What your food ate with David R. Montgomery

David R. Montgomery is a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington. He looks at the process shaping Earth’s surface and how they affect ecological systems—and human societies. He has studied everything from the ways that landslides and glaciers influence the height of mountain ranges, to the way that soils have shaped human civilizations both now and in the past. He has worked in mountain ranges throughout the world, from the Cascades in the Pacific Northwest, to the Andes in South America and Tibet and the Himalaya in Central Asia. In addition to his academic work, he has written a number of popular science books, three of which won the Washington State Book Award. One of his books, Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life focuses on the potential for regenerative farming practice to reshape agriculture. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and has received many awards throughout his career, including a MacArthur Fellowship and the Vega Medal. He has been featured in documentary films, network and cable news, and on a wide variety of TV and radio programs. His books have been translated into ten languages. He lives in Seattle with his wife, and co-author, Anne Biklé. What is the state of the world’s soil, and how has soil degradation shaped the course and fate of past civilizations? Why is soil life so critical to regenerative farming? How fast can regenerative farming practices bring degraded soil back to life? How do farming practices affect the nutritional profile of crops? Does soil health influence human health? We all know that diet matters and have heard the old adage you are what you eat. But dig a little deeper and the importance of what your food ate comes into focus. For how we treat the soil on farms ripples through to affect the amount of health protective micronutrients and phytochemicals in our crops, and what we feed livestock affects the mix of fats in meat and dairy products. Modern farming practices reliant on frequent tillage, excessive applications of soluble nitrogen fertilizers, and reliance on pesticides have both degraded agricultural soils and reduced the amount of beneficial compounds in foods. Yet in farms in both the industrialized and developing worlds improving soil health through adoption a combination of three transformational regenerative farming practices—minimizing soil disturbance, planting cover crops, and growing diverse crop rotations—offers a profitable way to rebuild the fertility of the soil and thereby reduce dependence on fossil fuels and agrochemicals. Combining ancient wisdom with modern science, regenerative practices can be good for farmers and the environment, translating into farms that use less water, generate less pollution, lower carbon emissions, stash carbon underground, and produce more nutrient-dense food to better support human health. It turns out that what’s good for the land is good for us too. For more science visit: • Website: https://www.scienceandcocktails.org • Facebook:   / scienceandcocktailscph   • Youtube:    / sciencecocktails   • Instagram:   / scienceandcocktailsglobal