RYAN MEIRING - THE SOIL EVANGELIST
We caught up with Ryan Meiring, Head of Supply Chain Management of The Munching Mongoose and W17’s new partner, about how a mid-life crisis led to him becoming a sustainable farmer, chickshaw operator, (think rickshaw but with chickens) and keeping local flavours lekker.
With his enquiring mind and an interest in always looking at the bigger picture, Ryan studied Industrial Engineering and then a Masters in Environmental Science. After 20 years of the nine to five, rinse and repeat, he jokingly blames a mild mid-life crisis on him rethinking his views on nature and making a career shift for a life filled with more purpose.
With his new found passion for regenerative farming and armed with an engineering brain, Ryan decided to live on a plot and put his theories on circularity, by mimicking nature, to the test. This way of farming results in nothing being wasted but instead builds symbiotic relationships with even the smallest organisms. He calls himself a soil farmer and a soil evangelist because he feels that farming should respect the soil as it is a living, moving, breathing thing.
Waste not, want not. Literally.
Ryan started by designing his own bio sewage system that pumps out clean water. He also has a pond system where they grow duckweed (for those of us who aren’t aquatic plant savvy, duckweed is a floating lentil that is high in protein and once harvested can regenerate up to 50% in 24 hours). This forms part of the chickens diet that helps promote more beta carotene that results in larger, happier chickens that lay larger, more orange yolks. The poop is then turned into fertiliser, completing just one of the many systems that Ryan is experimenting with.
It’s with this philosophy that The Munching Mongoose was founded. Animals should be allowed to roam free and eat what they need to eat. And humans should have access to nutrient rich food, free from chemicals while supporting sustainable farming. Healthy eating made easy.
This is the very reason why Workshop17 has partnered with The Munching Mongoose to offer our members a discounted rate on the best fresh and tasty organic fruit, veg and dairy products that are farmed and produced sustainably in a way that promotes the local farmer and their communities.
The Munching Mongoose / W17 boxes can be ordered on the W17 platform and paid for with everything from eBucks, cards, to debit order, and they’re delivered straight to your location on a weekly basis.
Each box comes loaded with enough freshly picked ingredients to keep you going for a week of wholesome veggies and fruit for only R349.
You can find out more about Ryan and his regenerative farming journey on his blog called Big Inja Farming and see his Youtube channel here.
On parting Ryan shared his favourite quote with us, and we loved it so much that we’re sharing it forward “A Family That Eats Together, Stay Together.”
