The issue of nutrition is not limited to the foodstuffs we apply only when we are hungry. Nutrition is a process that takes place mostly at the cellular level as well as at the systemic (mouth, stomach, intestine) level.

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Nutrition encompasses all the processes of the living body to take in sufficient quantities of the substances necessary for a healthy life, to process it with high efficiency and to evacuate the wastes at the maximum level.

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Anatolian Grasslands's approach to this subject, on which pages and pages of articles and books have been written, and on which we learn new things every day, is based on the following five principles:

 

HOLISTIC: In collaboration with nature

Food production with context-based management, not 'problem'-oriented, is not a process independent of ecosystems, including humans. Food production to meet human needs must be one of the results of regenerative management of ecosystems. The methods to be followed in this production process require acting in cooperation with ecosystem processes instead of using intensive energy (fossil fuels, cheap human labor...) and chemicals to combat ecosystem processes. A holistic agriculture and food production is therefore, above all, an example of holistic productivity. It is possible to produce in accordance with the working rules and patterns of nature and this is the most abundant method.

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In our age, ecosystems and resources are depleted, degraded and polluted due to mismanagement. In addition to the deterioration, individuals and society are forced to bear the economic burden of these inefficient methods through subsidies, condemnation to poor/toxic food, and food inflation. As a result, we are faced with a food production system that harms the individual, the economy and the nature.

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Our responsibility as human beings is to perpetuate the effort to comprehend the basic processes in the functioning of nature. To develop and apply the necessary methods for the ecosystems in which we live or produce, to move towards the most fertile states we can imagine, with what this zeal and responsible humility have taught us. To deliver the highly nutritious food that we produce together with this "regeneration" process of ecosystems to people through the fair and intelligent generation/distribution/sharing systems we have established and developed. So that each of us can become a 'responsible' and 'decision maker' at the scale we want, from the beginning to the end of the process.

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At any point in this adventure, it is nice and desirable to focus on one part of the process, for example trying to improve the algorithm of a grazing method or attempting to model responsibility-sharing affiliations (economic) associations. The situation that would break the holistic principle here is to focus on one part of the process and forget the rest (i.e., reductionism) and to consider it normal to take steps that will disrupt other aspects and processes while 'solving' a situation perceived as a problem. For this reason, all food production processes should be managed with unique and strong "Holistic Contexts" prepared as participatory for the "whole" they are connected to.
 

COMPLETENESS: Nutritious Food

In the food web of ecosystems, substances are constantly transported and transformed from one element to another through destruction and construction mechanisms, and the structure we call nature in the big picture nourishes the population with a prolific cycles of photosynthesis (production) and decay (destruction).

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The human body is also a miniature example of nature. It breaks down the complex foods it receives at the molecular level within the cell with the destruction processes, and then transforms it into the complex substances it needs. When complex molecules such as minerals, proteins, vitamins and trace elements in foods are present in sufficient quantities and in appropriate composition, the body can produce the substances necessary for itself without difficulty, and does not try to dispose of or evacuate the excess.

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Studies conducted on foods produced according to the principles of Regenerative Agriculture have shown that grass-fed animals have higher amounts of essential vitamins (A, E, B), minerals and essential and trace elements (K, Fe, Zn, P, Na, Ca, Se) compared to seed-fed animals. It is observed that the delicate balance of Omega 6 / Omega 3 ratio, which is critical for body health, works in favor of health in the meat of grass-fed animals.

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However, Anatolian Grasslands accepts the difficulty of producing "truths" that are universally accepted and suitable for everyone, for the needs of the human body, which is a complex and constantly regenerating structure. It prioritizes the right of individuals to access the most suitable food for themselves and their health.

In this sense, Anatolian Grasslands takes the completeness and nutritional quality of the food as its top priority. It highlights the knowledge that 'concerns' about production volume do not apply in most cases (and on a global basis). It reminds us that the basis and solution of malnutrition and obesity, which are the two biggest health problems of humanity, is the nutritiveness of food.

 

LIFE'S AUTHENTICITY AND PEOPLE'S RESPONSIBILITY

Nutrition is the process by which a living thing eats another living thing and/or a part of the biomass it produces. Even plants feed the microorganisms in the soil with carbon, and in turn they need elements that are 'released' as a result of these microorganisms’ eating each other.

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Nutritional patterns are sometimes symbiotic, meaning they add value to each other. For example, some trees surround the seeds (stone) with a sweet biomass (fruit) to encourage their seeds to be transported far; it becomes food for other living things. Nutritional patterns sometimes benefit tertiary elements. For example, as a result of the strategy followed by wolves to hunt wild sheep (also the sheep try not to become prey to wolves), steppe and grassland ecosystems are strengthened, fertile, and carbon is sequestered in the soil. (See: Holistic Management, Prey-hunter relationship)

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In this cycle of construction and destruction of life, the responsibility of the human species, which is equipped with features such as reason, conscience and empathy, is to use these abilities for the enrichment of the ecosystem as a whole and the increase in the total vitality within it. With his organization, tool use and management skills, human beings can not only enable ecosystems to reach an abundance that hosts many living things, both in terms of species and in total population, but also can cause them to become barren, standardize and disappear.

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In this regenerative management process, human should  treated with respect and take responsibility for the consequences of his actions for all the biomass it harvests as food production, and especially for the creatures with advanced nervous systems, as well as for the creatures affected by the highly beneficial destruction activity for the management process (for example, a tree has to be cut down for a food processing plant, or a small anthill has to be demolished).  

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This responsibility comes from knowing that every practice done (or even not done) will help some living things to be born in the birth-death cycle, while causing the death of others, and knowing that there is no right to escape or deny this duality truth (i.e. "nature").

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Anatolian Grasslands believes in fulfilling this responsibility with a clean intention, a clear mind and respectful humility.
 

REAL EFFICIENCY

When viewed free from superficial, speculative and ideological insights, it can be observed that real economic efficiency, ecological balance and healthy social structure meet in the same cluster.

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So what's ecological in food production and sharing is truly economical - because it allows it to be utilized with the least amount of cost and effort of any kind. Likewise, the different forms of social organization required by the economic and ecological production methods will serve to meet the needs of the human species such as relating to each other, belonging and security. A simple and important entry level example of this, 'food communities', not only enable better food production, but also provide their members with a sense of togetherness, solidarity and community.

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For this reason, we must ensure that the food ecosystems we establish are ecologically regenerative, economically fertile and socially healthy, and we must act knowing that these are aspects that do not contradict each other, but exist at the same time. We must keep in mind that the intermediate results that those end in could be produvtive structures which invites communities to joint responsibility/ownership instead of thousands of years old systems where that the assets managed in food production (land, equipment, animals, crews, etc.) are owned by individuals, families or companies called 'farmers', and where the remainders is thought as consumers

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Anatolian Grasslands declares that it will act with the responsibility of trying and implementing models, structures and methods that will improve these three aspects together and by supporting each other, without hesitation to take risks. In addition, it reminds the humble comfort of knowing that each possible unsuccessful attempt will provide experience for subsequent attempts, and invites each organization to take responsibility in this direction.

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RIGHT OF ACCESS TO CONCRETE INFORMATION

If we do not produce our own food and do not have detailed knowledge of food production, it is very difficult and complex to measure and evaluate the other principles above. For this reason, most people consume products that they do not know what their contents are, even if they are buying from a familiar manufacturer or intermediary that is under the guarantee of a certificate or has an individual relationship.

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Anatolian Grasslands attaches importance to sharing the details of the journey of food from seed to fork, which is the biggest missing link in food production, with scientific analysis and clearly and, produces physical and philosophical tools to implement its approach on this subject, analyzes the knowledge and experience it has gained, and makes trainings, articles, reports, announcements. and sharing with different audiences through meetings.

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Anatolian Grasslands is aware of the difficulty and high cost of applying detailed analysis to each food sample. Instead (until access to this information becomes possible and reasonable), it attaches importance to sharing information about the production, processing and logistics processes of food with countable, comparable and tangible indicators.

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‘Food with a story’ means food that is not anonymous and whose source and processes can be traced. Anatolian Grasslands finds it wrong and dangerous to follow a marketing/communication method based only on images/symbols that people attribute positive meanings to romantic, pastoral and traditional concepts, without providing concrete information by making use of the trend of this concept.

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