So what is a “healthy diet”?  The tag line of our website reads “Where soil, grass, animals and sunlight equals health”.  Sound like a weird equation?  Below I summarize and then list some quotes from the 2010 presentation “Healthy Soil, Healthy Farms, Healthy Food, Healthy People” by retired University of Missouri Agriculture Economics Professor John Ikerd.

Our current food system is broken as reflected by the current health of our family, friends and society as a whole.  The growing health problems such as cancer, obesity and food allergies are all symptoms of our current food system.  Nutrient levels in common garden crops has dropped significantly over the past 50 years.  Today’s industrial agriculture profits are driven by quantity rather than by quality.  Any kind of CHANGE for an individual is almost impossible unless we are convinced by circumstances that the change would be in our best interest.  To change there must be an alternative to what we are currently doing and a belief that the transition will be worth the effort to make the change.  The good news, there is hope; sick people are finding farmers with a passion for quality over quantity.  Surprisingly these “new American Farmers” in many cases grow better food at a lower cost because of their love for what they are doing.  These farmers focus their efforts on rebuilding health from the soil, to the plants, to the animals, to the entire farm, to the food they produce which is reflected in the health of their customers.  These “new” farmers fall under a number of labels, but a broad definition they seem to fall under is “sustainable farmers”.  Basically these new farmers are “creating farming systems that can meet the needs of the present without diminishing opportunities for the future.”

• “quick, convenient, cheap food has made Americans the most overfed and undernourished people in the world”
• “today’s children are the first generation whose members are expected to live shorter lives than their parents”
• “Health care in America already consumes more than 17-percent of our GDP, nearly three times as much as the 7-percent claimed by agriculture/food”
• “their medical problem may well be a consequence of their eating food with chemical additives or agrochemical residues, or eating manufactured ‘food-like substances'”
• “Animals and men are biochemical photographs of the soil”
• “A truly healthy soil will produce healthy plants, healthy animals, and healthy people.”
• “work in harmony with nature to produce healthy animals and healthy crops by maintaining healthy soils.”
• “The links among healthy soils, healthy foods, and healthy people certainly makes sense; in this, there is hope.”

When a local doctor told me that a daily pill was basically the only option to treat my digestive health issues, I decided to research opportunities for change.  I went in pursuit of alternatives to our current health system of taking a pill.  At the time I wasn’t even considering a change to my diet but in the end, a change in diet was what I needed.  My health improved, no pills required!  As you reflect on your health and the health of your family at the beginning of the new year, we invite you to search out these “new American Farmers” where you live.  The love they have for what they are doing will be evident in the food they are producing.  As explained in the article, your health is a reflection of the food you are consuming.

Read the full presentation text of “Healthy Soil, Healthy Farms, Healthy Food, Healthy People” by retired University of Missouri professor John Ikerd.

Happy New Year from D S Family Farm!