envisioning a food system that will radically transform human health and the planet
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written a blog post! In early March, we received incredible news: Ethos Farm Project was selected as a semi-finalist of the Food System Vision Prize competition. Since then, much has happened: COVID-19 disrupted our plans, the deadline for the Refinement phase was moved back, and we’ve all adjusted to a new normal. As things have settled down, I’ve been hard at work doing my part to contribute to the Refinement phase of our Vision under the leadership of my mentor, Dr. Ron Weiss, and alongside many brilliant thinkers and doers (see our awesome team at the end of our submission). I feel incredibly lucky to have been invited onto the team. I’ve written extensively here about whole-food plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine, but I’m also interested in helping to construct a comprehensive food system that is good for human health and the planet.
Though you can read our full submission at the link above, I wanted to write a little bit about it. Visions should be structured around six themes: Economics, Diets, Environment, Culture, Technology, and Policy. About six years ago, Dr. Weiss founded Ethos Primary Care, the first farm-based primary care practice in the country. The practice sits on a 342-acre farm where farmers grow produce regeneratively. (I can attest to the produce’s incredible freshness and flavor!) Inside the practice, Dr. Weiss, who is board-certified in Lifestyle Medicine, counsels patients on how to change their eating habits and lifestyle in order to achieve optimal health. I joined the practice almost two years ago as a scribe, and now serve as medical assistant to Dr. Weiss.
Ethos is a truly magical place. To be sure, there are challenges involved in sustaining the farm and practice. However, as I’ve said to him many times, Dr. Weiss is a true revolutionary. His vision was to create a comprehensive food and medical system that addresses the root causes of the planet’s (and human) ills. Of course, we know that the food system and human health are intimately connected. The question is: what should the healthcare and food system model of the future be?
Ethos Farm Project is extensive, but in my view, centers on two major components: small, redundant, regenerative farms, and lifestyle medicine. Small, regenerative farms serve a number of purposes, like supply fresh food to local communities, restore soil health, and reverse climate change. Lifestyle medicine addresses the root causes of chronic disease using evidence-based lifestyle therapies; whole-food, plant-based nutrition is the cornerstone of lifestyle medicine. Regenerative farms produce nutrient-dense, whole plant foods that promote human health while respecting and protecting the planet.
While that sounds wonderful, our goal has been to concretely lay out exactly how we plan to execute our Vision. Of course, Dr. Weiss has been running Ethos for years, but Ethos is only a microcosm of our envisioned food system. How can such a system be made sustainable, lucrative, scalable, accessible, and resilient? That’s the question our Vision seeks to answer. You can read the full Vision here. As of this writing, we are in the middle of the Refinement phase, so you’ll notice that some questions are still unanswered. Check back on May 29, 2020, the Refinement phase deadline, and read how we’ve fleshed out our ideas and made them more concrete!
I couldn’t be more excited to be part of the team. It’s a dream come true and exactly the kind of work I want to spend my entire life contributing to. In August, ten winners of the Food System Vision Prize will be awarded $200,000. I’m hopeful that Ethos Farm Project will be among the winners, and I plan to stick around to execute the Vision (even though I’ll be in medical school). Keep us in your prayers!
