The saying “you are what you eat” is commonly recognised, but a greater truth lies just beneath the surface – you are also what your food eats. Whether we consume plants or animals, the quality of what they eat – nutrients from the soil, animal feed or even chemical additives – ultimately affects our health.
Today, industrial farming methods are heavily dependent on monocropping practices, synthetic fertilisers and pesticides – all of which harm biodiversity and soil organisms, much like how the overuse of antibiotics affects humans. These agricultural practices have developed in tandem with government and market incentivisation that promote increasingly processed diets high in sugar, fat and processed meat. Between 2016 and 2021, government subsidies from 72 countries including all countries within the EU averaged $149.2 billion annually. It is, then, no surprise that diet-related non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease are at an all-time high across the globe.
On the heels of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial Senate hearing to become the Secretary of Health and Human Services, it is important to acknowledge an agenda item at the top of his list that is commonplace. Despite disagreements over his broader views, health experts and scientists share his belief that “human health and environmental injuries are intertwined.” You are what you eat, and what you are eating (generally speaking) is food that is grown or reared on soil that is severely lacking in nutrients.
Soil: The foundation for a healthy life
Soil is more than just dirt – it is a living, dynamic system that is fundamentally important to terrestrial life. Nutrients in our soil are absorbed by plants and, in turn, become the foundation of our diets by either feeding us directly or by feeding the animals we ultimately eat. More specifically, soil provides us with a habitat for diverse organisms, it is a reservoir for carbon, nutrients and water. It also helps regulate erosion, influences climate through greenhouse gas exchange and sustains human societies by enabling food and livestock production.
Healthy soil allows plants to develop strong immune systems and produce phytochemicals – compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that benefit human health. However, today’s global agricultural systems have led to widespread soil degradation. Modern farming practices like monocropping and excessive synthetic fertiliser use have depleted soil nutrients, resulting in less nutrient-dense foods and, ultimately, less livestock.
When soil is degraded, crops become more vulnerable to pests and disease, leading to increased pesticide use and potentially harmful residues in our food. Though we may eat a diet rich in vegetables and grains, depleted soil means we often don’t get the vitamins and minerals we need for optimal health. Hospital data for England and Wales in 2023 revealed a threefold increase in diagnoses linked to poor diet in the past decade, with nearly half a million people admitted to the hospital with iron deficiencies, hundreds of thousands with vitamin deficiencies, and more than 10,000 cases of malnutrition in 2023 alone.
You are what your food eats
Soil feeds us and our food. Livestock reared on pastures with a diversity of plant species produce more nutrient-dense meat and milk than those fed grain-based or sometimes genetically modified feed. Studies have shown that livestock that are primarily fed on grass could make a significant contribution to our supply of several key nutrients, including protein – in the UK, for instance, grasslands currently produce enough protein to meet one-third of our national requirements. As outlined in the Sustainable Food Trust’s Feeding Britain From the Ground Up report, farming systems would become more efficient by shifting from grain-based livestock production, which uses land that could grow food for humans, to pasture-based systems. Currently, one-third of global cropland is dedicated to growing livestock feed, while around one-third of all food produced is lost each year. Repurposing this land for direct human consumption could feed an additional 4 billion people – which would have notable benefits for national food security.
Among other benefits, well-managed grasslands and grazing livestock enable more circular cropping systems that diminish the need for synthetic inputs, provide a significant supply of nutrient-dense food from forage, support increased levels of biodiversity, and offer a broad range of social and cultural benefits.
A soil-first mindset is non-negotiable
If we are what we eat – and what our food eats – then the health of our soil must be a global health priority. The depletion of soil nutrients and micronutrient deficiencies through industrial farming has not only compromised the nutritional quality of our food but has also contributed to the rise of diet-related diseases and environmental instability. The interconnectedness of soil health, human health and sustainable food systems, underscores the urgent need for agricultural practices that regenerate, rather than exhaust, the land.
The Sustainable Food Trust and others are calling for a holistic and integrated food and farming strategy that identifies clear social, environmental, public health and food security objectives. By providing financial incentives to enable farmers to transition to biologically based farming practices that integrate grazing animals and deliver multiple ecosystem services, we can create food systems that nourish both human beings, animals and the planet.
The conversation surrounding food, health and agriculture is gaining momentum, and as debates unfold – whether in government hearings or public discourse – one truth remains clear: our health and well-being is directly tied to the health of the land that sustains us. To build a future with resilient food systems and healthier populations, we must start from the ground up. In the end, we are not just what we eat, but we are what our food eats, too.
The Sustainable Food Trust will be releasing a new report later this year exploring the role of livestock within a sustainable food and farming system. Sign up to our newsletter here to be the first to hear about it.