How do we nourish people rather than just feed them? Is there a more direct link between soil health and human health than we thought? David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé, authors of What Your Food Ate, talk with us about the deeper, more intriguing aspects of soil health, nutrition, and its implications for human health with us. David and Anne emphasize the importance of asking questions about the foundations of health: soil and nutritious food.

David is a professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington. Anne attended the University of California, Santa Cruz earning degrees in Biology and Natural History. She holds a Master’s Degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Anne’s career has included work in biology, watershed restoration, environmental planning, and public health.

Montgomery, D. R. & Biklé, A. (2022). What your food ate: How to heal our land and reclaim our health. W. W. Norton Company. Available for purchase online at https://www.dig2grow.com/books or from other independent bookstores.

Notes and resources for What Your Food Ate: https://www.dig2grow.com/_files/ugd/efeec1_9af7d03df12f447f90dee61521c08707.pdf

David and Anne's books were written in the following order: Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations; The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health; Growing A Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life; and What Your Food Ate: How To Heal Our Land and Reclaim Our Health.

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ Please visit our new website with additional conversations and resources at https://www.4thesoil.org.

4 the Soil: A Conversation is made possible with funding support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Agua Fund. Other partners include the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; Virginia Cooperative Extension; Virginia State University; Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation; and partners of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition.

Disclaimer: Views expressed on this podcast are those of each individual guest.

To download a copy of this, or any other show, visit the website 4thesoil.org. Music used during today’s program is courtesy of the Flip Charts. All rights reserved. 4 the Soil: A Conversation is produced by On the Farm Radio in collaboration with Virginia Tech. The host and co-hosts are Jeff Ishee, Mary Sketch Bryant, and Eric Bendfeldt.