Rooted in Health: The Soil and Human Health Connection
Rooted in Health: The Soil and Human Health Connection
At Land Core, we understand that healthy soil is more than an agricultural asset—it’s also a public health imperative. While our work has long emphasized the critical role of soil in building resilience and agricultural viability for our producers, we are equally clear that it plays a foundational role in supporting the health of our communities.
As we await the forthcoming MAHA Commission Report, we acknowledge the importance that report might have on how the US government makes the connection between soil health and human health, and the implications that will have for American agriculture.
Although more Americans are beginning to consider the origins of their food, how it was grown and produced, or the broader agricultural production methods used, this is still a relatively small subset of the population. Our food choices are predominantly guided by prevailing dietary norms, nutrition trends, and especially, institutional recommendations. Among the most influential of these are the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which serves as the cornerstone of federal nutrition policy. These guidelines influence not only individual behavior but also how billions of dollars in federally funded programs such as school meals, public health campaigns as well as how programs like SNAP and WIC are executed.
The guidelines, and other federal nutrition and procurement policies, are intended to reflect broad scientific consensus about what Americans should be eating but in recent years, the debate over the merits of plant based versus animal derived proteins, added sugars, and the impact of ultraprocessed foods have at times impeded our ability to convey common sense recommendations to the public about exactly what constitutes a healthy diet. Humans are uniquely bioindividual and there is no one size fits all diet that serves the dietary needs of all people. Yet, at its most foundational level, food that is grown in healthy soils, largely free from contaminants, benefits humans, plants, and animals equally.
We're missing a critical dimension when assessing our public health and nutrition policy—the health of the soil in which food is grown and on which animals are grazed. The nutritional quality of our food begins in the ground. Soil health influences the density and diversity of nutrients in crops, the microbial interactions that shape plant resilience, and the broader ecosystem that nourishes both land and people.
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90% of the nutrients in food originate from the soil (FAO, 2015)
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As we face rising rates of chronic disease, declining nutrient density in food, and increasing ecological strain, now is the time to take a closer look at the foundational importance of our soils. If our public institutions are to deliver on their promise of improving health through food, the conversation must extend beyond calories and individual nutrients to include the condition of the soil that underlies these outcomes.
Therefore, we feel compelled to engage in this conversation. The Dietary Guidelines, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), serve as the foundation of national nutrition policy and directly influence the design and implementation of nearly all federally funded nutrition programs and government procurement.
Again, as it relates to the development of chronic disease it would be remiss not to include one of the most important determinants of whether a diet promotes health or contributes to disease - the quality and condition of the soil in which the food was grown or grazed. Without verifiable standards for healthy soil integrated into government procurement and dietary guidance, even the most carefully curated diets fall short of their potential to nourish and heal.
With significant influence over public behavior and the funding that drives it, HHS policies should reflect the full scope of existing scientific evidence — specifically the critical role of the health of the soil from which food originates. With the MAHA Commission report, there is also the opportunity to expand our understanding by directing federal researchers to fill gaps in our knowledge about the soil and human health connection.
This moment, capped by the MAHA Commission, is an opportunity to reset the framing for the US health system, and re-establish that our soils are the foundation on which our health and resilience is built.
Supporting Evidence
Blum, W. E., Zechmeister-Boltenstern, S., & Keiblinger, K. M. (2019). Does soil contribute to the human gut microbiome?. Microorganisms, 7(9), 287. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms7090287
Montgomery, D. R., & Biklé, A. (2022). What your food ate: How to heal our land and reclaim our health. W.W. Norton & Company.
Montgomery, D. R., Biklé, A., Archuleta, R., Brown, P., & Jordan, J. (2022). Soil health and nutrient density: preliminary comparison of regenerative and conventional farming. PeerJ, 10, e12848. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.12848
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2024). Exploring linkages between soil health and human health. National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/27459
Rodale Institute. (n.d.). Farming Systems Trial 40-Year Report. https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/ FST_40YearReport_RodaleInstitute-1.pdf
Singh, A., Kaur, P., Kumar, M., Shafi, S., Upadhyay, P. K., Tiwari, A., Tiwari, V., Rangra, N. K., Thirunavukkarasu, V., Kumari, S., Roy, D., Ghosh, M., Arora, N., Sharma, N., & Garg, Y. (2025). The role of phytochemicals in modulating the gut microbiota: Implications for health and disease. Medicine in Microecology, 24, 100125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.medmic.2025.100125
Wagg, C., Bender, S. F., Widmer, F., & van der Heijden, M. G. A. (2014). Soil biodiversity and soil community composition determine ecosystem multifunctionality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(14), 5266-5270. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320054111
Land Core is a 501(c)3 organization that works closely with the USDA, legislators, producers, scientists, NGOs and financial institutions across the country to develop policy recommendations that build healthy soils, resilient farmers and national food security. This includes guiding the successful passage of language in both the House and Senate supporting soil health outcomes at the USDA and helping to secure over $50M in federal investment in Soil Health in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Resources: The Land Core Soil Health Bill Tracker is a comprehensive tool designed to monitor and analyze legislation related to soil health and resilience. It can be used to support bills that align with the priorities of strengthening American agriculture, promoting energy independence, and revitalizing rural communities.