MUM Sustainable Living Program student Jacob Krieger is taking knowledge he learned into the community to educate others on how to repair and restore structures of the ecosystem while producing food. 

MUM student supports research on restorative agriculture
by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, Achievements
January 2014

Jacob Krieger grew up on a 1600-acre family farm in Ohio, where his grandparents and father grew corn and soy using conventional farming methods. He moved on to work in the home remodeling business in Ohio and Colorado, but he missed being able to grow food, so he decided to return to agriculture. This time he was interested in learning holistic farming and he found Maharishi University of Management (MUM).

“I had really wanted to incorporate meditation into my life,” said Jacob. “And I found I can learn what I want about agriculture and I can learn what I want about meditation at the same time. I didn’t have any questions about coming here.”

Jacob enrolled in the fall of 2010 in the Sustainable Living Program. Two years later he started his own non-profit organization, Abundant Bi-ology, to support research and education on farming techniques that restore the environment. 

With a volunteer team of Maharishi University of Management (MUM) students and alumni, Abundant Biology has already started a pilot project focused on repairing the soil. “Fairfield Greener Pastures” studies the effects of compost extract on land growing hay. 

“We are not talking about just preserving the earth,” said Jacob. “We are talking about repairing and restoring it. We are actively rebuilding the structures of the ecosystem that had been removed, and we are doing it by producing food.”

Abundant Biology is also researching already existing systems that promote restorative agriculture, such as permaculture, holistic management, and Maharishi Vedic Organic Agriculture.

“Growing with consciousness is unique to MUM,” Jacob said. “I can take Consciousness-Based Education into every scenario and subject. There is not a place where it’s not useful.”

“Jacob is yet another of our Sustainable Living students who is dynamically taking the knowledge gained in his degree program into the community,” said John Collins, professor of Sustainable Living. “He has a great future.”

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