Mushroom gummies, hormone balancing supplements, pills to calm your stomach and pills to calm your mind: the wellness industry’s stronghold shows no sign of slowing down (its value is projected to rise to $9.8 trillion by 2029, according to the Global Wellness Institute), and currently the corner devoted to complimentary medicines accounts for nearly 10% of that gargantuan sum.
But what if there was a way to rewind back to a time before £50-per-month vitamin subscriptions and drawers full of rattling bottles? What if the key to good health was not just around us but beneath us, within the literal ground that we walk on?
The practice of eating earth, soil and clay-like substances - otherwise known as geophagy - is said to stretch back to around two million years ago, long predating modern man. Many cultures around the world, particularly in Africa, South Asia and South America, still engage with it in tangible ways, but in the UK the concept is largely non-existent. Suggest putting a little nibble of rock into your daily routine and you’ll likely be met with concern.
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A new exhibition currently showing at Somerset House called The Museum of Edible Earth (on until April 26, somersethouse.org.uk), however, is attempting to shine a new light on this centuries-old tradition. The brainchild of Amsterdam based artist and researcher Dr. masharu, the museum collates more than 600 edible samples from around the globe, from Ukrainian Andreevsky Chalk (‘chewy, crunchy, rich’) to South African Red Ochre (‘crumbly, earthy, mild’) and hosts guided tasting sessions daily from 1-4pm. The idea, says masharu, is to “reconnect humans to the earth”.
“The human gut microbiome and soil’s microbiome are very similar, but in cities, people’s microbiomes are becoming very poor,” they explain. The National Library of Medicine states that soil microbiomes and those of the human gut contain roughly the same number of microorganisms, but humans only have 10% as much biodiversity within that number. “Our gut is full of microorganisms which make us function, and when we don’t have enough then our immune system suffers and our mental health suffers. Tasting these [samples] won’t necessarily change that, but it’s about rekindling the connection to soil and challenging the negative ideas of earth being dirty.”
Part of the problem lies with how much pollution there is in the natural world now compared with even a hundred years ago: essentially, don’t go shovelling up a handful of soil in Hyde Park and adding it to your picnic. But with the right scientific testing, some of these items can be - and already are being - incorporated into modern lifestyles. Swiss earth, or diatomaceous earth, is a readily available supplement that can help with gut health; bentonite clay - which originates in the USA and Greece among other places - can be added to water and used as a detoxifying agent when consumed.
At Somerset House, there are two samples on offer. One is a ground up powder of diatomaceous earth, this time from Mexico - it looks and tastes like flavourless chalk, not exactly gourmet but no less palatable than a lot of medicines. The second is Luvos Healing Earth from Germany that is finely milled and presented in small brown pellet form. Eating it is an undoubtedly odd experience; gritty and grainy, people have regularly compared it to chicken feed. But it’s also not called Healing Earth without reason: made from glacial loess (sediment) deposited during the last Ice Age, the materials contains a naturally balanced mix of minerals including iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. A multi-vitamin in sandy clothing.
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The Museum has travelled to more than 20 countries and found varying levels of bureaucracy involved in letting people taste their wares - unsurprisingly, London comes in as one of the more tightly controlled centres. masharu has tried each of the 600 samples and says they have never suffered any adverse effects but stresses that “we need to be careful”. Having a tiny amount is different to taking a regular dosage. “I wouldn’t take samples for medical purposes that have not been tested in large quantities,” they say.
Which takes us back to the expensive world of supplements - the safest way to get high (or at least high levels of biodiversity) on earth’s supply. There are advocates for more out-of-the-box ways of consuming earth; Japanese chef Toshio Tanabe made headlines back in 2013 for curating a fine dining menu largely composed of soil that is lab-tested for safety on site. But as long as we live in a world of pesticides and pollution, it seems as though this ancient practice will need a certain amount of modern intervention before it can become a regular part of everyday life.
