Health care today is often, in reality, “sick care.” We turn to medical professionals for the treatment and management of sickness and disease. Farmer Doug Flack is an activist who suggests a very different approach. He believes we should turn to the land to cultivate optimal health. He is convinced that we must develop healthy soil for healthy people. For this reason he asserts that the farm should be our primary health provider.
He has spent years investigating and developing his approach to wellness. His studies have led him to the conclusion that industrialized farming and industrial food products are the reason for the lack of wellness in our modern society. Now, Doug spends his time cultivating the land, producing nutrient-dense foods, and advocating for farmers’ rights and consumers’ health in Vermont and around the nation and the world.
In today’s conversation, Doug explains why healthy soils are critical for our health and our future. While conventional farmers strip the soil of nutrients and rely on chemical inputs, Doug enhances soil function and fertility organically. And, of course, food raised on such land is an important part of a truly healthy diet. This episode not only encourages us to nourish ourselves with these staples, but it also reminds us that, in doing so, we are supporting soil fertility and soil champions like Doug Flack.
Visit his website for more info at flackfamilyfarm.com.
Notes
In this episode of Wise Traditions, Vermont farmer Doug Flack speaks with us about how we can make the farm our primary healthcare provider. Doug is a long-time activist, ecologist and lover of great food. He began farming in Fairfield, Vermont forty years ago while building his house and raising his daughters. Today, his organic farm sells raw milk, grass-fed beef and lamb and 16 tons of fermented vegetables. Soil health is key in his management practices. Doug was an early adopter and promoter of management intensive grazing, a major tool for increasing soil organic matter and soil function.
He describes how an abnormality in the emergence of his wife’s wisdom teeth sparked his interest in the work of Dr. Weston Price. At the time of this event, Doug was a student of evolutionary biology, and he became curious why modern humans were not developing– physically and mentally — with the same ease as their early human predecessors. His investigation led him to the conclusion that industrialized farming and industrial food products are the reason for the lack of wellness in our modern society. Now, Doug spends his time cultivating the land, producing nutrient-dense foods, and advocating for farmer’s rights.
In this interview, Doug explains why healthy soils are the precursors to healthy people. While conventional farmers strip the soil of nutrients and rely on chemical inputs, Doug enhances soil function and fertility. Such soils help create the nutrient-dense foods recommended to us by Dr. Price. This episode not only encourages us to nourish ourselves with these staples, but it also reminds us that, in doing so, we are supporting soil fertility and soil champions like Farmer Doug.
This episode highlights:
- Why many different traditional diets all achieved the same results among the peoples studied by Dr. Price
- How our DNA helps us select appropriate foods
- The huge changes to the food supply after WWII
- Why “enriched/fortified foods” are not as healthy as their proponents suggest
- Why both humans and animals cannot be nourished by foods from depleted soils
- The differences between a supermarket carrot and a carrot grown in high-functioning soil
Why Doug would disagree with Dr. Oz’ statement that “conventional food is just as nutrient-dense as organic food” - The work of William Albrecht, a soil scientist who made the connection between soil and public health
- Doug’s “one” piece of advice for the listener – the foods which we should avoid at all costs and those to which we should return
Resources:
The Fat of The Land by Vilhjalmur Stefansson
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