The food on our plates may not be as nutritious as it once was, and Illinois farmers and soil experts said regenerative agriculture could offer part of the solution.
Carl Rosier, a soil scientist and farmer for the nonprofit Basil’s Harvest, said traditional agricultural practices, breeding crops for size and production, can dilute nutrients like protein and minerals. He pointed out degraded soil, reduced organic matter, and other factors may also affect how nutrients become available to plants. And because the majority of produce is made to withstand long-distance shipping, he noted it loses additional nutrients traveling from the farm to grocery stores before reaching people’s plates.
"We have this dependence on chemical fertilizers, so we apply these chemical fertilizers to get that crop as big as we can, and because of that, those don't scale," Rosier explained.
Rosier argued regenerative agriculture shows promise for bringing nutrients back to crops through improving soil health and creating stronger microbial communities, which are groups of small organisms in and around plants. More scientific evidence is needed to consistently measure its benefits. As farmers continue to face pressure to remain profitable, some industry voices said there is little room for implementing new practices that might not pay off.
Erin Meyer, founder and executive director of the nonprofit, said the organization is helping them transition to practices like no-till farming and cover cropping by meeting them where they are, but stressed the food system requires more than asking farmers to change how they grow. She noted community response measures to recent food recalls — pushing consumers to depend more on local ingredients — offer a blueprint of how food systems should be functioning.
"It has to be healthcare, has to be agriculture, and it has to be food systems that have to come together to help create and build on what's being done already," Meyer urged.
Meyer underscored that people can focus on shopping at farmers' markets and local food co-ops to help support farmers and regional food systems and acknowledged it does not have to be all or nothing. Families can mix locally sourced foods into their weekly grocery store budgets.
Ultimately, she added, building a healthier food system will take collaboration where everyone has a role to play.
Illinois News Service originally published this story.
