What is health, and what promotes resilience and stamina in people?
There is a lot of evidence that cooperative, interested, and caring interaction — with the earth, with animals and plants, and among people — plays an essential role in health and resilience. How this works is shown by food systems that serve health, and where quality and appreciative interest are in the foreground — from cultivation to processing and trade, and on to the meal. In the Camphill village community in Lehenhof, such an approach has been cultivated. By means of questionnaires and in-depth interviews, the emergence of the typical and unique Lehenhof quality was investigated: Agriculture, gardening, processing in the cheese dairy and bakery, as well as food preparation in households, were included. In addition, workshops served to explore and promote awareness of life at Lehenhof, especially food quality. All in all, the care of ‹interpersonal relations›, mood, and attitude, is what makes Lehenhof special. For the residents, this means well-being, security, home, and future. Thus, the ‹Lehenhof nutrition system› can serve as an example and inspiration for the development of other future-oriented food systems.
To the full report Sektion für Landwirtschaft
Translation Eliza Rozeboom
Image Field work on the Lehenhof. Photo: Lehenhof
It is unfortunate that the Lehenhof report is not available in English.