‘Earth as Superfood’ Symposium

Eating soil is an old and established culturally important practice in many places around the world. In many countries the action of eating earth and soil-like substances (geophagy) is a mean of spiritual cleansing amongst other benefits (cf. Pan de Dios in Guatemala). There are even restaurants that serve soil as food, such as in Japan. The practice of eating earth and soil-like substances is also promoted by influencers. Will soil consumption become more widely accepted or even develop into a ‘superfood’ practice? What would be the implications of this?

In this symposium, we will consider the possibility of “soil as superfood” with diverse considerations to contextualize the conversation. During the symposium we will dabble on the speculative idea of earth being a superfood through a privileged position, as in some areas, individuals do eat earth because the access to other types of food is scarce.

^{Photos by Dinesh Basnet and masharu}

More information: Impulse, Symposium ‘Earth as Superfood’