Woodleaf Farm is located in eastern Oregon. Established in 2016, this 211-acre farm grows 85 varieties of fruit, is home to 200 hazelnut trees, and produces vegetables year-round. Nearly a closed-loop farming system, the farm utilizes chopped hay from nearby fields to fertilize vegetable and fruit fields.
Helen Atthowe explains why The FARMS Act is needed right now
The “Farm and Ranch Mobility Solutions Act is a vital step towards creating a connected US policy that integrates food, farming, conservation, and medicine. Healthy food should be a vital part of our national health plan and farm policy. 2020 has sadly taught us that too many Americans have “underlying health conditions which make them susceptible to pandemic viruses.
Our farm policy needs to reflect both the USDA nutritional guidelines for a healthy diet and the USDA-NRCS soil health initiatives
Poor access to and disinclination to eat a healthy diet exacerbate many underlying health conditions in America. Healthy farming practices and conservation are inextricably linked to a healthy food system and healthy humans.
As an agricultural scientist who spent 35 years stewarding my own organic farm and growing mineral and antioxidant-rich vegetables and fruit, I know that healthy food comes from well-tended farms that build biologically active, nutrient-balanced soils using good conservation practices such as crop and cover crop diversity.
Our farm policy needs to reflect both the USDA nutritional guidelines for a healthy diet and the USDA-NRCS soil health initiatives that encourage the planting of legume cover crops and legume food crops such as dry beans and lentils to build soil health.
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