We have eaten nature. Anthropogenic landscape, landscape of the Anthropocene.

If you think you’re looking at ‘nature,’ you’re looking at a ‘nature’ in which the existence and habitat of most animal and plant species has been conditioned by human presence for thousands of years. The landscape you see from here is the result of complex interactions between the natural environment and human activities, mainly for food production: cereal crops, arboriculture, horticulture, and livestock farming. Cultivated f ields, orchards, vineyards, and irrigation systems transform natural land into production areas. Livestock farming has a major impact on biodiversity through pastures, mountain pastures, farms, and the infrastructure that houses the animals. Even if we don’t ‘see’ it, hunting and fishing, activities practiced since prehistoric times, have also left a deep mark on the landscape through their impact on animal populations.

Far from being an inert mineral, soil is alive! Healthy soil, like the one in this vegetable garden, is home to a variety of insects, spiders, worms, gastropod molluscs (slugs and snails!), etc. all of which help to recycle organic matter. Soil also contains complex, invisible populations of micro-organisms that make up its ‘microbiome’: bacteria, viruses, microscopic fungi and algae, ‘protozoa,’ and other micro-organisms that contribute to the cycling of nutrients essential for plant growth. For example, beneficial ‘rhizobia’ bacteria facilitate nitrogen fixation in the roots of legumes, while ‘mycorrhizal’ fungi form mutually beneficial relationships with plant roots, helping to absorb nutrients. These organisms are said to live in ‘symbiosis.’ A healthy soil is essential for the optimum development and resilience of both cultivated and non-cultivated plants.

There is life in the air too! And not just birds and insects... Like soil and water, the air contains a ‘microbiome’ that is specific to each environment, whether cultivated or not. A microbiome is made up of micro-organisms such as bacteria, pollen, yeast, and spores. It is an integral part of the ecosystem in which farming takes place and needs to be ‘healthy.’ Air quality is crucial for crops as it directly affects the health of plants, the people who tend them and the pollinating insects. The presence of air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides or fine particles can have a direct impact on crop growth. The spraying of fertilisers, and ‘phytosanitary’ products against specific insects, fungi, or plants on crops is a major source of air pollution and damage to the microbiome.

Water is far from being an inert element in an ecosystem. Like air and land, it contains microbiomes, made up of bacteria, algae, fungi, and viruses, which play a key role in maintaining aquatic ecosystems. These microbiomes help break down organic matter, cycle nutrients, and regulate water quality. In complex ecosystems, they create a chain of vital interactions that promote the biodiversity and productivity of wetlands, rivers, lakes, and oceans. The use of pesticides in agriculture and antibiotics in animal husbandry results in chemical run-off into watercourses, upsetting the balance of the microbiome. Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilisers cause ‘eutrophication,’ the proliferation of harmful algae that reduces oxygen availability and threatens flora and fauna in watercourses, degrading the resilience of aquatic ecosystems and their ability to regulate themselves.

The fish, shellfish, and crustaceans of Lake Geneva live in an ecosystem that has been profoundly affected by human activity. Although species such as perch, pike, whitefish, and crayfish are now fished sustainably, the two strains of whitefish and the two species of native crayfish have disappeared due to overfishing and pollution. Furthermore, a dozen invasive species from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, including roach, catfish, red blooded shrimp, quagga mussels, and Californian crayfish, have seriously disrupted the lake’s ecological balance. The presence of these invasive species threatens native species, creates competition for resources, and alters habitats. Management efforts are underway, including regulation of fishing, monitoring of fish populations, and conservation initiatives, to preserve Lake Geneva’s biodiversity and keep its ecosystems healthy.

Everyone eats and there’s food for everyone! Interspecies ‘conviviality’ is an essential element in the life of the landscape and the functioning of any ecosystem. Animals, like plants, need to eat in sufficient quantity and quality throughout the seasons. In an established ecosystem, different species do not try to eat or destroy each other to the point of extinction before moving on to find food elsewhere! On the contrary, they naturally seek balance through ‘symbiosis,’ a permanent and mutually beneficial association between two or more different species. Over the course of evolution, this leads to a mutual improvement in the chances of long-term prosperity. Symbiosis is necessary for many vital functions of organisms, and the recent discovery of the role of microbiomes has further confirmed its central importance. Until now, humans have shown little reciprocity by feeding in the landscape!

Pollinating insects, such as bees, butterflies, bumblebees, and flies, are essential to market gardening, arboriculture, viticulture, and agriculture in general. They fertilise the flowers that enable most cultivated plants to bear fruit, from tomatoes to chickpeas, rapeseed to hazelnuts... The diversity and vitality of pollinators guarantee the fertility of crops, increasing yields and the quality of harvests. Their role is therefore crucial for biodiversity and has a direct impact on agricultural production and the global ecosystem. Today, however, bees are threatened by the pesticides used in intensive agriculture, by disease, by habitat loss, and by climate change, all of which are causing an alarming decline in their populations. This decline jeopardises the pollination of many essential crops and threatens global food security.

The species grown in our vegetable gardens include a wide range of varieties, with popular crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, lettuces, courgettes, or peppers. Here, almost 300 species and varieties grow every year. Their history is rooted in thousands of years of global exchange of plants, seeds, tubers, cuttings, and horticultural knowledge. The most widely consumed species, however, such as tomatoes, potatoes, beans, and maize, were not introduced to Europe until the 16th century, following the European colonisation of the Americas – an important facet of what is known as the ‘Columbian exchange,’ named after Christopher Columbus. Over time, these vegetables were selected, crossed, and adapted to European climates, in botanical gardens, on farms, or in specialised horticultural stations. In this way, they have become an essential part of Europe’s culinary heritage and local agriculture.

A beehive houses a colony, which in summer can number between 30,000 and 60,000 individuals, including a single ‘queen’ who lays the eggs that become the ‘workers.’ The bees build wax cells to store the honey and raise the larvae, the ‘brood,’ in removable frames. In spring, the beekeeper inspects the hive to make sure the queen is in good health and adds ‘supers’ to store the excess honey the bees have collected during the flowering season. Summer is the busiest time. Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers. The beekeeper supervises the hive and harvests the honey. In autumn, the beekeeper prepares the hive for winter and makes sure there is enough food for the colony. During the winter, the bees remain inside the hive, forming a cluster to keep warm. This annual cycle requires careful, ongoing management to ensure the health and productivity of the hive.