FARMINGTON — DDG Booksellers will host an author presentation and book signing of the book “A New Path” by Arthur Haines at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 12, at the gazebo in Meeting House Park.

The book makes a case for loss of health and sovereignty as a result of human domestication and seeks to rekindle people’s desire for nature connection and eco-conscientious living.

Haines is a forager, ancestral skills mentor, author, public speaker and botanical researcher. As a research botanist for the New England Wildflower Society, he recently completed a comprehensive study of flora of the New England region titled “Flora Novae Angliae” and has authored more than 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals and books, including naming species of plants new to science.  He has a series of YouTube videos geared for people interested in foraging wild, edible and medicinal plants.

“A New Path” takes a candid look at the contemporary way of life of humans in an attempt to reinstate our biological norms — patterns of living that define each species on the planet. This book presents the forgotten species’ norms of Homo sapiens and explains that when we deviate from these patterns, we experience sicknesses of various kinds, such as cancer, depression, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Through combining historical observations of hunter-gatherers — people who were extremely resilient to chronic disease — with modern, evidence-based research, “A New Path” tackles the mythology of improving life through technology. It also provides guidance on many aspects of human health, including diet, water, medicine, awareness, nature immersion, movement, hormesis, community and ancestral technologies.

Arthur Haines