"Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food.”
-Hippocrates
It was only 10 years ago when I truly realized the above wisdom of the ancient Greeks while confronting the declining health of my aging father. I quickly discovered that cutting out all the processed food that I had been consuming since childhood radically transformed my own health. I lost the extra weight I didn’t know I had gained and gained back energy I didn’t know I had lost. I learned then that real food was the key to a healthier me.
But a funny thing happened on the way to improving my own health.
I discovered that a pioneering community of farmers were growing food in a way that wasn’t just healthier for me, it was also healthier for the land. Food grown in this regenerative manner didn’t just harm the soil less, it actually made the soil healthier. These methods did things like store more carbon in soil, hold onto more water when it rained, and restored habitat for all life including bees, butterflies and yep – birds. And because all nutrients start in soil, such food was likely healthier for me, too.
Today, there is no feedlot beef in this house, and no cans of GMO corn in our pantry. Our freezer is full of only regenerative meats, and the fridge is always packed with real, whole veggies. I haven’t taken a prescription medicine in 10 years because I haven’t needed any. I can’t prove it, but I think those two things are connected.
Both in my house and in our business, I am proud that our meat comes only from farms where the growing of food is actively making the land and all life around it healthier. That means this food is not only healthier for me and my children, but for my children’s children, and for any future descendants of anyone else who might someday seek to draw sustenance from the land in some distant tomorrow.
This past year, we’ve learned the hard way that the health of each individual is intertwined with the health of our population as a whole. I am further convinced that our collective health is intimately connected to the world around us.
Now I think this is good news. It means that anyone who eats can participate in the process of improving the health of both people and planet.
For this Father’s Day 2021, it’s profound for me to look back 10 years and thank my own father for unknowingly setting me on a journey to realize that real food raised right is not only me medicine, it’s we medicine – food designed to make both people and planet healthier.
We’re proud to offer only “we medicine” to you and your family from our team here at Blue Nest Beef. May the flavor of its nourishment remind you that it’s helping to make both you and the world around you healthier.
Russ Conser
Co-Founder & CEO of Blue Nest Beef