In this special recap episode of the Modern Farming Podcast, we bring together two powerful conversations from our What Is and Isn’t in Your Food series to highlight one essential truth: you don’t have to be a farmer to care about agriculture. The health of our soil directly impacts the health of our food—and ultimately, the health of you.

Episode Highlights:

We revisit key insights from two groundbreaking episodes:

1. “What Your Food Is and Isn’t” with David R. Montgomery and Anne Bikle

This thought-provoking conversation explores how soil depletion affects crop quality, nutrient density, and public health. David and Anne walk us through how regenerative practices restore soil biology and why healthy soil isn’t just good for farms—it’s essential for long-term human well-being.

2. “Defining Nutrient Density” with Dan Kittredge

Dan breaks down the science behind nutrient-dense food—explaining why food grown in living, biologically active soil is more flavorful, more nourishing, and more resilient. Backed by ongoing research and field data from the Bionutrient Food Association, this episode showcases how soil health can be measured, improved, and made visible to consumers.

Why This Matters for Everyone—Not Just Farmers:

Whether you’re a parent, a teacher, or someone simply trying to eat well, understanding what’s in your food—and how it got there—is key to your health. These episodes emphasize that support for healthy soil is support for your own body. And this isn’t just theory—it’s supported by real data showing how soil quality influences nutrient density and food system resilience.

What You’ll Learn in This Recap:

• Why healthy soil = healthy people

• How soil biology and regenerative practices are changing the game

• How new data and technology are making food quality measurable

• Why consumers have the power to shift the system—starting with knowledge

Tune in now for a deep dive into why what’s beneath your food matters just as much as what’s on your plate.

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Want more information? Check out the full episodes:

• “What Your Food Is and Isn’t” with Anne Bikle & David Montgomery - https://youtu.be/NQ-nXvE5eFI

• “What Is and Isn’t in Your Food: Defining Nutrient Density” with Dan Kittredge - https://youtu.be/mSoynEHEN-E

In this "What Is and Isn't In Your Food: Defining Nutrient Density" episode, we sit down with Dan Kittredge, a regenerative organic farmer and founder of the Bionutrient Food Association (BFA), to unpack a concept that’s changing the way we think about food: nutrient density.

Dan coined the term nutrient density back in 2007, and since then has dedicated his life to helping farmers and consumers understand what makes food truly nourishing. It’s not just about calories or labels—it’s about the flavor, aroma, and nutritive value of the food we grow and eat.

🔬 What You’ll Learn:

• What nutrient density really means, and why it matters for both human and planetary health.

• How nutrient-dense foods are:

• More flavorful and aromatic 🍓

• Healthier for consumers 💪

• More resilient to pests and diseases 🌾

• Cheaper to produce and better for farmers’ bottom lines 💰

• Linked to improved soil health, shelf life, and long-term sustainability 🌎

• Why enlightened self-interest from consumers can shift purchasing habits—and how a hand-held spectrometer (yes, a Bionutrient Meter!) could soon be integrated into your phone’s camera to measure nutrient density at the store.

• Holistic, systemic solutions emerge when we manage for nutrient-rich crops.

🧪 The Research:

Since 2016-17, Dan and his team at the Bionutrient Institute have been partnering with open-source science innovators like Our-Sci and FarmOS to:

• Measure nutrient density across diverse crops

• Understand the drivers of nutrient variation

• Build and deploy consumer-facing tech that can measure food quality on the spot

Their long-term vision? A food system where quality is transparent, regenerative practices are rewarded, and agriculture contributes to reversing both chronic disease and climate change.

🌍 About Dan Kittredge:

Dan grew up farming at Many Hands Organic Farm in Massachusetts and has spent over 30 years working on food and seed sovereignty globally. Through the BFA, he leads educational workshops, global speaking engagements, the annual Soil & Nutrition Conference, and is developing an online course to further spread knowledge about biological systems and nutrient-dense growing.

📲 Connect with BFA:

• Facebook: Bionutrient Food Association

• Instagram: @bionutrientfoodassociation

• YouTube: Bionutrient Channel

• LinkedIn: Bionutrient on LinkedIn

🔔 Subscribe to Modern Farming for more conversations that are shaping the future of food.

Have thoughts or questions about nutrient density? Tag us and Dan on social with #ModernFarmingPodcast!

n this episode of Modern Farming, What your Food Is and Isn't with Anne Bikle and David Montgomery, we dig into what’s really beneath our food—starting with the soil. Joined by husband-and-wife team David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé, we explore how both natural processes and human practices like conventional agriculture have contributed to widespread soil depletion, and what that means for the future of farming and our health.

David, a MacArthur Fellow and professor of geomorphology at the University of Washington, is a broad-minded geologist who studies how earth processes shape ecosystems and societies. Anne, a free-range biologist, science writer, and regenerative gardener with a serious case of “plant lust,” brings deep insight into how soil health connects to human health and nutrition. Together, they’ve authored several acclaimed books, including What Your Food Ate, which builds on their trilogy about soil, microbiomes, and sustainable farming.

We talk about why it’s difficult to get farmers to change practices that seem to be working—especially when peer-to-peer knowledge often carries more weight than supplier advice. But as David and Anne explain, regenerative methods that feed the soil not only work in practice—they can also improve profitability while reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint. The challenge lies in overcoming inertia, rethinking incentive structures, and showing the evidence that healthy soil produces more nutrient-dense food.

Topics Covered:

• How soil depletion affects crop quality and human health

• Feeding the soil vs. feeding the plant: why it matters

• Barriers to change: behavioral, informational, and economic

• How farming practices influence nutrient density in food

• Key nutritional factors tied to soil health: micronutrients, phytochemicals, fat balance, and microbial metabolites

• Microbiomes and their essential role in host biology—why a healthy microbiome matters for plant, animal, and human function

• Managing inflammation and health outcomes through better food system choices

• The ripple effect: healthy soil → healthy plants → healthy people

Key Takeaway:

How our food is farmed doesn’t just impact the environment—it shapes the nutrition on our plates and the health of future generations. With the right knowledge, practices, and incentives, we can shift toward a system where healthy soil means healthy people.

🎧 Tune in and rethink what your food is… and isn’t

Learn more at https://www.dig2grow.com/

Books Links:

Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=dirt+erosion+of+civilizations

The Hidden Half of Nature

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=the+hidden+half+of+nature

Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=Growing+a+Revolution

What Your Food Ate

https://www.indiebound.org/search/book?keys=what+your+food+ate