The “Honorable Harvest” was collectively honored by many Indigenous cultures as a set of guiding principles that governed our exchanges with the natural world. The gist is simple: never take more than you are given. In Vietnamese culture, we have many folklores that teach the same philosophy, with ”The Tale of the Star Fruit Tree” as the most renowned of them all.

And so today, as I forage for some wild Nettles in my backyard to make lunch, I remember the guiding principles. How much do I harvest to be just enough for my meal, and no more? Did I plant enough pollinator-friendly blooms in my garden to replenish this food that I am about to take from the bees? My harvest becomes a mindful exchange between myself and Mother Nature, instead of a thoughtless and ungrateful one-sided act.

And that is how we repair our broken relationship with the land.