Latvian farmers propose traditional farming practices, healthy living, and preventative health care values to locals and tourists in order to improve human and environment health.

The Eco-Health Farms (EHF) model was created in the 90’s by Mara Bergmane, her husband Dainis Bergmanis and Latvian colleagues, in order to address three key problems Latvians were facing: the deterioration of the health standards of Eastern Europeans, the environmental degradation, and the decreasing economic opportunities for farmers. Indeed, health levels in Latvia and Eastern Europe were lower than in the rest of Europe (due to the prevalence of chronic diseases, substance abuse, overuse of pharmaceuticals, etc…). Besides, the use of intensive farming techniques in collective farms during Latvia’s half-century of Soviet occupation created a legacy of negative impacts on the health of people and the environment. In addition, small farms were under increasing pressure to cut costs to compete with large European farms, a situation exacerbated by the entry into the EU. An added difficulty for rural Latvian, with lowest incomes than the average incomes of the country.