Soil health and the Farm Bill: How Aria McLauchlan & Land Core are working toward sustainable food systems

When it comes to how we as individuals relate to the land, there’s one thing that clearly connects us all: food. “That is one of the most intimate ways that we connect with nature,” says Aria McLauchlan, co-founder and Executive Director of Land Core. That’s why Land Core, as a nonprofit, aims to advance soil health as well as programs to support farmers and the businesses and communities that rely on farming. Without good soil, we can’t have good food. And right now Land Core is focused on a policy that affects both:  The Farm Bill. We chatted with McLauchlan about why soil health is so important, what the upcoming Farm Bill means for soil health, and how Land Core is taking action to shape it.

Why soil health is so important

“Soil health is quite literally a common-ground issue and a way to build community and connections in what is at times a divided country,” McLauchlan says. “We've seen that soil health and regenerative agriculture transcends old debates of urban-versus-rural or organic-versus-conventional or even red-versus-blue. It's an opportunity to align our interests and a way for progressives and conservatives—everyone—to come together.”

Last year, the United Nations warned that 90 percent of Earth’s topsoil is at risk by 2050. It may not look like the Dust Bowl at this point, McLauchlan says, but rains, floods and severe winds are all removing topsoil, and with it the crucial nutrients that make our food healthier. And aside from directly affecting food and nutrition, the loss of soil health also puts the livelihoods of farmers at risk, and ultimately, all industries that rely on agriculture are affected by soil health. Big picture, as soil health is the basis for the food supply chain, it becomes a national security issue.

What is Land Core doing to help?

As an organization, Land Core was formed in response to the clear and urgent need to address the lack of infrastructure and direct economic incentives that would make the rapid adoption and scalability of regenerative soil health possible. That means advising Congress on issues of agriculture and food, educating the USDA-NRCS on policy related to soil health, and building coalitions with farmers, businesses, trade organizations, scientists, and policymakers, all in the interest of regenerative agriculture. But whereas many in the soil health and regenerative agriculture movement come at it from an environmental perspective, Land Core takes an economic perspective, focused on resilience, food security and national security. 

Since she co-founded Land Core, McLauchlan has helped guide the successful passage of language in both the House and Senate in 2019, supported soil health at USDA, and built a broad coalition of farmers, businesses, and NGOs to help secure over $50M in federal investment in soil health in the 2018 Farm Bill. Now, she and Harley Cross, co-founder and Director of Strategy at Land Core, have their sights set on the 2023 Farm Bill.

What exactly is the Farm Bill?

It’s the biggest piece of food and farming legislation in the United States and determines our national approach to food and farming, McLauchlan explains. It’s passed every five years, so the next one is coming up this year and negotiations are happening in real time. The bill is led by the House and Senate agriculture committees in Congress, and then primarily enacted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

“The farm bill includes not only farm programs, but also the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, (formerly known as food stamps) as well as a handful of smaller nutrition programs to help low-income Americans afford the cost of food. This has made it a historically bipartisan bill that, by design, has brought together both sides of the political aisle and includes the interests of not only more traditional conservative and rural farming interests, but also the interests of nutrition and food justice advocates,” McLauchlan says. “The bill covers a lot of ground and it's really essential that we shift resources and support towards regenerative agriculture in that vehicle.”

What can be accomplished through the Farm Bill?

The Farm Bill is a great way to fund education, training, and technical assistance that supports regenerative agriculture. That also means “training the trainers,” McLauchlan explains: ensuring that folks at USDA and other boots-on-the-ground are equipped to help train and guide the next generation of producers. McLauchlan continues, “And we can make sure we have investment in local and regional food processing infrastructure—and I think that's important to note, because we haven't only consolidated the crops that are growing, but we've also consolidated a lot of the infrastructure that supports producers in getting their products to market.”

An area particularly close to McLauchlan’s heart is reforming crop insurance: “Ensuring that we recognize the risk-reducing benefits of soil health practices. I really want to note that these policy changes are not about a big-government approach or cumbersome environmental regulations, but about removing barriers and providing some of the guidance and incentives that can support producers in what they do best. We want to see the equivalent of a “good driver discount” for good soil in crop insurance.” 

Food connects us all

Soil health has the power to connect a divided country—and much of the future of soil health and farming in general comes down to the Farm Bill. “No matter what is or isn't happening in Congress, the Farm Bill is a bill that is almost certainly going to pass. So hundreds of billions of dollars for agriculture will move forward. It's not ‘if it will happen,’ but ‘how it will happen.’ And how it happens really depends on how we engage.”

To McLauchlan, it feels audacious that she and Cross—two people who are simply passionate about an issue and happen to live in a democracy—can put ideas forward for shifting the system. They start with listening to farmers and taking to heart their needs, and move from there. “I think all our work has been to create infrastructure and economic incentives that'll make it viable and possible for these producers to start improving their soil and grow healthier food for all of us,” McLauchlan says. 

To follow along with Land Core’s work, including the Farm Bill, check out https://landcore.org/news.