Ian Somerhalder, an actor known best for his roles in “Vampire Diaries” and “Lost,” recently spoke out about why he chose to leave his Hollywood home for greener pastures. And by greener pastures, he really means greener pastures: now he’s raising his kids on a farm so that they can be connected to nature rather than living in the dismal urban environment of Los Angeles.
On the farm, Somerhalder, 44, and his wife Nikki Reed, 35, herself a movie star best known for her role on “Twilight,” raise both their two kids, a 6-year-old daughter and 5-month-old son, and about 20 animals, along with numerous herbs.
Speaking to E! News about the farm and how it requires real work, he Somerhalder said, “Walking through the farm with kids and dogs and family. Every stop, you’re pulling off of trees or off of bushes, pulling up out of the ground and feeding everyone as you’re moving through the farm.”
Continuing, he noted that while it is a lot of work, it also has an inestimable payoff for his family. As he put it, “It is a lot of work. It’s unbelievable when you see these amazing creature life forms and how they all live on the farm together is really special.”
He then noted that the farm mode of living has really taken over for his family, as now its life revolves around the food produced there and so they’re “farm people.” He said, “We’re farm people, we produce most of our own food, I live in my cowboy boots.”
He then noted that he has even stepped away from his acting career to focus on the farm and release documentaries about the regenerative farming that takes place on it, saying, “I stepped away from acting a little over four years ago to raise my kids, build my companies and get these films launched.”
Discussing the regenerative ranching his farm uses and how it helps fill the soil with nutrients, thus building up the land rather than breaking it down, Somerhalder added, “By using healthy soil management practices, we are building a secure future today, or tomorrow. And once you do have children, you realize I am no longer alone here. I am leaving this to my children.”
He added, when speaking on the idea of leaving a better world for one’s children, “As a parent, you never want to have to look at your kids and say, ‘I’m sorry.’ You want to be able to look at your children and say, ‘We did something. And as a result of that we secured our future.‘”
Further, he encouraged people to use their wallets to help reform the agriculture industry and move it away from megafarms using environmentally terrible farming practices: “You have the ability every day you walk out of your house to have the single most powerful vote on the planet, which is to vote with your dollar. What companies are you going to support? Are those companies good stewards of not just the environment, but of the communities that support that?”
Featured image credit: By Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA – C02460, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=135352224
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