What is Ecoculture?
Ecoculture is a term describing the ancient worldwide practice of cultivating natural ecosystems for their production of materials, medicines, and food. Put another way, Ecoculture is the ancient practice of cultivating food, medicine, and materials in the context of natural intact human managed ecosystems. It’s food focused ecological restoration.
This term was coined by Sam Thayer, renowned wild food author, and this practice was developed by our indigenous ancestors and current day indigenous communities worldwide.
It’s worth spending some time absorbing this graphic. Start from the bottom and work your way up, moving from side to side. Notice each level builds off of the ones beneath, meaning no one practice is more important than another, but the full structure won't take form without the keystone!
Conceptual framework for ecoculture, showing how this practice can unify the seemingly distant worlds of conservation and agriculture by increasing our human connection to the natural world and balancing our freedom to engage with the landscape with our responsibility to protect the environment (Wraith, 2024).