Arizona Muse: Why did I leave fashion…to agriculture

Either Fashion Model, the multi-hyphenated career path is a passing ritual. You will meet model slash actresses and model slash DJs… But how often do you meet a model slash agronomist?

“My ambition in life is to be a farmer,” said Arizona MuseTogether with the promotional activities of some of the world’s largest brands such as Chanel, Estée Lauder, Prada, Louis Vuitton and Yves Saint Laurent, she has also become a passionate advocate for sustainable development and environmental regeneration, and an ambassador for Greenpeace and women women .

Just when she was about to move permanently from London to Ibiza, She and her French model husband Boniface Verney-Carron Muse and her two children (Nikko, 12 and Cy, 2) will build their own biodynamics farm, They plan to live and cultivate the soil there. Like many people, after realizing they could work anywhere, the couple considered several potential new locations, including Normandy, where her husband was from, and settled on Ibiza, where they already had a network of friends.

“We think let us be pragmatic. This is the first time we have left the city and let us not isolate ourselves further. You know, if we end up being isolated like Normandy, the risk of divorce and disaster may be high,” this The 32-year-old British-American smiled and said.

In addition to familiarity and friends, the Balearic Islands are particularly attractive to muses because they happen to be the center of biodynamics agriculture In Europe, she is increasingly fascinated and enthusiastic about this method. In fact, she is so enthusiastic that this month she launched a charity called Dirt, which aims to support global biodynamic agriculture by funding new scientific research and education programs and encouraging existing farmers to change their methods Scale.

“I asked myself, if I were to start an organization, what it would do, and the answer came quickly; to regenerate the soil,” she said. After studying the best, most effective and most comprehensive methods, biodynamic agriculture stands out. “This is the most incredible type of regenerative agriculture,” said Muse, who is already a member of the WhatsApp group, which has 107 Balearic farmers. In Ibiza, she plans to learn trading tools and share “a lot of educational content” with her 307,000 Instagram followers. “I think this move will take my activism to the next level… and keep me away from the computer.”

In short, biodynamic agriculture is a holistic approach to land management, with a focus on promoting biodiversity, community well-being, and replenishing soil so that they can store more water and absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It is already very popular among grape growers (and biodynamic wine drinkers, in my experience, they all greedily prove its hangover-free product), but it is currently less common in other agricultural sectors, whether for food , Fiber or fuel. “From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, almost everything we depend on comes from the soil. However, our disregard for this precious resource means that we may undermine one of our best solutions to the climate crisis The food industry is catching up, but the clothing industry is late,” she said. “There is still a lot of work to be done, and a lot of awareness needs to be raised.”

Muse chose it because unlike other regenerative agricultural practices, biodynamic agriculture has an official certification to protect it, issued by an organization called Demeter, when people consider what happened to the word “sustainable” , This clarification becomes more and more important. “Because there is no gray area, it is impossible to use this to wash green,” she promised. Dirt will promote Demeter certification and will generally increase the amount of biodynamic materials that can be used for production, whether it is fabric, fiber or wood. Funds for the charity will first come from donations from the fashion industry and environmentalists.

The topic turned to fast fashion, and whether the government has taken sufficient measures to regulate its pollution impact on the planet and misconduct in the workplace. “The government did not stand up in an admirable way,” she said. “It’s disappointing that citizens must take the lead, and now in agriculture and clothing, subsidies are still turning to very bad practices.”

She said that the idea that the problem is so complicated that we cannot change it is not an excuse. “This is a complicated problem that we created ourselves not long ago. It wasn’t until the 1980s that global trade really took off, and the problems of fast fashion and cheap labor emerged.”

Speaking of turning the tide, she believes that social movements like Extinction Rebellion have the power to change the status quo and urge individuals to see themselves as agents of change. “Every purchase you make will cause ripples in the field, and every comment you post in every comment box is really helpful…Unless big brands receive a certain amount of news every month, they won’t Change.” She also hopes to see the power of lobbying diminish. “If you have money, you can pay for the decision to make, which seems ridiculous. It doesn’t make sense; it should not be allowed.”

If she were the prime minister, the Muse would tax the contaminated material to prevent its use and solve the problem of labor rights and the wages of garment workers—”It should be easy; just enforce it,”

These days, the clothes she buys herself are a lot less, if it were not made of organic materials, she would not buy them. She is moving away from recycled synthetic materials, because although they are more desirable than virgin synthetic materials, they will still flush more microplastics into our oceans. “We have to consider where to recycle plastic, because converting it into more polyester is not the best answer, in fact it may be the worst,” she explained. “I think it would be more effective to turn it into bricks for wall insulation.” Muse spent the confinement period volunteering on the farm and praised the emotional boost of returning to nature. “Every time I go is the best day of my life. I took my children and we had the best time. You feel good. You sweat, you work, and you have such interesting conversations. These farmers They are very smart people, they are obviously so happy and fulfilling in their lives-it’s really an amazing life.”

Dirt will carry out a project that combines mental health with agriculture, aiming to solve the problem of poor mental health and high suicide rate of traditional farmers (“They all owe debts to the chemicals they buy and the genetic seeds they buy. Debt. Modified machines and such large machines are almost always purchased through finance”).

Muse intends to work as a spokesperson for the agricultural industry more broadly, “To say how amazing it is, what an incredible lifestyle it is… Now it is still stuck in too much work, loneliness, and boredom. In the stigma, that’s the case when you’re on a biodynamic farm.”

So you make agriculture cool? I ask. “I really hope so. I like it.”