A Farming Revolution Begins with One Straw
In the 1940’s, a Japanese agricultural scientist named Masanobu Fukuoka
developed a system of farming, based not on advances in the science which he was trained, but on the seemingly backward process of removing human and scientific intervention.
Don’t call it “conventional” farming;
Don’t call it “organic” farming;
Not even “permaculture” can aptly describe the system that Fukuoka is known for.
His master plan was simple: to allow himself to exist and produce food simply, working in harmony with nature instead of against it. As written in his book “The One Straw Revolution,” Fukuoka's way way
of Natural Farming comes off as more of a philosophy than a farming methodology.
Although Fukuoka passed away in 2008 at the age of 95, his philosophy of Natural Farming lives on. His “Natural Farming” movement has spawned countless books, research projects, and a slew of international
recognition, yet many are still unaware of his successes to this day.
Fifty Years of Natural Farming
Over the past half-century, Fukuoka, and his present-day disciples in Japan, Korea, the United States and elsewhere, have won
respect and admiration from the global farming community, proving that Natural Farming can be simpler, cheaper, healthier, and in most cases, more productive than modern chemical-based farming.
But in moving people towards small, community-based farming of regional foods, Natural Farming has an obvious uphill battle to wage in terms of global adoption.
Spreading A Good Idea, Naturally
The majority of current day consumers and producers know little of the natural farming model, and the
global team at sociecityis ready to change that.
We have already spent much time conversing with Fukuoka’s disciples in the mountains of South Korea, and here in the U.S. and now we are heading to Japan and Korea to stay with and interview the core group
of farmers who have dedicated their lives to the Natural Farming philosophy.
Funding the Project
We have already raised the first $5,000 of funding – which has gone towards equipment and airfare – mostly through our own personal donations to the project.
Thanks to sociecity's international team of volunteers, our support, translation, and interpretation teams are all local to their own countries. The cost of lodging has also been nearly eliminated by our
arranging to stay on the farms, or with our local production teams in Tokyo and Seoul while traveling.
