the soil.

For those who want to explore her work, the Soil Food Web School offers a wealth of free resources, including their foundational webinar series: Soil Food Web Foundation.

Dr. Ingham understood the importance of the web of life — the complex microbial interactions beneath our feet, and how these are the true source of life on the land. The science she popularised is the foundation of a healthy food system, and ultimately, of the food we eat.

Like all great pioneers of the organic movement, Dr. Ingham didn't stop at the science. She understood that knowledge only becomes useful when we see it as part of a greater whole — one that includes power structures, exploitation, social injustice, and the way food is traded and moves around the world.

The legendary seed activist and scientist Dr. Vandana Shiva was a lifelong friend and collaborator. Through her work on biodiversity and seed saving in India, Dr. Shiva helps place the Soil Food Web School's work in the context of global politics. Her words are simple and clear: "Food cannot be a commodity."

And yet, the products of agriculture are traded globally as commodities every day. Monocultural, industrialised farming transforms what should support local communities and ecosystems into instruments of global commodity trading — managed by large multinationals and traded on money markets. This system concentrates wealth and power in the hands of a few. Small-scale farming does the opposite: it redistributes the bounty of the soil to feed local communities and ecosystems.

Put simply: commodity agriculture trades in extraction and decay. Small-scale farming feeds life.

This is, of course, a simplification. To understand the detail and the nuance, we need to set out on a journey of re-education — learning how the biology of the soil, and the way we manage it, connects to the geopolitical systems we are all part of.

We recommend diving deep into the work of both Elaine Ingham and Vandana Shiva — two powerful women, not because of any ability to dominate, but because of their extraordinary ability to educate.