By 1918, as the world approached a population of two billion,
there was already debate about how to nourish this many
people. That same year, German scientist Fritz Haber won the
Nobel Prize for chemistry for work that led to producing
synthetic fertiliser. It was a game-changer and global agricultural
yields began to increase year after year without the need for
crop rotation or animal agriculture. Soon we produced more
food than we could ever hope to eat so we started to feed grain
toanimals.
SyntheticNPKfertiliser
providesplantswiththree
elementsthatmakethem
growalmostin frontofoureyes:
nitrogen,phosphorusand
potassium.Whatwenowrealise
is thattheother100-plus
elementswe(andanimals)need
tolivearemissing.Wehave
depletedthemfromoursoils
andproducelargelyemptyfood.
Todaywe’restarvedofmicro-nutrientssuchasmanganese,
zinc,magnesium,iron...thelistis long.Ourmodernfoodsystem
givesuscompromisedproduceand,forme,it’scleartosee
theeffectit’shavingonoursociety.
I thinkofsoillikea bank.If wekeepmakingwithdrawals
withoutmakingdeposits,it alleventuallyrunsout.Thisis why
I’msopassionateaboutzerowaste.AsMcMastersays,
“Wasteis a failureoftheimagination.”
I seethisasanincredibleopportunitytodriveradical
change.Silo’ssuccessbecamea catalystforpositivechange
andit madeeveryonerealiseit waspossible.
It wasdeliberatelydesignedsotherewasnowheretohide.
Everyprocess,systemandmethodwasvisible.I wantedthe
heartofSilo,likea home,tobea kitchentableandinstalled
an18-seater,whichmeantconversationscouldbehadand
questionscouldbeasked.It wasanincrediblycreativetime–
ideasflowedandSilobecamea magnetforinnovators.
Peoplefromallwalksoflifevisited– students,chefs,farmers,
politicians,journalistsfromJapan,Germany,Singaporeand
evenTheNewYorkTimes. Andwewelcomedinspiringguests
suchasCaptainCharlesMoore,whodiscoveredthegreat
PacificGarbagePatch,authorandenvironmentalistBill
McKibben,pioneeringchefssuchasDanBarberandRené
Redzepi,andfoodactivistslikeSandorKatzandAllanSavory.
“SILO’S SUCCESS
BECAME A CATALYST
FOR POSITIVE
CHANGE AND IT
MADE EVERYONE
REALISE IT WAS
POSSIBLE.”34 delicious.com.au