D2_Agraria_Journal_21_OPT

what to do, she just needs us to get our boot off of her neck. Now that the farm was in grass- land, I introduced cattle as a way to build soil organic matter, recycle nutrients, and produce high quality beef. Healthy soil is a living organism with billions of microbes in a single teaspoon. In order not to harm the soil biology, we have avoided using any harmful chemicals such as antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, or herbicides. With short periods of grazing followed by long periods of rest, the biodiversity of plants in the pasture has increased as the latent seed bank is awakened. The soil organic matter has increased from 1.5% to 4%, cycling carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequestering it in the soil. This has resulted in improved soil structure with better water infiltration and water holding capacity. We can now hold an additional 50,000 gallons of water per acre. Not only does this allow us to grow more biomass, it also helps protect the watershed from erosion, runoff, leaching, flooding and drought. The restored groundwater provides our cattle with clean water year around from natural springs. We are able to produce our 100% grass-fed beef using only grass, sunshine, and water—the way Nature intended. Testing done at Michigan State University confirms the high mineral, vitamin, and omega-3 fatty acid content of our beef. 4 We direct-market our beef locally, providing a healthy product while improving the land. Nature has responded to the care that we have given to the land with another gift in the form of birds. We now have hundreds of swallows that follow the cattle herd providing natural fly control. Red tailed hawks, American kestrels, Northern harriers, and short eared owls patrol the pastures and hayfields. The presence of birds of prey are an indication of a healthy ecosystem with a well-functioning food web. A holistic definition of health includes the health of the planet as well as all of its inhabitants. They cannot be separated. As we strive to improve our health through better nutrition, we must remember that healthy soil is the foundation for healthy food as well as ecosystem function. Optimal health only occurs when the whole ecosystem is healthy. Jim Linne is on the Agraria Board of Trustees and also the planning committee for the Nourishing Life Conference to be held June 18-19, 2021. He is owner of White Clover Farm. Jim Linne with his herd of cattle on White Clover Farm RENEE WILDE AGRARIA JOURNAL 2021 23 "Soil is the foundation of health. Healthy, nutrient dense food comes from healthy biologically alive soil." Citations: 1. Wang, Youfa et al. “Will all Americans become overweight or obese? estimating the progression and cost of the US obesity epidemic.” Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) vol. 16,10 (2008): 2323-30. doi:10.1038/oby.2008.351 2. Poti JM, Braga B, Qin B. Ultra-processed Food Intake and Obesity: What Really Matters for Health-Processing or Nutrient Content? Curr Obes Rep. 2017 Dec;6(4):420-431. doi: 10.1007/s13679-017-0285-4. PMID: 29071481; PMCID: PMC5787353. 3. Mozaffarian, Dariush et al. “Changes in diet and lifestyle and long-term weight gain in women and men.” The New England journal of medicine vol. 364,25 (2011): 2392-404. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1014296 4. Bronkema, Sara & Rowntree, Jason & Jain, Raghav & Schweihofer, Jeannine & Bitler, Chad & Fenton, Jenifer. (2019). A Nutritional Survey of Commercially Available Grass-Finished Beef. Meat and Muscle Biology. 3. 116. 10.22175/mmb2018.10.0034.