Blogging about how your food gets from field to fork
Monday, March 4, 2013
Healthy Soils, Healthy Foods!
I was asked to write an article for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetic's Food and Nutrition Magazine on soil health and its relationship to food. For me as a dietitian turned farmer, its interesting how much cross over there is between human nutrition and soil and plant nutrition. Looking a soil and plant tissue analyses is very much like reviewing a patient's bloodwork. Its a snapshot of health and nutritional status. So while I am no longer prescribing diets for people, I do practice nutrition by prescribing diets for the crops we grow.
There are also 2 really good videos from USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service that I've linked below. One covers all the basics about soil and its health. The other is a good video on farmers adopting cover crops. They are both about 30 minutes long but worth the watching if you want to learn more!