Loving Living Food is Dr Isabella Guerrini De Claire

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I have started off working in the field of agri-food, climate change and the circular economy from the end of the nineties, beginning with my organic family farm in Italia. At the end of the 90s, I converted the conventional farm my family owns on the Italian Appenines to organic farming, diversifying the rural offering with food preservation and agri-turism, with the support of the EU project fund awards. Since then, I continued working with the agri-food sector in organic and regenerative endeavors, in my professional capacity in Italy and around the globe.

 

I haven’t come through a conventional path and that allows me to think differently and innovate new ways of applying my research and learning. I started on the ground, studying and working in environmental restoration and mountain farming co-running, where we transitioned to a low impact system that actively restored important habitats. Being a consultant in regenerative food systems in Europe and UK, my expertise has evolved through the understanding what regenerative practice means. There is no clear definition to what regenerative practice is, and there is a vast array of people and products all claiming they have the answers. It’s good to have a range of options. Ultimately, like the ecosystems we represent, we can all find our niche and the regenerative ‘web’ will be more complex and resilient as a result.

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I work on leadership building, nature and food education and journalism, organic and innovative agri-food good practices, landscape restoration and design thinking endeavours. I have an excellent track record working in the area of climate innovation and nature-based solutions startup support, curriculum development, winning awards and developing bespoke programmes for various organisations to ensure they have the best possible solutions for their challenges and innovations. 

 

I have contributed to sustainable development since the early days, when sustainability was still a niche, working with selected partners, clients, academia and the largest climate innovation startups platform Climate-KIC, supporting the transition to zero-waste, zero-carbon movement and to alternative plant-based food formulations.

I trained as systemic counsellor to work with people's mindset. 

Recently in the last 3 years, I trained myself as a micro-element nutritionist, specialised on plant-based food proteins. 

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With a small group of committed food educators, I led annual free cooking classes, from 2015 to 2018 with the LET'S EAT programme financed by the NHS Grampian, for providing Scottish families skills in cooking sustainably and seasonally, through the Transition Town Movement in Forres.

 

From 2014, I worked for a couple of years on a project called “Building Resilience Sustainable Food System in Moray and Highlands”. A Scottish food project, born in the Findhorn Community and Foundation to asses the food supply chain and set a sustainability strategy from our plate, with the support of Transition Town Forres & Movement, Forum for Sustainability Moray, Head of Low Carbon and Clean Tech Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The project established a few strands: Education, Planning, Growing, Harvesting, Storing, Processing, Distributing. Inspired by the Moray and Highlands communal aspiration for sustainable living, the purpose was to instigate the thinking into a local communal food sustainability system within Moray and the wider bioregion.

 

I have been the proud founder of Aurora Sustainability Group, working on plant-based food and zero-waste endeavours, creating many award-winning food and zero-waste products. At Aurora Group, I supported many projects from the initial "seed" development, stakeholders partnership and resources funding, through providing project strategy support across the team and leading sustainability integrative design and marketing delivery.

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In the last couple of years, I developed a bespoke approach to climate and nutrition. Through my practical nutrition classes, people have fun and they can understand 'by doing' and commence to regenerate themselves, together with the planet. The understanding of micronutrition for me should be an educational corner stone for every person on a planet affected everywhere by soil depletion. It can be considered as a discipline in its own right. The study of the impact of micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fatty acids, amino acids, fibres) on human health - and soil - represents a very useful and effective tool to better support the various functions of restoration of the body and of soil, but it is also essential to a true circular economy narrative. Changing our food system is one of the most impactful things we can do to address climate change, create a wellbeing economy with the human beings at the centre, rebuild biodiversity and regenerate ourselves and the natural systems.

 

I think that healing and sustainability are aspects that we all touch every day by how we listen to ourselves, the way we treat our food, our habits in eating, from what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and on a personal level, there is a lot we can do for Mother Earth. We are part of a global ecosystem and we must take responsibility for our part in the collapse of the natural world as we know it. Though, I believe regenerative practices are the most promising part of the potential solution too, not just of soil, but including the restoration of our minds and bodies.

Food is emotional and in order to work with it, we need to look at our mindset

and our emotions to make impact and change. 

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I’m a double cancer survivor and I have been desperately ill due to a blood genetic disease - not just once - and I attribute my miraculous full recovery to “mindfulness food-body-related”and to the quality of “inner listening”.

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In the last twelve years, I changed my professional life, working mainly in Scotland,

reducing my footprint and my actions from a large-scale to small practical actions and consciousness from each small step.