Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
We know that our diet influences our health. But is there more to the adage "you are what you eat?" Connecting the dots from agriculture to medicine, geologist David R. Montgomery and biologist Anne Bikl argue we overlook the other half of a healthy diet: how we grow our food.
Journeying from research labs to the fields of regenerative farmers, they uncover scientific and historical evidence for how farming practices--so often disruptive to microbial partnerships--influence soil health and shape the types and amounts of health-promoting minerals, fats, and phytochemicals in our crops, meat, and dairy--and thus ourselves. Understanding these connections has profound implications for what we eat and how we grow it, now and in the future. A capstone work from lauded authors, What Your Food Ate is a story both sobering and inspiring: what's good for the soil is good for us, too.
Synopsis
David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikl take us far beyond the well-worn adage to deliver a new truth: the roots of good health start on farms. What Your Food Ate marshals evidence from recent and forgotten science to illustrate how the health of the soil ripples through to that of crops, livestock, and ultimately us.
The long-running partnerships through which crops and soil life nourish one another suffuse plant and animal foods in the human diet with an array of compounds and nutrients our bodies need to protect us from pathogens and chronic ailments. Unfortunately, conventional agricultural practices unravel these vital partnerships and thereby undercut our well-being. Can farmers and ranchers produce enough nutrient-dense food to feed us all? Can we have quality and quantity?
With their trademark thoroughness and knack for integrating information across numerous scientific fields, Montgomery and Bikl chart the way forward. Navigating discoveries and epiphanies about the world beneath our feet, they reveal why regenerative farming practices hold the key to healing sick soil and untapped potential for improving human health.
Humanity's hallmark endeavors of agriculture and medicine emerged from our understanding of the natural world--and still depend on it. Montgomery and Bikl eloquently update this fundamental reality and show us why what's good for the land is good for us, too. What Your Food Ate is a must-read for farmers, eaters, chefs, doctors, and anyone concerned with reversing the modern epidemic of chronic diseases and mitigating climate change.