This week I became a ‘Gastronaut’ as I started an MSc in Gastronomy at Queen Margaret University – it’s very exciting and covers all aspects of food. We have a healthy reading list and The Hidden Half of Nature – The Microbial Roots Of Life and Health was one of the first books to be tackled.
Who knew that I would be getting excited about microbes – I’ve since found myself quoting from the book an awful lot. I’ve even been and got myself some Kefir fermenting away and am on the hunt for manure.
I’d never really thought about the similarities and connection between the soil and our stomachs, it’s fascinating. It did get a bit technical at times but was mostly a very eye-opening an enjoyable read.
The Blurb:
The Hidden Half of Nature lays out the astonishing reality we’ve been missing in the soil beneath our feet and right inside our bodies-our world depends on a foundation of invisible life. Montgomery and Bikle share a captivating story of the least-loved part of nature, taking readers through major milestones in agriculture and medicine to untangle our uneasy relationship with microbes.
From the challenge of turning their barren Seattle lot into a flourishing garden through Bikle’s struggle with a surprise cancer diagnosis, the authors discover the power nature’s smallest creatures wield over our lives. Stunning parallels in the relationships that microbes develop with plant roots and the human gut reveal ways that farmers can restore degraded fields and doctors can reverse the modern epidemic of chronic diseases. For in cultivating the beneficial microbes that make soil fertile and keep us healthy, we can suture rifts never meant to be.
