Stimulating Regenerative Agriculture From Farm to Hospital to Community
Fertile soils die. Fertilizers choke rivers and oceans. Skyrocketing diet-related chronic disease bankrupts our healthcare system. Rural communities decline. And climate change accelerates.
Regenerative agriculture has the power to heal people and the planet, but how do we scale it fast?
Catalyzing Change In Community Food Systems
Erin Meyer of Basil’s Harvest and Carol Hays of The Strategic Collaboration Group are collaboratively harnessing an opportunity in the Heartland to change the way that we are growing, preparing, and delivering food into institutions and our communities. Together we are working with a passionate local and national team to create a new story that transcends our current food system: a story that builds on regenerative agriculture and leads to healthy communities, healthy economies and resilient futures for us all.
The need to change how we grow food and how we connect to the food system is growing increasingly urgent as the costs of agricultural pollution, accelerating climate change and poor nutrition are increasing risks and costs to communities across America — especially in poor and marginalized communities. There are many stakeholders in our complex food system, but like the proverbial six blind men and the elephant, they are blind to and isolated from one another so that seemingly none can see the big picture clearly. Instead, each thinks they have their hand on the problem, with each either claiming the problem so challenging it is beyond their grasp or proposing a solution that doesn’t fit the shape of reality.
We are taking a systems approach to the challenge of scaling up regenerative agriculture by shortening supply chains between farmers and community institutions like hospitals. Regenerative agriculture is an agroecological approach to farming that works with nature to rebuild farm soils, reduce greenhouse gasses, reduce pesticides and other chemical inputs, manage water runoff, and protect biodiversity. Harnessing the purchasing power of hospitals and other institutions, our goal is to encourage communities to adopt a low-carbon regionalized food system. This food system will use regenerative agriculture to produce nutritious food and improve wellness in small and rural communities throughout the Heartland — places that have been hit hard by the consolidation of small farms and shrinking local economies. More and more isolated, farming communities are now more likely to be food deserts than the places they are growing food for.
The Problem
Regenerative organic agriculture, based on agroecological principles including diverse plant rotations, cover crops, perennials, trees, and pastured animal grazing, has the power to heal soil, improve water quality, sequester carbon and produce diverse, healthy foods in the U.S. Heartland. Currently, Illinois, with 75% of its landscape devoted to agriculture, imports over 96% of organic foods consumed in Chicago and across the state. A 2011 economic development study proposed harnessing the growth and production of local foods in Illinois sold to institutions like hospitals to shift Illinois’ food system to a more economically and environmentally sound model. Several choke points continue to deter anchor institutions like hospitals from procuring local, organic and regeneratively raised foods, limiting the demand for farmers to use healthier farming practices used to grow our foods.
The Opportunity
To accelerate the benefits of regenerative agriculture in the food system, Healthcare Without Harm, a global sustainability in healthcare systems leader, has created a pilot Regenerative Farm to Hospital Initiative in four sites across the country. Basil’s Harvest is partnering with the Strategic Collaboration Group, The Mill at Janie’s Farm, and OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, IL to implement the pilot program in Peoria.
The purpose of the program is to establish a regenerative farmer-hospital relationship, identify the value chain needs for both and incorporate a local, regeneratively grown product into hospital food service. The program has a prescribed strategy with attainable goals, proving that a farm to hospital food purchasing program is possible and profitable. A successful pilot will be a template for further implementation of regenerative agriculture and building an institutionally-focused regional supply chain. Growing the regional market for small grains like oats and rye grown in a regenerative system that preserves soil health, sequesters carbon, protects water quality and increases farm income would be a powerful incentive for farmers seeking new markets in an increasingly challenged industry.
Look for more stories to come about this systems transformation and other people who are Igniting change in IGNITE: The Change Catalyst(c)
