Ambassador for Nature

For who else, than for us cooks, could an intact nature be more important? True to my life's maxim „A life for the good taste“, I am virtually bound to advocate an intact nature. Everywhere I cook, either in public or in private, I speak up for sustainably produced food. My belief in this food being the only healthy diet for people is as sure as ham goes with eggs. At the moment, I'm involved in an effort to create a school meal project in my neighbourhood, to make it plain to the pupils that food has to once again become what it is meant to be: means for life.

I associate my best childhood experiences with" playing outside". Free movement, fresh air, climbing, sniffing, watching, being alone - in contact with myself. Still today; Nature is a reliable source of recreation for me and inspiration, especially next to the increasingly intense, professional, and private challenges and tasks. As a mother, I have always wanted to share my love for nature with my three children, to teach them the benefits of healthy, organic nutrition, as well as their connectivity and health to be rooted in nature. It is an essential and important task for future generations to be able to connect with nature as a source of regeneration, rest and inspiration.

When I got to know about Naturefund's work, a film about the painter Séraphine de Senlis, called „Séraphine“ by Martin Provost crossed my mind. In the film, Séraphine is a silent and wilful person who works as a cleaning woman and has a passion for painting. She draws her strength from nature. Any time she doesn't feel good she goes out into the nature and hugs a tree. In one scene she sits on a tree branch and holds her face against the strong wind that is billowing against the tree and the meadow. You can hear the rustle of the leaves and actually feel the strength that inspires this woman sitting in the tree. Nature gives us so much strength, we should treat it respectfully.

More about Thomas Sarbacher's ideas about the film „Séraphine"

There are no passengers on spaceship Earth, only a crew!! This motto from a friend of mine continually inspires me to realise my part in the responsibility we have towards the world we live in. It also makes me think about what I can do to preserve it, or how to help to make it healthy again. There are a lot of opportunities to do little things, or make small steps. And they could have a big impact if all of us would do them! For example, I buy a lot of organic food, purchase green electricity, changed my account to an ecological bank, and often make donations to organisations like Naturefund. However, I am sure there are many more things one could do! What ideas do you have?

I got to know about Naturefund while presenting an event where I became convinced about the important aims and great commitment of this association. I live in Munich, and for me the many green areas make the city worth living in. Everyone who has ever been jogging with a dog in the English Garden knows that happiness and relaxation don't have to be expensive. It's a great idea Naturefund has to purchase land to protect habitats for animals and plants! Unfortunately most people only realise how important these things are when they've already vanished. I can only hope that we will all become a bit smarter and start to consider nature and our environment.

Isn't it absurd that we as humans believe in the theory of evolution, but not in the fact that we are actually part of it? That we consider ourselves as creation's crowning glory and are convinced that nothing better could ever evolve?
We would benefit by being a bit more humble. A humbleness that develops in the face of the order of nature, when you just look and listen carefully, when you recognise yourself as being part of all that, and accept the fact that this is the way it is.

We all know those sappy sentences like „Nature doesn't need us – but we need nature!“, or the famous prophecy of the Cree Indians. Although it seems that, in the meanwhile, these slogans are actually working, ergo : there seems to be an evolution in thinking going on. A chosen position is one thing, but all of us consciously behaving in a certain way is something else. What I mean is, if everyone of us would make themselves aware of how much resources we need, e.g. how much water or fuel actually gets wasted, then things could head in the right direction. It pays to think in the long term.