Terrabiom was invited by Soil to Soul to represent soil health at the Soil Food market from 16-17.09.2022 on the inviting Kalanderplatz at Sihlcity, Zürich.
This post is (2/3) of a blog series on Terrabiom@Soil to soul 2022:
Gourmet Food & the Soil Sommelier (keynote speech on soil life)
From soil health to tasty food (Market stand)
Voices on soil by people from Zürich (soil-based action research project)
The Soil to Soul symposium, part of Food Zürich and a tasty climax over the final weekend of Switzerland’s largest Food Festival, would not be complete without getting visitors engaged with soil. Terrabiom was invited to root the delicious food and represent soil health at the Soil Food market from 16-17.09.2022 on the inviting Kalanderplatz at Sihlcity, Zürich.
How do you “represent soil health” at a market where all other stand holders sell delicious food, drinks, or hygiene products? We can nor do we want to sell soil, as it is a global common which belongs to everyone. Luckily, we could count on our in-house artist Alisha Dutt Islam to design an interactive stand which would engage all senses and make visible the universe usually hidden below our feet.
For the senses, we prepared four different types of soil served in wine glasses and plates which invited our visitors to take a deep breath and literally smell the difference in soil quality. Our menu of the day included a standard balcony/garden soil which can be bought in the stores, a regenerative garden soil converted from grassland in 2020, worm farm compost and a soil collected in the nearby forest. In this order, the increase in intensity of smell – which indicates life – was undeniable for anyone who dared to take their first steps as a soil sommelier.
The highlight of our stand was our microscope, with which we could show the hustle in a healthy soil sample live 400* bigger to our visitors. Especially the kids were fascinated by what they could see, and one or the other made the direct link to similar processes happening in our gut microbiome.
What triggered many wonderful exchanges was our engagement project, where we invited all stand visitors to share their voices on three questions linked to the soil. The answers and reactions we got were diverse, inspiring, and help us to understand what moves the people of Zürich. This piece touched us deeply and deserves its’ own blog post (coming soon).
"I'm so glad I stopped by your stand. Thank you for caring for the soils! This work is so important. We need more of it." Rosiléa, brazilian-swiss naturepreneur
Just in time for the event, we were excited to present our first collection of beautiful postcards and bookmarks, making it easy to share the soil love for everyone. If you love them as much as we do, you can now order your bunch - get in touch to find out details!
Over 150 people visited our stand and actively engaged with our installation. Our visitors covered a wide range of people and bridged generations, from babies to seniors 80+. We got to exchange with hobby gardeners, hotel school students, sociocultural animators, chefs, bankers, people who trade carbon credits, impact entrepreneurs, and more. We shared inspiring conversations in Schwiizerdütsch, English, French, Spanish, Hebrew, Portuguese, an indigenous language of Peru with people originating from all continents. It was an indicative representation of the diverse people of Zürich, which we are truly grateful for.
"What you do is excellent. I would love to create a children's book on soil life with you." Rebekka, kindergarten teacher
Our personal highlight were the individuals who pledged to support our work to regenerate soils as volunteers, experts or simply by sharing the soil love by telling their friends and contacts about us. We are looking very forward to the seeds of this event growing into seedlings over the coming months.
THANK YOU.
Soil to Soul for inviting us, especially Lea Wüthrich for coordinating the Soil Food Market brilliantly.
A shout-out to our new partner Patagonia Partner Store Zürich, sponsor of our event Shirts!
A special thank you to our core tribe who coordinated and represented throughout the weekend: Alice, Christa, Alisha, Eric and Matthias. You are the best.
We loved seeing you: our growing tribe of friends and supporters who came to visit and support: Pavlina, Isabella, Marianne, Olmar, Juliana, Conradin, Pepe, Werner, Rosiléa, and many more.
Read more.
This post is (2/3) of a blog series on Terrabiom@Soil to soul 2022:
Gourmet Food & the Soil Sommelier (keynote speech on soil life)
From soil health to tasty food (Market stand)
Voices on soil by people from Zürich (soil-based action research project)
Engaging installations like this one are an important part of our mission to re:connect humans with the value of nature, starting from the soil up. Curious how this might fit into your world? Please reach out to explore how Terrabiom could support you in putting soil health on your organization and people’s radar. We love to get creative.