Why be a regenerative consumer? It all starts with our health.

*This post covers information from the first two videos of the "Being a Regenerative Consumer" course - the "Introduction" and "Organic Farming and Human Health, Part 1". Want to join in? You can join the on-demand course at any time.

Why do you want to be a regenerative consumer?

I’m not sure that I knew the answer to that when we first started farming, but over the last five years, I’ve primarily thought of regenerative farming in relation to soil health and animal welfare. Only in the last year or so have I started to understand the importance of regenerative farming on human health.

The first two videos of the “Being a Regenerative Consumer” course spell this out in rather bleak terms. The question isn’t: Do you want to consume regenerative products? Rather, the question posed is: Do you know what toxins are in your food – and in your body?

What was your gut reaction to learning about the frightening levels of toxins that are in your body - right now? For me, it was fear and anger. Fear because even if we want to be conscientious and healthy people, we still consume “healthy” foods that are nevertheless poisoning us. And anger because it’s difficult to comprehend how we’ve gotten to this point, and why it’s something that flies under the radar.

But I also think that it’s an effective way to emphasize the urgency of growing, consuming, and thinking in regenerative ways. Because our Western culture often sees earth and land as something “other than” or “separate from” ourselves, it can be easy to shrug off our responsibilities toward it, or make excuses that cater to convenience.

I find myself doing this all the time, in fact. It’s easy to tell yourself that it’s okay to buy conventional carrots, because it’s too much work to grow them yourself, or maybe the organic carrots are sold out. Or, more significantly, because organic carrots are priced out of our budget.

But it's much harder to do this when we realize the toll on our bodies - or those of our children. Hearing those facts rightly sets off alarm bells, and hopefully, a desire for immediate change.

But what does change look like? I think the solution that naturally presents itself in this course, which is to buy and source ingredients that are locally, sustainably, and regeneratively grown, is only part of the puzzle. What this information really challenges us to do, I think, is something much more important: to explicitly think of food as something that directly contributes to our health.

In fact, as Dr. Stoll points out, food should be seen as part of our health care. We think of food in many different ways in this country - as something that contributes to or detracts from our cholesterol, weight, and energy, for example - but we don't often hear it discussed as something that has medicinal qualities. I don't mean that you eat broccoli when you have a cold. Rather, I mean that we think of food that has the capability to heal, and that food - and pasture-raised food in particular - has essential nutrients that our body cannot do without.

The way that your food is grown directly affects the kind of nutrients that are found in it. It isn't that spinach has a set percentage of calcium that is found in every single crop, or that meat has a particular fat quality or level of vitamins. Rather, those nutrients are subject to change dependent upon the way that animals and plants are cared for. Do animals receive sunshine from being outside all day? If so, they'll have more Vitamin D, which will result in increased levels of Vitamin D in the meat you eat. Given that the majority of our population struggles from Vitamin D deficiency, this is a significant fact! But did you know this? Do you hear people talk about it?

Learning which foods heal our body - and how - takes time, research, and lots and lots of cooking. But pasture-raised food does contain significantly higher levels of some very important nutrients. Here's some good places to start.

• Beta-carotene: Beta-carotene is essential for protecting our visual and promoting occular health. It's also an antioxidant, which protects our cells from free radical damage, and our bodies convert beta-carotene into Vitamin A. Beta-carotene is especially prevalent in grass-fed beef and pasture-raised eggs.
• Vitamin D: When it comes to bone health, vitamin D is an essential nutrient. Likewise, vitamin D has a critical role in helping our immune systems function: over 90% of COVID fatalities have occurred in people with vitamin D deficiencies. All pasture-raised meat has increased levels of Vitamin D, since animals live outdoors 24/7, but two of the best sources can be found in woodland-raised pork and pasture-raised chicken.

What thoughts did you have while watching the first two videos of the Rodale course? What change are you committed to making for your own health? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Next week, we'll cover the next two videos in the course: episodes three and four. See you then!