Where Food Comes from Matters By Jim Linne

Last Friday I followed the White Clover Farm tradition of showing my customers the source of their food by walking a young man across one of the pastures that make up my 300-acre farm.

As a trained gastroenterologist, I understand the importance of food in both preventative health and in managing chronic disease. Now, as a grass-fed beef farmer, I am coming to appreciate the impact of how that food is produced on the nutritional value of the food and impact on our ecosystems. As a result, I am a firm believer in showing my customers where their food comes from and letting the fertility of the land and the health of my cattle speak for themselves.

On the east border of my farm lies our largest rotational grazing field, and as I walked with this young man, I saw that it was teeming with life: dung beetles rustled at our feet, tree swallows flew above, honey bees were visiting the yellow flowers of dandelion and wild mustard, and the cows watched us warily as they kept an eye on their newborn calves.  Across the fence, my neighbor’s pastures were brown and barren.

The young man asked,  “Why do these two fields look so different?” Soil management, I responded.

So, as a board member of the Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice, I was very excited to assist in the planning of the Nourishing Life Conference to be held online this year, on June 18th and 19th. I want attendees to appreciate the importance of nourishing all life, including the birds, insects, and soil microbes we experienced in that pasture that spring day.

 Although the covid-19 pandemic has derailed the familiarity and connection of an in-person conference, this online format has provided the conference an international panel of world-class experts in nutrition, soil biology, impact of industrialization of agriculture on our ecosystems, how lifestyle and highly processed foods have led to our obesity epidemic and diet related chronic diseases, and finally, how soil fertility is the foundation of nutrient dense and vitamin rich foods.

My hope is that conference attendees will leave the conference with a more complete understanding that soil health is the true foundation of nutritious food and that nutrition is not about food alone. It must also include awareness of how and where it is produced to better understand how to ensure sustainable and equitable access to healthy food in order to foster community health and advocate for fair compensation for our food producers and distributors.

Click here to register and find more information about the conference.