Eat more venison

"We are rainforest people living in a rainforest land” – Merlin Hanbury-Tension

There’s a quiet but important shift happening in how we think about land, food, and our role as custodians within both.  Recently, I was inspired by a talk from Merlin Hanbury-Tenison on the UK as a temperate rainforest, not just a poetic idea, but a powerful reframing of what this landscape once was and could be again.  Part of that vision includes animals grazing within woodland ecosystems, helping to regenerate soils, encourage biodiversity, and restore natural balance. It challenges conventional farming models and invites us to see food production as something that can actively heal the land.  This also opens up an important conversation around eating more venison. As deer populations grow beyond what ecosystems can support, responsible wild venison becomes not only a sustainable protein, but a necessary one. 

It has always been my vision with Asthi to takes these learnings and shape how we think about broth.

From next week, I will be working with Furnace Brook, a regenerative farm undergoing a mass restoration project in Sussex, to ensure that nothing goes to waste.  The bones will be collected from the kitchen and made into ‘Bonechar’, a material that can return to the soil, improving fertility and help rebuild living systems.  It’s a small but meaningful step towards a circular model.  Nourishment that doesn’t just take from the land but gives something back.

This is the future I’m building towards with Asthi, so that every time you sip on your mug of broth it gives back to the landscapes we depend on.  No greenwashing.  Real action.