Our food is less nutritious than ever. It doesn’t have to stay that way.

Conventional farming’s narrow focus on yields has led to a decline in the nutritional quality of many crops, making our food less healthy than it was just 50 years ago. Yields have never been higher and we have access to ample calories, yet we’re getting sicker. “Hidden hunger” is a reality for many, and diabetes and obesity are on the rise.

Change starts on the farm.

know the facts

Plants get their nutrients from the soil.

Industrial agriculture has depleted soils worldwide and bred plants for size and rate of growth—not nutrition—in a narrow pursuit of ever-increasing yields.

The food we eat today contains less protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin, and vitamin C than food produced just a half-century ago.

harvest of fresh peas

Healthy, nutritious food starts with healthy soil

The Solution

Soil holds the key. Organic and regenerative organic farming practices make soil health a priority. Healthier soil grows healthier plants, and healthier plants are more nutritious plants. In our work at Rodale Institute, we're investigating the links between soil health and human health and proving that organic can feed the world through our Vegetable and Farming Systems Trials.

Vegetable Systems Trial

Our Vegetable Systems Trial is the first-ever long-term study designed explicitly to compare the nutrient densities of vegetable crops grown in organic and conventional systems under controlled conditions.

Farming Systems Trial

Our decades-long trial is evidence that after a transition period, organic systems can match the yields of conventional systems and even surpass them by as much as 40% in times of drought.