Rodale Institute Says Regenerative Agriculture Is the Future
There’s no doubt that we in the United States are increasingly curious about what we put into our bodies, and whether or not what we are eating is safe. These conversations might stem from bacterial concerns on the rise, food additive safety, or farming practices and their long-term impact on our health and planet. What do we really know about the methods used to create what we eat? Or what’s in our food? (It’s important that we do…in more ways than one!)
Our Prevention readers do their own research and ask timely questions about finding and eating not just anything, but the right foods for their health. (Are nut butters good for you? Do cherries have any hidden health benefits? What’s all this talk about raw milk, and is it safe?) These are queries we regularly field from our audience—and for good reason: the food we eat is an important component of a healthy lifestyle and is deeply linked to our longevity. And as a magazine that’s now in its 75th year—launched in 1950 by J.I. Rodale, and a Hearst brand as of 2018—we’re still talking about it. Food brings us together.
In September of 2024, I had the pleasure of visiting Prevention’s origins, in a sense, at Rodale Institute’s Regenerative Healthcare Conference, which was held at Rodale Institute’s 386-acre experimental organic farm and headquarters in the rolling green hills of Kutztown, Pennsylvania. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which is dedicated to independent research around regenerative organic farming practices, hopes not only to educate people from all walks of life about the power of organic farming, but also to offer education and research that helps repair a flawed food system, build and restore soil health, and fight climate change in the process. While sustainable farming often seeks to protect and prevent degradation of land, regenerative farming uses methods that aim to restore and improve soil health, the thought being (as J.I. Rodale, an entrepreneur from New York, once scrawled on a chalkboard): “Healthy Soil = Healthy Food = Healthy People.”
Healthier food, no doubt, makes way for a healthier population—but adjustments to widespread, traditional farming methods (and the ways we educate people about the power of food) are still slow to change: “The disconnection between our food and medical systems challenges the healthcare sector. For example, the increased industrialization of the global food system has led to epidemic levels of lifestyle-related diseases. In the United States, some in the medical community are looking for alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions to treat lifestyle-related chronic illnesses. But there’s a gap in knowledge that disincentives some doctors prescribing what is often referred to as “food as medicine.” At Rodale Institute, we’re investing in programming that fills this gap as we recognize physicians need new tools to improve human health such as practical knowledge about how nutrient-dense diets can improve outcomes for certain patients,” shares Jeff Tkach, CEO of Rodale Institute.
The multi-day annual conference welcomed a small group of doctors, farmers, and former pharma execs from around the world—even some folks looking to start their own smaller-scale farms after inheriting family land, or trying a hand at a decidedly non-corporate lifestyle after years of executive work. One or two people arrived barefoot, others took sunbathing breaks between speakers, and the event was primarily outdoors, making it one of the more unique conferences I’ve attended.
The four-day event focused on the following themes and featured speakers with a variety of focuses and expertise:
Day 1: Farmers as Frontline Healthcare Workers
Day 2: Soil as Medicine: The Role of Regenerative Organic Agriculture in Food as Medicine
Day 3: Investing in Life-Long Health: Equitable, Accessible, and Community-Centered Food as Medicine
Day 4: Root to Rise: Applying a Regenerative Healthcare Framework to System’s Change.
I attended day two of the event specifically, which included speakers such as Dr. Gladis Zinati, who presented Vegetable Systems Trial results and other RI research (more on that later), as well as Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark (Nourish to Flourish: Integrative Nutrition Essentials presentation). There was also an engaging group presentation by Dr. Lori Walsh, Dr. Gary Soffer, Dr. Michelle Loy, and Erin Meyer (Soil to Health: An integrative approach to the role of sourcing in food as medicine and regenerative organic agriculture in health) that sparked conversation around the role of food and soil quality’s influence on our daily lives and future.
But, Rodale Institute is more than just a pastoral venue for engaging keynote speakers. It does important work in training a new generation of farmers, and conducting research to change the way we look at our current farming practices in the United States.
The organization runs multiple ongoing research projects, two of which our readers might be especially interested in. First, the Vegetable Systems Trial, which tests conventional and organic vegetable farming methods side-by-side, and evaluates the differences in veggie nutrient density, soil health, drought and insect resilience, and profitability. Then, there’s the Farming Systems Trial, a 40+ year program that’s taken a deeper look at soil health, carbon capture, water infiltration and overall crop yield, with a focus on corn and soybean production.
RI is also dedicated to training the next crop of farmers in organic farming practices, offering multiple training programs, most notably Rodale Institute’s Farmer Training (RIFT), and the Veteran Farmer Training Program (VFT), which welcomes applications from military veterans looking to make their next career move.
To learn more about Rodale Institute and what it does, we welcome you to dig deeper here!
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