What Your Food Ate Recap

By Paul Weinstein

The What Your Food Ate and Why It Matters event on April 9, featuring keynote speaker Anne Biklé, was a huge success. 

The evening began with a lively reception featuring locally sourced food and meaningful conversations between attendees, farmers, and community members. Jackie Ricotta of Delaware Valley University welcomed guests, followed by Paul Weinstein, who shared a brief history of the Bucks County Foodshed Alliance.

Anne Biklé’s keynote presentation explored the critical role of soil health and human health. She began with the history of how civilizations over the centuries have fallen due to the depletion of their topsoil. Her presentation continued by exploring the amazing world of the soil microbiome and how plants have a synergistic relationship with the microbiome. The plants nourish the microbiome with various exudates through their roots and the microbes in the soil provide key phytochemicals and minerals to the plants. 

Anne also highlighted how conventional agricultural practices, such as intensive tillage, monocropping, synthetic fertilizers, pesticide use, and overgrazing can disrupt the function of the soil microbiome. In contrast, regenerative practices like reduced tillage, cover cropping, increased biodiversity, compost application, animal integration, and rotational grazing help restore and sustain soil health.

Following the keynote, Jackie Ricotta introduced the evening’s panelists:

• Debbie Bernstein MD, Holistic and Functional Medicine
• Julie Lachman ND, Naturopathic Doctor
• Krista Hirschmann PhD, Rodale Sr. Program Director Medical and Health Systems Education
• Tom Murtha, Blooming Glen Farm
• Sean Ryan, Tussock Sedge Farm

The program concluded with a 30-minute Q&A session, where attendees engaged directly with Anne and the panelists, asking thoughtful questions and exploring how these ideas can be applied in everyday life.

Feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. Attendees shared that they felt informed and inspired.

We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped make the evening so impactful, including:

• Our partner in hosting the event, Delaware Valley University
• Our 17 sponsors
• All the attendees
• Our three local chefs and mixologist who served hors d’oeuvres and mocktails during the reception
• All the regenerative farmers who engaged with the attendees during the reception
• Our five panelists
• Anne Biklé, co-author of The Hidden Half of Nature and What Your Food Ate.
• All the volunteers and board members who made the event possible
• Our Administrative Assistant, Jade Greene

To find a local farm that supports the soil biome, check out our Local Food Map