The world has come to a screeching halt. A global pandemic has shaken the foundation of life as we know it, and things may never be the same. And that can and should be a catalyst for change. We are presented with a unique opportunity to look critically at many of our society’s systems and not only challenge them but challenge ourselves. Societies are given few opportunities to reset their trajectory; we have been given such a chance. To simply suggest we return to “normal” will be to miss this opportunity. COVID-19 has exposed the flaws and weaknesses in a broken food system that depends on high volumes of external inputs, long distance and international supply chains, and operates with a disregard for soil health and the health of those who consume the food. The health of people is intrinsically linked to the health of our soils. In 1942, Rodale Institute founder J.I. Rodale wrote some words on a blackboard. He wrote: “Healthy Soil = Healthy Food = Healthy People,” galvanizing the idea that our health and the health of soil are linked. Over the decades that have followed, science has proven this to be true (Steffan et al. 2018). Still, human health has not become a primary goal of agriculture. Our current food system is most adept at producing low-cost, highly processed, hyperpalatable, nutrient-poor foods and commodities like wheat, corn, soy, and rice, many of which end up as livestock feed, ingredients for non-food uses, or refined and processed foods. Agricultural intensification and consolidation have enabled the mass-scale production of inexpensive, low quality crop and animal products sacrificing our health. Yet scientific research overwhelmingly supports the adoption of a diet high in nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, grains, and livestock products (Alonso et al. 2019; Slavin and Lloyd 2012). Simply put, our farming systems aren’t aligned with what science has identified as the best foods for citizens to properly maintain health and rebuild our natural immune systems. The COVID-19 pandemic has merely pointed out a problem that has been lurking on the sidelines for decades: our medical system is overburdened attempting to treat lifestyle-related diseases with pharmaceutical intervention rather than dietary and lifestyle changes, while farmers have never thought about human or soil health as the metrics by which they are judged. The fact that our soils are being depleted of the nutrients we need to sustain our health and regenerate our immune systems, and that the way we are farming is destroying the environment and ecosystems we need to survive, is not considered in conventional production. At the same time, our modern, conventional farming systems contribute up to a quarter of global greenhouse emissions and rely on toxic inputs that threaten our health, biodiversity, clean air and water, and our soil’s long-term capacity to produce food—all of which ultimately jeopardize the future of human health and all of which can be mitigated by changing the model. Regenerative organic agriculture, on the other hand, envisions a future in which farming, healthcare, and food production practices inform a prevention and intervention-based approach to human and planetary health. Science conducted at Rodale Institute through long-term field trials shows that rather than relying on toxic chemicals to solve agricultural issues and pharmaceuticals to manage disease, a food system focused on soil health can help prevent disease (Rodale Institute 2011). By integrating our food production and healthcare systems, transitioning to a regenerative organic farming model, building in access to food that improves health rather than compromises it and emphasizing nutrition and lifestyle choices that prevent disease, we could radically change the system and take control of our health through farming. Transitioning to a future based on regenerative organic agriculture is not without its challenges. New tools will need to be put to work, new protocols will need to be learned and new support policies will need to be put in place. But together, science, markets, and people can forge a new food production model that ensures local control and access, This article is part of the Topical Collection: Agriculture, Food & Covid-19.

中文翻译：

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反思的时刻：改变的时刻

世界已经戛然而止。正如我们所知，全球大流行已经动摇了生命的基础，事情可能永远不会相同。这可以而且应该成为变革的催化剂。我们有一个独特的机会来批判性地审视我们社会的许多系统，不仅挑战它们，而且挑战我们自己。社会几乎没有机会重新调整自己的轨迹；我们得到了这样的机会。简单地建议我们恢复“正常”将是错过这个机会。COVID-19 暴露了破碎的食品系统的缺陷和弱点，该系统依赖于大量的外部投入、长距离和国际供应链，并且在无视土壤健康和食用食物者的健康的情况下运作。人们的健康与我们土壤的健康有着内在的联系。1942 年，罗代尔研究所创始人姬·罗代尔在黑板上写了一些字。他写道：“健康的土壤 = 健康的食物 = 健康的人”，激发了我们的健康与土壤健康息息相关的想法。在接下来的几十年里，科学证明了这一点（Steffan et al. 2018）。尽管如此，人类健康还没有成为农业的主要目标。我们目前的食品系统最擅长生产低成本、高度加工、可口、营养不良的食品和商品，如小麦、玉米、大豆和大米，其中许多最终成为牲畜饲料、非食品用途的成分，或精制和加工食品。农业集约化和整合使得廉价、低质量的农作物和动物产品的大规模生产成为可能，从而牺牲了我们的健康。然而，科学研究绝大多数支持采用富含营养丰富的水果、蔬菜、谷物和畜产品的饮食（Alonso et al. 2019; Slavin and Lloyd 2012）。简而言之，我们的农业系统与科学认定的公民正确保持健康和重建自然免疫系统的最佳食物不一致。COVID-19 大流行只是指出了一个几十年来一直在场外的问题：我们的医疗系统负担过重，试图通过药物干预而不是改变饮食和生活方式来治疗与生活方式有关的疾病，而农民从未考虑过人类或土壤健康作为判断它们的指标。事实上，我们的土壤正在耗尽我们维持健康和再生免疫系统所需的营养物质，我们耕作的方式正在破坏我们赖以生存的环境和生态系统，这在传统生产中是不被考虑的。与此同时，我们现代的传统农业系统贡献了全球四分之一的温室气体排放量，并且依赖于威胁我们健康、生物多样性、清洁空气和水以及我们土壤长期生产食物能力的有毒投入物——所有这些这最终会危及人类健康的未来，所有这些都可以通过改变模型来缓解。另一方面，再生有机农业设想了一个未来，农业、医疗保健和食品生产实践为人类和地球健康提供基于预防和干预的方法。罗代尔研究所通过长期田间试验开展的科学研究表明，与其依靠有毒化学物质来解决农业问题和依靠药物来管理疾病，一个以土壤健康为重点的食品系统可以帮助预防疾病（罗代尔研究所，2011 年）。通过整合我们的食品生产和医疗保健系统，过渡到可再生有机农业模式，建立能够改善而不是损害健康的食物，并强调预防疾病的营养和生活方式选择，我们可以从根本上改变系统并控制我们的通过农业获得健康。向基于再生有机农业的未来过渡并非没有挑战。需要使用新工具，需要学习新协议，需要制定新的支持政策。