For Dr. masharu, it all began with a sudden craving to eat earth.
While working as a photographer, the Amsterdam-based academic and artist developed what’s known as geophagia (or geophagy) – the practice of consuming earthen materials like clay or soil.
As masharu dug deeper into their desires, a world within a world revealed itself; one where Facebook groups filled with hundreds of members swapped clays to eat, and Japanese restaurants used soil as an ingredient.
While commonly linked to certain cultural traditions and rituals, or an eating disorder known as pica, geophagia is, it turns out, far more common than most might realise.
In 2017, masharu founded the Museum of Edible Earth, a nomadic project that blends their scientific background with activism and artistry, and showcases over 600 edible soils from 44 different countries.
“[It includes] interactions with soil scientists, sometimes chemical engineers, sometimes anthropologists. But the most important part is, of course, [people’s] experiences of eating earth, which is shared with the public,” masharu told Euronews Culture.
In honour of Earth Day, the project is currently housed at London’s Somerset House, and coincides with an array of other workshops and talks that explore our relationship to the planet and solutions to climate change.
Inside the exhibition, hundreds of tiny jars filled with powdery earth-like substances line a shelved wall – sampled from all across the world. Beside them sits a long communal tasting table, where visitors can try a spoonful of dirt for themselves.
This participatory element was always most important for masharu, who hopes the experience will bring people together and reshape how they view our natural environments.
“It’s about connection to earth and changing the notion of earth being dirty,” they said. “People in cities are often not as connected to soil, in the sense of touching soil, or walking the land barefoot. There’s a lot of disconnection between humans and earth, which has been happening over the last few centuries.”
Coming back down to earth
While many might wretch at the thought of consuming soil, the practice of geophagia dates back millions of years.
One of the earliest known medical documentations was by the Greek physician Hippocrates, who noted cravings for non-foods among pregnant women. Other historical evidence points to it being a popular practice within certain Indigenous tribes and African societies.
“Earth has been very important in many cultures, [seen] as a symbol of fertility, a life-giving force,” masharu said, citing some peoples’ beliefs that eating soil can even be medicinal.
These documented experiences – both old and new – form the heart of their exhibition, which features many fascinating, insightful, and sometimes outlandish stories.
One of the most memorable involves a woman named Stanislava Monstvilienė from Lithuania, who claims that eating only earth healed her from cancer – something not backed by any medical research.
“I don’t know if it is true, but this was her story. We were going into the woods with her and she was taking handfuls of earth and eating it,” said masharu.
But even when spurious, every experience collected becomes an intriguing window into a human taboo: consuming something we’ve been told all our lives is disgusting and dangerous.
How dangerous is eating dirt?
Although Somerset House’s samples have been tested for safety and come with disclaimers, eating soil – especially straight from the ground – still has potentially serious health risks, including bacterial or parasitic infections.
“[Earth] can have pollutants and microorganisms, which are not as good for the human body, especially since we are not so connected to earth anymore and our microbiomes are poor,” said masharu.
However, when asked if there’s ever been any bad outcomes from their tasting sessions, masharu remembers only one almost devastating incident in the Netherlands.
“We did an event where we developed cocktails with clay. I worked with a professional cocktail maker. After this event, a lot of people felt sick with diarrhoea and vomiting, and we were like, oh no!”
After investigating the issue and sending out detailed questionnaires, they realised there was one person who did not drink the cocktails but was still sick, meaning – cue huge relief – it was likely caused by the dinner at the event.
In fact, the clay cocktails might have even helped reduce the food poisoning’s symptoms, according to masharu.
“I presented all the information and data that I collected to this mathematician and she did statistics on it. She said that the people who drank the cocktails with clay, or drank more cocktails with clay, were less likely to vomit compared to people who drank less clay,” they said.
Alongside highlighting the health and cultural aspects of eating earth, masharu’s project also shows how interconnected something as simple as soil can be; reflecting not only urgent environmental issues, but those relating to gender, race and class.
“[The way we think about eating] earth is also often connected to poverty, so it [reflects] class. And then to gender, because in some places I’ve been to it’s associated with some kind of femininity. So, for men it would be [considered] shameful to eat earth,” they explained.
“It is a very intersectional practice, and what started with my personal desires became a very broad subject that also took me around Earth.”
Museum of Edible Earth is on display at Somerset House in London, UK, until 26 April 2026.