cannabisbusinessinsights.comAUGUST 20248IN MY OPINIONTHE CASE FOR MORE VARIETY IN AGRICULTURE AND DIETSBy Christina Skonberg, Sr. Director of Sustainability & Mission, Simple MillsLuke Peterson's fields at A-Frame Farm in Madison, Minnesota stand in striking contrast to his neighbors'. Surrounding Luke's vibrant and diversified plots of sunflowers, buckwheat, flax, perennial wheat, and several other crops that make up his 15+ species rotation are miles of corn and soy. There's good reason for the steady dominance of corn and soy across the Midwest: robust market demand, strong insurance protections in case of crop failure and weather disasters, and a historical focus on specialization to maximize output, for starters. This reliance on a small handful of crops is characteristic of our global food system, where just four crops account for more than 50% of agricultural production, and just three crops account for 50% of our calories. These dominant crops can and do play important roles in our ecosystems and diets, but our overreliance on a narrow set of ingredients is threatening both planetary and human health. Biodiversity--the intricate web of life in a given geography--is a cornerstone of ecosystem health. Fostering a wide variety of plants and animals can build habitat for the creatures that pollinate and sustain our food supply, provide the building blocks for medicinal discoveries, regulate our climate, and clean our water, among a litany of other benefits. Yet, human activities, including the way we produce food, are putting one million species at risk of extinction. From a dietary standpoint, eating a diverse mix of plants is increasingly being recognized as critical for gut microbiome health and ensuring the consumption of a broad mix of important nutrients. In our concentrated model, Americans face significant nutrient deficiencies, with more than 90% of Americans deficient in fiber and vitamin D, and over 30% of Americans deficient in calcium. Our homogenous food system is leaving the health of ecosystems and humans at risk. Luke, a first-generation farmer with a fervent interest in the intersection of human and planetary health, is disrupting this paradigm. By rotating his fields with livestock and a panoply of assorted crops, he's cultivating much more than plants and animals; he's building rich soil capable of growing food for the next generations, he's storing water deep in the soil by choosing crops with long taproots, he's using perennial plants to pull carbon from the atmosphere into the soil, and he's expanding the array of ingredients--and therefore nutrients and flavors--hitting consumer shelves. The success of Luke's farm and other farms prioritizing diversified rotations hinges on the existence of strong market demand for a We all have a role to play in making our food system more vibrant and heterogeneous
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