1. Returning to the earth is to remember our natural balance

At Tajima-san’s farm, the plants are allowed to develop naturally. All plants and creatures living on the farm follow their natural course: trees are not pruned and plants are not watered. The garden is a green carpet of wild plants and various types of vegetables. The balance of nature in the crops its evident at a glance. Different colors, animals, plants, and organisms in the soils living in harmony and producing enough food for all the creatures that live there. The diversity of these crops would not be possible without Tajima-san’s trust in the natural balance of all things. He intervenes minimally when tending the crops, and nature just balances itself. Tajima-san does not always sell the food he harvests from his farm. He and his family consume most of what they grow. The rest, they leave as food for the soil, animals, and plants. According to Tajima-san, humans should not extract everything that nature gives us. If we do, it produces an imbalance in the symbiosis of beings. Natural farming requires going against what we humans have been doing historically, such as taking control of everything, like food. It means shedding our extractivist mentality, that fosters the maximization of production at the cost of exploitation of others and ourselves.

2. Returning to the earth is to return to interconnection

Scientific knowledge has been responsible for dissociating us from natural systems, and creating the illusion that gaining expertise is equal to obtaining pure knowledge. Fukuoka taught that nature is an interconnected system. An object that is studied separately from the rest is not a real thing. For example, an arachnid scientist wants to understand the role of a particular spider that damages rice crops but to study only that without considering the rest of the environment is impossible. A single spider's impact and role will always be specific to the garden in which it is found and the creatures that live there. Experts cannot understand the role of a predator on a farm at a certain time without taking into account the intricate relationship between insects, climate, soil, and plants. What I saw on the farm has led me to believe that natural farming means returning to the collective. I saw the farmers working the land together, sharing community tips for improving the natural farming process, and families and farmers eating together with the food they have harvested. Everybody who was involved in natural farming was fundamental to the harmony of the community. Just like we see in nature where all the beings play a different and important role for preserving balance, it also happens in systems of social organization. Humans are part of a living network of different beings, in which each playing a key role in maintaining the balance of the collective. What connects the network as a whole is living in difference and diversity. 

3. Seeds of life and resistance in midst of a crisis 

While walking on Tajima-san’s farm, I learn that he had planted hybrid F1 seeds. When I asked him about them, Tajima-san told me that he cultivated these seeds so that nature could clean them. He plants the seeds, lets the plant grow to that point that it produces new seeds, and then replants them. Tajima-san’s task of purifying the seeds is a physical recognition of the sanctity of life. It represents a light for us and for future generations. Humans like him are resisting violence and exploitation, and are defending life as a whole, without exceptions. And this is the call that nature makes to all of us to also resist, to return to the center, to remember where we came from and why, to be well, to be peaceful, and to project those things around us.

For me, this visit to Tochigi was deeply inspiring. I am so grateful for my opportunity to visit Tajima-san’s farm, and for all the things I learned and will continue to learn. The experience nourished my spirit and filled me with fire to continue my work of unlearning what I have learned: to decolonize my mind and see beyond a dual, linear, and capitalistic bias; to live in the spiral that interconnects us, which spins from my interior and projects towards everything that surrounds me; to walk back to the origin and find my own meaning of peace.

For those of you reading this story, I would encourage you to get in touch with where your food comes from. This is a great way to start reconnecting with nature. Taking the time to share food with friends and family is a good way to reconnect with each other. Cooking at home with natural products is one step towards resisting the exploitation of nature. And if you happen to meet someone who thinks differently from you, take the opportunity to experience the difference in a positive way. The more we face difference, the greater the chance to transform ourselves. In the end, it is through difference that we confront with who we are and our ways of understanding life.