“Human health and civilization depend on flourishing natural systems and the wise stewardship of those natural systems.”

Simon Hill, The Proof is in the Plants

Reflections

I’ve always had an interest in human health and have spent the better part of the last two decades learning how to promote lifelong health and well-being, specifically through diet. Recently, Simon Hill’s book, The Proof is in the Plants, opened my eyes to the link between our health and that of the planet — a concept he refers to as planetary health. 

In his book, Simon states: 

“Human health and civilization depend on flourishing natural systems and the wise stewardship of those natural systems. The problem is, we humans haven’t been the greatest stewards. By almost all measures, human progress in the past century or so has been formidable. At a global level, we are living longer than ever before, rates of poverty have steadily declined, and more of the world has access to education than at any point in history.

In the process, however, we have collectively abused our planet and its resources. We have emitted reckless amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into our atmosphere, poisoned our waterways, degraded soils, and cleared old-growth forests and their fauna to make space for our cities, industries, and agriculture. This has led to the current climate crisis and the unquestionable abnormalities we are witnessing in catastrophic weather events, rising air and ocean temperatures, and widespread melting of snow and ice, leading to rising sea levels. And while this crisis is by no means just about the food we eat, our agricultural system is a significant contributor.”

He then poses the question, “What good is a healthy diet if we cannot survive on a planet threatened by climate change?” He goes on to say, “We simply cannot be healthy without the planet on which we are dependent also being healthy.”

Many thoughts on these ideas are swirling around in my mind. Eventually, they’ll take shape, and an interesting reflection will come together. What’s worth saying will eventually be said. Stay tuned. . .