The Hidden Cost of Cheap Calories

Friends, we've been suckered into buying food in two installments: the empty calories at the grocery store, then the missing nutrients at the pharmacy.

The numbers make my blood boil. Since the 1950s, industrial farming has stripped 30-70% of nutrients from our food. Spinach has lost 79% of its iron. Broccoli's down 63% in calcium. No wonder Americans blow over $175 billion on dietary supplements every year, trying to buy back their health in bottles.

I just got back from Star Hill Farm at Maker's Mark Distillery, where leaders in regenerative ag gathered to figure out one thing: how to blow up the barriers keeping real food off your plate. Because y'all shouldn't have to pay twice for what nature intended to come complete the first time.

Dr. Stephan Van Vliet from Utah State was there proving what we farmers have known in our bones: regenerative practices boost nutrients across the board – beef, milk, eggs, all of it. His research found grass-fed beef contains 2-4x more omega-3s and over 900 different beneficial compounds. Turns out, when you treat soil right, it pays you back in nutrition.

Get this: Maker's Mark – the folks who make bourbon! – has already transitioned 70-80% of their grain to regenerative. They're investing in soil, supporting farmers, thinking long-term. Meanwhile, Big Food's so drunk on profits they can't see straight. Ironic, isn't it? The whiskey makers are the sober ones in the room.

And here's what's got me excited: Imagine if farmers could work with scientists like Dr. Van Vliet to actually measure what makes food more nutritious. What if we could finally connect the dots between soil health and human health? Because when farmers have that knowledge – when we understand exactly how our practices show up in your food – everything could change.

Think about it – the average person spends $500 a year on supplements. That's real money that could buy real food. Food that doesn't need a pharmaceutical chaser.

Your food should be your medicine. Your farmers should be your health partners. And those two installments you've been paying? Time to demand the full package.

Your farmer,
Cody