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Consuming a plentiful amount of vegetables and fruits is widely acknowledged as beneficial to our well-being. However, a lesser-explored question is how the soil quality in which these foods are cultivated influences their nutritional content. Increasingly, a community of researchers and experts in agroecology is investigating this connection, uncovering links between soil health and the food’s benefits to human nutrition.
While many are familiar with nutrition advice encouraging a diverse intake of colorful produce and probiotic-rich foods like kimchi and kefir, the foundational role of soil often receives little attention. A collaborative group of nutritionists, farmers, and academics is now focusing on how organically grown foods from biodiverse soils—enriched further by the presence of grazing animals—may impact human health, especially the vast microbial populations in our guts. With the global rise in diet-related diseases, these specialists are drawing important connections between the vitality of the land and the wellness of people.
Nutritionist Lucy Williamson, who shifted her career from veterinary medicine to human nutrition after studying at King’s College London, highlights the importance of the microbiome—the complex community of bacteria, fungi, and viruses in our intestines that supports immune function, breaks down fiber, and produces essential vitamins. She explains that healthy soils harbor microbes that help plants produce natural pest defenses called polyphenols. “When farmers aren’t using pesticides, crops have to build their own natural pest repellents. They do that by making more plant nutrients called polyphenols, and that process depends on soil microbes,” Williamson says. Polyphenols act as antioxidants and are linked to lower risks of chronic diseases like cancer and heart ailments. They also serve as nourishment for gut microbes, which generate numerous beneficial compounds that extend beyond intestinal health, influencing factors such as cholesterol levels and body inflammation.
The concept that soil health correlates with human health is not new. Early 20th-century English botanist Sir Albert Howard observed in India that traditional farming methods produced richer soils and more vigorous crops and communities compared to industrial farming in his native UK. Though scientific evidence directly proving soil-to-human health links remains limited, studies are emerging to support the idea. One investigation in the British Journal of Nutrition found organic fruits and vegetables could contain up to 60% more polyphenols than conventionally grown equivalents. In the Netherlands, a project called HarvestCare has been “prescribing” organic food boxes to type 2 diabetes patients, with promising anecdotal results of weight loss and symptom improvement awaiting formal research findings.
Closer to home, Yeo Valley Organic, a UK-based company specializing in organic regenerative farming, has tracked soil and biodiversity improvements over the past three decades while raising livestock on diverse herbal pastures instead of monocultures. The brand is actively studying how these farming practices influence the nutritional quality of their products. Lucy Williamson has contributed to their nutrition strategy, and the company is funding a doctoral research project at the University of Exeter to explore these impacts in more depth. Innovation manager Dan Thurston emphasizes their ongoing efforts to develop dairy products that support gut health through ingredient and processing techniques, underscoring growing consumer interest in food origins and nutritional value. “We’re continually investigating new and existing ingredients and technologies to support our customers’ gut and overall health,” Thurston says. “I think people are becoming more curious about where their food comes from and what it provides for them and their body.”
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