2015 Natural Farming Symposium: Day 3

In Search of Balance explores a new paradigm of health, science and medicine that recognizes the importance of the interconnections between us, the food we consume, how we produce that food and the natural world at large, including the mysterious, invisible world of the human microbiome.

At a genetic level, humans are literally connected to the rest of the natural world through our DNA. But today’s highly processed foods, pesticide based monoculture farming methods, increasing urbanization, obsession with technology and destruction of the natural environment distance us further and further from the world we coevolved with. We are out of balance with nature and the reductionist philosophy of modern western medicine, once immensely powerful, seems inadequate to answer today’s challenges.

The explosive growth of technology is driving profound changes in every aspect of human civilization. The benefits of our new found electronic interconnectivity are incalculable. But modernization seems to come with a price tag, especially when it comes to our health. Could the tsunami of chronic and autoimmune diseases that modern societies face be related to our increasing disconnection from nature?

Maybe it is time to look at our health problems from a new perspective, one based on an understanding of how our health and ultimately our destiny as a species are inextricably intertwined with the natural world. In Search of Balance explores a vision of health, science and nature that recognizes the importance of the interconnections between us, the food we consume, how we produce that food and the natural world at large including the mysterious, invisible world of the human microbiome.  From the islands of Hawaii to rural villages of Italy, physician, author and ‘health explorer’, Dr. Daphne Miller guides us through conversations with scientists, doctors, farmers and personal stories of healing to uncover the myriad ways we are connected to everything around us.