The connection between our food production and human health is complex, but the emerging evidence is clear: agriculture and human health are connected and it’s time to act on what we know.
Nature is powerful! It seems many experience improved health when they realize they're apart of nature, too, and can work with it and their bodies towards better health!
Jun 17, 2022·edited Jun 17, 2022Liked by Meg Chatham
So take better care of the soil, to take better care of our food, to take better care of us! What are the biggest barriers to getting this food in the hands of consumers? I know last week you highlighted the marketing problem and the focus on human health as the solution. But I've never really seen something labeled as "regenerative" at the grocery store, and this is the only place I've seen education on why regenerative farming is good for humans. So what are those barriers keeping information from the hands of consumers?
From my perspective, I think the challenges include many social and technological barriers, a lack of long-term research studies, and the lack of education for public and medical professionals. I'd be naive to ignore one of the biggest challenges: our producers and many food manufacturers are incentivized to maintain the industrialized, extractive model. If regenerative becomes the most profitable way to farm, then perhaps we wouldn't need to see "regenerative" labels at the grocery store. Until then, I believe we need a multi-directional approach. In a nutshell, if we could encourage education and collaboration between medical professionals, farmers, and consumers, integrate more nutritional education into medical school curriculums, incentivize localized, integrated, regenerative farming and medical treatment practices, fund more research and transition farming, and urge food companies to support regen, we'd see a substantial shift in our food system towards regenerative.
Jun 17, 2022·edited Jun 17, 2022Liked by Meg Chatham
Meg--you should also check out the research we are doing at the Bionutrient Institute/Bionutrient Food Association. David Montgomery and Anne Bikle, the two authors of the article you referenced, have a new book coming out next week called "What Your Food Ate" and our work is featured in that book.
Thank you for writing this. We believe if we as farmers keep working to improve the immune systems of our soils that produce food, the science will catch up. Its not enough to just grow grain regeneratively and sell the the elevator to be commingled with conventional grains. We direct market grains, stone milled flour & full nutrition artisan pasta to help people know where their food comes from. Our exclusive nutritional label for our pasta shows the grain grown within our system is higher in protein, minerals and liver in calories.
Hi Meg! I'm a clinical nutritionist and I've been quite active in the regen ag community for several years now, so I really appreciate your wonderful articles connecting soil health and human health. I think it's also important for us to realize that healthier soil not only offers us more nutrient-dense food, but it has a profound impact on optimizing our human microbiomes, which is an area we need much more research in! Wouldn't it be great if we had a study looking at the microbiomes of folks that ate more regeneratively raised foods vs. standard American diets? :) I did a webinar last year called "Regenerating Human Health: The Soil & Human Microbiomes" that you might find of interest - https://youtu.be/Gft3vunRrDc
Love this! Understanding soul health transformed my own health and the health of my clients dramatically
Nature is powerful! It seems many experience improved health when they realize they're apart of nature, too, and can work with it and their bodies towards better health!
So take better care of the soil, to take better care of our food, to take better care of us! What are the biggest barriers to getting this food in the hands of consumers? I know last week you highlighted the marketing problem and the focus on human health as the solution. But I've never really seen something labeled as "regenerative" at the grocery store, and this is the only place I've seen education on why regenerative farming is good for humans. So what are those barriers keeping information from the hands of consumers?
From my perspective, I think the challenges include many social and technological barriers, a lack of long-term research studies, and the lack of education for public and medical professionals. I'd be naive to ignore one of the biggest challenges: our producers and many food manufacturers are incentivized to maintain the industrialized, extractive model. If regenerative becomes the most profitable way to farm, then perhaps we wouldn't need to see "regenerative" labels at the grocery store. Until then, I believe we need a multi-directional approach. In a nutshell, if we could encourage education and collaboration between medical professionals, farmers, and consumers, integrate more nutritional education into medical school curriculums, incentivize localized, integrated, regenerative farming and medical treatment practices, fund more research and transition farming, and urge food companies to support regen, we'd see a substantial shift in our food system towards regenerative.
Meg--you should also check out the research we are doing at the Bionutrient Institute/Bionutrient Food Association. David Montgomery and Anne Bikle, the two authors of the article you referenced, have a new book coming out next week called "What Your Food Ate" and our work is featured in that book.
Thanks, Eric! I will dive into your work, and I've pre-ordered the new book and look forward to reading it.
Thank you for writing this. We believe if we as farmers keep working to improve the immune systems of our soils that produce food, the science will catch up. Its not enough to just grow grain regeneratively and sell the the elevator to be commingled with conventional grains. We direct market grains, stone milled flour & full nutrition artisan pasta to help people know where their food comes from. Our exclusive nutritional label for our pasta shows the grain grown within our system is higher in protein, minerals and liver in calories.
Hi Meg! I'm a clinical nutritionist and I've been quite active in the regen ag community for several years now, so I really appreciate your wonderful articles connecting soil health and human health. I think it's also important for us to realize that healthier soil not only offers us more nutrient-dense food, but it has a profound impact on optimizing our human microbiomes, which is an area we need much more research in! Wouldn't it be great if we had a study looking at the microbiomes of folks that ate more regeneratively raised foods vs. standard American diets? :) I did a webinar last year called "Regenerating Human Health: The Soil & Human Microbiomes" that you might find of interest - https://youtu.be/Gft3vunRrDc