A Buried Bond: The Connection Between Healthy Soils and Healthy Communities

We use soils to provide 98.8% of our food, but the bonds between soil health and human health extend far beyond what fills our plate. The science of public health, especially epidemiology, provides a framework for capturing the links between healthy soil and a range of direct and indirect health factors and outcomes, such as economic security and community vitality. Climate change is increasing the pressure on many of these factors, highlighting the need for deeper collaborations between soil and health scientists and communicators.

In this talk, Brenda Hoppe, environmental epidemiologist, climate resilience researcher and proud descendent of Wisconsin dairy farmers, discusses 1)  the state of knowledge around the soil health-human health nexus, 2)  the advantages of public health for soil science research and stewardship, 3) considerations of farmers and ag-based economies, and 4) opportunities for advancing cross-disciplinary research, public awareness campaigns, and climate resilience actions to save our soils and fortify public health.