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Farmacology: Total Health from the Ground Up
What can good farming teach us about nurturing ourselves?
Family physician Daphne Miller long suspected that farming and medicine were intimately linked. Increasingly disillusioned by mainstream medicine's mechanistic approach to healing and fascinated by the farming revolution that is changing the way we think about our relationship to the earth, Miller left her medical office and traveled to seven innovative family farms around the country, on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Farmacology, the remarkable book that emerged from her travels, offers us a compelling new vision for sustainable health and healing—and a wealth of farm-to-body lessons with immense value in our daily lives.
Miller begins her journey with a pilgrimage to the Kentucky homestead of renowned author and farming visionary Wendell Berry. Over the course of the following year, she travels to a biodynamic farm in Washington state, a ranch in the Ozarks, two chicken farms in Arkansas, a winery in California, a community garden in the Bronx, and finally an aromatic herb farm back in Washington. While learning from forward-thinking farmers, Miller explores such compelling questions as:
What can rejuvenating depleted soil teach us about rejuvenating ourselves?
How can a grazing system on a ranch offer valuable insights into raising resilient children?
What can two laying-hen farms teach us about stress management?
How do vineyard pest-management strategies reveal a radically new approach to cancer care?
What are the unexpected ways that urban agriculture can transform the health of a community?
How can an aromatic herb farm unlock the secret to sustainable beauty?
Throughout, Miller seeks out the perspectives of noted biomedical scientists and artfully weaves in their insights and research, along with stories from her own medical practice. The result is a profound new approach to healing, combined with practical advice for how to treat disease and maintain wellness.
Family physician Daphne Miller long suspected that farming and medicine were intimately linked. Increasingly disillusioned by mainstream medicine's mechanistic approach to healing and fascinated by the farming revolution that is changing the way we think about our relationship to the earth, Miller left her medical office and traveled to seven innovative family farms around the country, on a quest to discover the hidden connections between how we care for our bodies and how we grow our food. Farmacology, the remarkable book that emerged from her travels, offers us a compelling new vision for sustainable health and healing—and a wealth of farm-to-body lessons with immense value in our daily lives.
Miller begins her journey with a pilgrimage to the Kentucky homestead of renowned author and farming visionary Wendell Berry. Over the course of the following year, she travels to a biodynamic farm in Washington state, a ranch in the Ozarks, two chicken farms in Arkansas, a winery in California, a community garden in the Bronx, and finally an aromatic herb farm back in Washington. While learning from forward-thinking farmers, Miller explores such compelling questions as:
What can rejuvenating depleted soil teach us about rejuvenating ourselves?
How can a grazing system on a ranch offer valuable insights into raising resilient children?
What can two laying-hen farms teach us about stress management?
How do vineyard pest-management strategies reveal a radically new approach to cancer care?
What are the unexpected ways that urban agriculture can transform the health of a community?
How can an aromatic herb farm unlock the secret to sustainable beauty?
Throughout, Miller seeks out the perspectives of noted biomedical scientists and artfully weaves in their insights and research, along with stories from her own medical practice. The result is a profound new approach to healing, combined with practical advice for how to treat disease and maintain wellness.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2013
241 people are currently reading
2677 people want to read
About the author
Daphne Miller
8 books47 followersEver since a high school biology teacher informed me that clover produces a hormone similar to human estrogen, I have been fascinated by how our external ecosystem is linked to our internal one. I am a practicing family physician, author and Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California San Francisco and mother of two nature-lovers. I'm also a contributing columnist to the Washington Post as well as other newspapers and magazines. I received my medical degree from Harvard University and did my residency and a research fellowship at the University of California San Francisco.
My first book was The Jungle Effect and I am delighted to see it has been given high marks by Goodreaders. It chronicles my adventures as I travel the globe in search of the world's healthiest diets and recipes. I hope you find my latest book, Farmacology, equally inspiring. It reveals how real health and healing is rooted--beilieve it or not-- in the soil. Let me know what you think...
My first book was The Jungle Effect and I am delighted to see it has been given high marks by Goodreaders. It chronicles my adventures as I travel the globe in search of the world's healthiest diets and recipes. I hope you find my latest book, Farmacology, equally inspiring. It reveals how real health and healing is rooted--beilieve it or not-- in the soil. Let me know what you think...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 151 reviews
June 21, 2013
I got to hear Ms Miller in person before I read her book. That the woman speaks passionately of both "tilth" and "chi" warms me and all my microbes.
I remember once being on a church committee for health and envisioning bringing a farmer to speak to us. The doctor on the committee was livid: what would any farmer know about health? We go with Ms Miller to a kind of no-man's land, where that doctor on the committee and no doctor has gone in recent times, to a place between two fields of inquiry. I think some farmers know that place well, but, doctors?
This doctor visits sustainable farmers and farms as well as other doctors and researchers to focus on health. When Ms Miller converses with one who studies factors that influence food preference, especially in children, we hear this lesson:
..."'you can't just focus on the kids. The unit is really the family and the community.' ...After our conversation, I thought about Julie Mennella's final message: Producing healthy eaters is a job for an entire family, an entire community. What she proposed was much more involved than the USDA's 'Five a day' or 'Fruits and Veggies: more matters' campaigns, which simply urge parents to put more produce on their children's plates."
The multifaceted, community approach needed for healthy eating is much like approaches the farmers we visit with Ms Miller have instituted on their farms, thinking of their farms as a systems, less testing and inputs of any kind, and honoring the microbial life of the soil. I'm excited about the calves able to grow up with their mothers (instead of being weaned and bottle fed) and all the other ways farmers are listening to what nature requires of them in their specific places and finding what nature helps them to do.
Yes! Soil IS the placenta of life and health.
I remember once being on a church committee for health and envisioning bringing a farmer to speak to us. The doctor on the committee was livid: what would any farmer know about health? We go with Ms Miller to a kind of no-man's land, where that doctor on the committee and no doctor has gone in recent times, to a place between two fields of inquiry. I think some farmers know that place well, but, doctors?
This doctor visits sustainable farmers and farms as well as other doctors and researchers to focus on health. When Ms Miller converses with one who studies factors that influence food preference, especially in children, we hear this lesson:
..."'you can't just focus on the kids. The unit is really the family and the community.' ...After our conversation, I thought about Julie Mennella's final message: Producing healthy eaters is a job for an entire family, an entire community. What she proposed was much more involved than the USDA's 'Five a day' or 'Fruits and Veggies: more matters' campaigns, which simply urge parents to put more produce on their children's plates."
The multifaceted, community approach needed for healthy eating is much like approaches the farmers we visit with Ms Miller have instituted on their farms, thinking of their farms as a systems, less testing and inputs of any kind, and honoring the microbial life of the soil. I'm excited about the calves able to grow up with their mothers (instead of being weaned and bottle fed) and all the other ways farmers are listening to what nature requires of them in their specific places and finding what nature helps them to do.
Yes! Soil IS the placenta of life and health.
June 16, 2013
For anyone with an interest in holistic health, the book is a must read - especially if you're general outlook on life is a Cartesian divide and conquer approach. The text is a well researched, powerful reminder that much as we would like to consider things as discrete and removed from the world, the truth is not that simple. Life is relative, and as such, health is relative as well - whether is be cancer, allergies, or wrinkles - each benefits from looking at the "problem" within it's environment and considering all of the factors, instead of just the immediate problem. The concept of medical ecologists that Miller raises is a powerful one, but one that will only happen if consumer demand it - and I think it's time we do so.
June 19, 2013
I've been interested in sustainability and nutrition for several years and it's this book that finally got me over the hump to planting my first garden.
I learned about the idea of a biodynamic farm where all parts depend on one another. It was especially interesting how Daphne connected the process of how soil is healthy to ways in which the body can achieve health.
Glad to be referred to localharvest.org
The structure of this book worked well in that there would be a section about farm life and then a section that followed in which the lessons of the farm were applied to the health of the human body.
Going to see what a mindfulness program is.
A wow stat that reminds me of what I learned in the documentary film, Food INC: There are two major egg hatcheries in the United States today while there were over 13,000 hatcheries in the 1930s.
A new idea to me: cancer as a chronic condition to be kept in check rather than something to be cut out or poisoned. I'd like to ask Daphne in what sort of cases she favors surgery. Breast cancer comes to mind right away. Interesting theories that I want to take a harder look at. Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center is specifically mentioned.
Here's a sentence I'd like to think about how to apply to undergraduate education: "So in 2007, when he was offered the job of revamping the radiology department at Moffitt, he accepted on the condition that he could dedicate a portion of his workweek to building and directing a mathematical oncology "collaboratorium," which would take a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and treating cancer."
I tried to think about how an interdisciplinary undergraduate major could be designed. The first thing that comes to mind reading the above is that it could be problem/solution oriented. These programs exist. My reading of this book will prompt me to investigate further.
I learned about the idea of a biodynamic farm where all parts depend on one another. It was especially interesting how Daphne connected the process of how soil is healthy to ways in which the body can achieve health.
Glad to be referred to localharvest.org
The structure of this book worked well in that there would be a section about farm life and then a section that followed in which the lessons of the farm were applied to the health of the human body.
Going to see what a mindfulness program is.
A wow stat that reminds me of what I learned in the documentary film, Food INC: There are two major egg hatcheries in the United States today while there were over 13,000 hatcheries in the 1930s.
A new idea to me: cancer as a chronic condition to be kept in check rather than something to be cut out or poisoned. I'd like to ask Daphne in what sort of cases she favors surgery. Breast cancer comes to mind right away. Interesting theories that I want to take a harder look at. Tampa's Moffitt Cancer Center is specifically mentioned.
Here's a sentence I'd like to think about how to apply to undergraduate education: "So in 2007, when he was offered the job of revamping the radiology department at Moffitt, he accepted on the condition that he could dedicate a portion of his workweek to building and directing a mathematical oncology "collaboratorium," which would take a multidisciplinary approach to understanding and treating cancer."
I tried to think about how an interdisciplinary undergraduate major could be designed. The first thing that comes to mind reading the above is that it could be problem/solution oriented. These programs exist. My reading of this book will prompt me to investigate further.
February 6, 2014
I just finished this book and my heart is racing with excitement because I know that it will influence me for the rest of my life. I've been doubting my career path because I'm applying to medical school but I'm also incredibly passionate about sustainable agriculture and deep ecology. This book was the perfect fusion of these interests and gave me an unprecedented hope that there are like-minded doctors in the world who are pushing for healthcare to rise above the reductionism that plagues modern medicine.
Though this book resonated with me personally, I think other people might enjoy it too. It is a exploration of what sustainable agricultural practices can teach us about sustainable health practices. Its amazing how similar conventional medicine is to conventional agriculture and Dr. Miller highlights these similarities. However, most of the book delves into her experiences at family farms and community gardens around the United States and she sees that many of these places hold the key to a more holistic approach to health. Dr. Miller shows us how thinking like a family farmer can help us understand our body and our own health predicaments.
Awesome Awesome book!!
Though this book resonated with me personally, I think other people might enjoy it too. It is a exploration of what sustainable agricultural practices can teach us about sustainable health practices. Its amazing how similar conventional medicine is to conventional agriculture and Dr. Miller highlights these similarities. However, most of the book delves into her experiences at family farms and community gardens around the United States and she sees that many of these places hold the key to a more holistic approach to health. Dr. Miller shows us how thinking like a family farmer can help us understand our body and our own health predicaments.
Awesome Awesome book!!
February 3, 2017
Gives you a case of the Aha's
Being plant based, I went into this book skeptical because I knew it supported animal agriculture, even if on a humane level. But I found the bigger picture and information extremely valuable.
Being plant based, I went into this book skeptical because I knew it supported animal agriculture, even if on a humane level. But I found the bigger picture and information extremely valuable.
April 9, 2019
Miller does an excellent job making connections between healthy, holistic farming and ranching practices and personal health. She has a very accessible style. She is more of a guide or partner exploring a very interesting subject than an MD. who claims to have all the answers. She is neither a whistle-blower or a know-it- all. I enjoyed the way she approached each chapter. She visited a farm, stayed a while, let the reader get to know the farmers and ranchers and then made connections with researchers and her own clients. Topics include rejuvenation, stress management, cancer and beauty. My favorite chapter was La Famillia Verde Urban Farms: Community medicine, one plot at a time.The characters she interacts with are wonderful and she gives an encouraging overview of the many ways small gardens can offer solutions to our food and medical issues. This is a great book, I highly recommend it.
May 8, 2019
Another book with a lot of potential and a strong message but one that falls well short of the mark.
In essence, a primer on holistic health and farming. The message is eat/consume local goods from small scale farms/businesses and don’t over rely on typical western medicine (Ie. pills).
Mostly anecdotal and really preachy, without too much data to support her claims (despite a long bibliography - perhaps there are not enough studies?).
The book could have been shorter and more to the point, but the message overall is a good one: try to use more natural and local goods and services for what you eat and use as medicine or personal care.
In essence, a primer on holistic health and farming. The message is eat/consume local goods from small scale farms/businesses and don’t over rely on typical western medicine (Ie. pills).
Mostly anecdotal and really preachy, without too much data to support her claims (despite a long bibliography - perhaps there are not enough studies?).
The book could have been shorter and more to the point, but the message overall is a good one: try to use more natural and local goods and services for what you eat and use as medicine or personal care.
December 3, 2013
I give Miller's goals five stars. I give her attempt to relay some crucial insights about health, medicine and the natural world four stars. I give her writing three stars. And I give her ability to keep her writing focused on her goal two. The ideas she is trying to flesh out here are important. I wish the book had done them justice.
March 31, 2017
This is a very interesting look at how we should be approaching health - treating the whole being not just the "disease" and how the foods we consume and the environment we live in impacts our health. Well worth a read!
April 24, 2021
I was glad to see a scientist and physician write sbout things that many would consider a hoax if it had been written by someone outside of those fields. Miller talks of farming integrated with the soil and natural solutions to problems of produce as well as health. I found her explanations of many things considered to be folk medicine enlightening. I'm a firm believer in science, but I am not a scientist. I also believe there are many things that are true that science just has not proved yet. Modern medicine for the most part has been preventive rather than proactive. Living a healthy lifestyle goes a long way to a long life. I applaud Miller for being open mined enough to explore methods for healthy farming and living that may not always be proven in the lab but have proven in several cases to be the way to live healthily in harmony with nature.
September 18, 2022
Loved this book and Miller’s way of looking at health. I like that she mixes research with anecdotes and stories. What I liked best is the message that we have control over our own health and lifestyle changes don’t need to be as hard and drastic as we often think. She talks about our current food systems and the flaws within them without being doom and gloom but still with a critical eye. There was a lot of confirmation bias for me in this book and who doesn’t love that?! I’m glad I read this book and started taking her suggestions- for example we switched the kind of milk we buy. The kids say they don’t taste a difference and yet when we have the non homogenized, low pasteurization milk in a glass bottle it’s gone in 2 days- all of a sudden every one wants milk to drink rather than juice. If nothing else, that has made this book worth it.
May 7, 2023
One of the most impactful books I’ve real all year!
Miller’s research based insight on integrative medicine and holistic health affirm and expand an accurate understanding of the complex relationship between the earth and our bodies. Miller gives practical suggestions that empower the reader to take better advantage of the local ecosystem to empower one’s own health. Her honest stories are relatable and filled with hope for the future of medicine and local, community farming.
Miller’s research based insight on integrative medicine and holistic health affirm and expand an accurate understanding of the complex relationship between the earth and our bodies. Miller gives practical suggestions that empower the reader to take better advantage of the local ecosystem to empower one’s own health. Her honest stories are relatable and filled with hope for the future of medicine and local, community farming.
September 4, 2017
Wow! Now to find a physician who practices "medical ecology" to begin the true path to wellness! Everything written in this work makes good, simple sense. And, yes, we focus too much on anti-aging & not on beauty, which is unproductive, ridiculous, and a waste of time! We need to think more about our connectivity to nature in order to be physically, mentally, and spiritually whole.
March 26, 2019
I read the first couple of pages, was unimpressed, and set it aside for a while. Picked it back up again and within a few paragraphs, the book suddenly became extremely interesting and engaging. Great information about health, soil, interconnectedness, and lots of other biological and ecological ideas coming together.
June 11, 2025
LOVED this book. If you are looking for a holistic look at how eating from our earth and non processed foods can impact your health I highly recommend this one!
August 27, 2021
I really enjoyed this thought provoking work. Many concepts were familiar, but I learned many new things, and made new connections between the ideas.
May 12, 2014
I really loved this book. The only part where the author definitely lost me was when she started the shameless plug for Bobbi Brown cosmetics, when I felt like I was reading an infomercial. At least she disclosed that she got a package of a lifetime supply of Bobby Brown make-up. Ugh. After all the rest of the book, this one part was so strange and out of line. And, the sad thing is when an author begins on one line of discussion and then interrupts for a commercial break, one can't help but wonder how much of the rest of the book was a commercial for some company who sends her a lifetime supply of their product or whether she is really trying to be unbiased. Why in the world would the author have included this part? It makes no sense. And, if she were going to put in such an obvious commercial part, why not at least include some commercials from other so-called cosmetics-to-the-stars companies? This one chapter shifted the entire tone of the book from a book about farming and health to some kind of fashion magazine. This was disappointing. Even so, most of the book I really liked. It reminded me of Michael Pollan's books. I found the rest of the book very interesting, engaging, and the entire book a quick enjoyable read. Would definitely recommend to anyone who also enjoys Pollan's books.
January 27, 2014
{ I received an ARC of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. }
I was honestly not in the mood to read non-fiction when Farmacology arrived in my mailbox, but my attitude turned around right away, as I quickly found myself completely wrapped up in this book. Farmacology is a very interesting read about the power of farming, gardening, and nature in general as it relates to our health. There are chapters on holistic farming practices in locations including chicken farms, vineyards, herb farms, and urban gardens; Miller ties each of these unique and innovative endeavors back into ideas about holistic wellness and how the practices on these farms may be useful when applied to medicine as well. I knew nothing about these theories before I started reading, but Miller makes a very convincing case and I'm interested in learning more. Although some of the concepts would require a little more research on my own part before I bought into them, I found this to be overall a very compelling read.
I was honestly not in the mood to read non-fiction when Farmacology arrived in my mailbox, but my attitude turned around right away, as I quickly found myself completely wrapped up in this book. Farmacology is a very interesting read about the power of farming, gardening, and nature in general as it relates to our health. There are chapters on holistic farming practices in locations including chicken farms, vineyards, herb farms, and urban gardens; Miller ties each of these unique and innovative endeavors back into ideas about holistic wellness and how the practices on these farms may be useful when applied to medicine as well. I knew nothing about these theories before I started reading, but Miller makes a very convincing case and I'm interested in learning more. Although some of the concepts would require a little more research on my own part before I bought into them, I found this to be overall a very compelling read.
August 21, 2021
This book will be interesting for you to read. It has some essential concepts that the author addresses in a way that is thought provoking. I only wish it went deeper, but it is worth reading or listening to.
At its heart it is about the relationship of the human internal ecology and the relationship with the food and other products we take in. The writer is a medical doctor and provides experience and research based examples of what to pay attention to. Check it out.
At its heart it is about the relationship of the human internal ecology and the relationship with the food and other products we take in. The writer is a medical doctor and provides experience and research based examples of what to pay attention to. Check it out.
March 29, 2020
Very thought-prevoking! I can really appreciate the time she took to research the book, to work on the farms, to interview all the various people.
Her ideas are some I am working on emulating in my own small way.
Her ideas are some I am working on emulating in my own small way.
July 6, 2013
Totally share her beliefs. Great idea for a book. Got a little bored though.
November 21, 2018
This was so exciting to read. I want to read all her references, and go to all the farms.
Dr. Miller is a medical doctor who grew up the child of two urban parents turned (unsuccessful) farmers. For her, an interest in farms and an interest in medicine were linked - watching sick, suffering livestock as a child. She forgot this initial spark of interest until she picked up a book called The Soul of Soil - she was interested in "the detailed description of a soil ecosystem where the nutrient exchange between soil, microbe, and plant sounded curiously similar to what takes place in our own intestines."
That book ultimately inspired her to look to agriculture for models of complexity care to be applied to medicine - rather than focusing on one issue at a time to solve.
"But most of the time our health needs are more complex and dynamic, just like the soil, and most of what ails us today - depression, anxiety, diabetes, heart disease, fatigue - is multifactorial, chronic, and not well served by a static and highly focused approach. On one level there is our physical makeup: our DNA and the hormones, nerves, and other tissues that manifest this coded information. These structures and chemicals have an imbalance that can be measured and corrected - such as blood sugars, blood pressures, or hormone levels. But addressing these discrete issues, while important, is only one piece of the puzzle and rarely translates to optimal health."
Each chapter is focused on a different farm. Each farm has an illustration of its set-up.
She interviews farmers and medical researchers and cites studies to try to come to a full, complex understanding of health. It's hard to summarize, because I don't want to lose any nuance captured by combining these different approaches. The real fun is watching all these ideas collide and sparking insights - for which you just have to read the book.
Topics Covered:
Chapter 1: Biodynamics, microbiota, testing specific nutrient levels
Chapter 2: Organic ranching/holistic grazing, allergies, more microbiota, the family/community influence on children/calves in getting healthy diets
Chapter 3: Pasture raised hens and stress management, plasticity
Chapter 4: Integrated pest management and new ideas for cancer care
Chapter 5: urban farming and community medicine: longevity, crime prevention
Chapter 6: aromatic herbs, sustainable beauty ("The skin mirrors the soil in structure and function")!
Dr. Miller is a medical doctor who grew up the child of two urban parents turned (unsuccessful) farmers. For her, an interest in farms and an interest in medicine were linked - watching sick, suffering livestock as a child. She forgot this initial spark of interest until she picked up a book called The Soul of Soil - she was interested in "the detailed description of a soil ecosystem where the nutrient exchange between soil, microbe, and plant sounded curiously similar to what takes place in our own intestines."
That book ultimately inspired her to look to agriculture for models of complexity care to be applied to medicine - rather than focusing on one issue at a time to solve.
"But most of the time our health needs are more complex and dynamic, just like the soil, and most of what ails us today - depression, anxiety, diabetes, heart disease, fatigue - is multifactorial, chronic, and not well served by a static and highly focused approach. On one level there is our physical makeup: our DNA and the hormones, nerves, and other tissues that manifest this coded information. These structures and chemicals have an imbalance that can be measured and corrected - such as blood sugars, blood pressures, or hormone levels. But addressing these discrete issues, while important, is only one piece of the puzzle and rarely translates to optimal health."
Each chapter is focused on a different farm. Each farm has an illustration of its set-up.
She interviews farmers and medical researchers and cites studies to try to come to a full, complex understanding of health. It's hard to summarize, because I don't want to lose any nuance captured by combining these different approaches. The real fun is watching all these ideas collide and sparking insights - for which you just have to read the book.
Topics Covered:
Chapter 1: Biodynamics, microbiota, testing specific nutrient levels
Chapter 2: Organic ranching/holistic grazing, allergies, more microbiota, the family/community influence on children/calves in getting healthy diets
Chapter 3: Pasture raised hens and stress management, plasticity
Chapter 4: Integrated pest management and new ideas for cancer care
Chapter 5: urban farming and community medicine: longevity, crime prevention
Chapter 6: aromatic herbs, sustainable beauty ("The skin mirrors the soil in structure and function")!
July 27, 2025
Book #32 of 2025. "Farmacology" by Daphne Miller, M.D. 4/5 rating. 231 p.
Daphne talks about the idea that along with our factory farms, we have (somewhat inadvertently) created "factory medicine". We have patients that are treated like our sad industrial farms: give the proper inputs, treat each bug or problem with - waaaay too much - medicine, then wonder why they aren't thriving.
Daphne uses each chapter to talk about a parallel between a different farm and aspect of medicine. I absolutely loved her quote:
"First, I now understand that the secret to good farming - a secret shared by all the farmers in this book - is to care more for the farm than for any product that farm may produce."
"Feed the soil, not the plant."
This whole book promotes a more holistic agriculture and medical outlook. Unfortunately, this term often gets used and half the population immediately downplays it as going to use crystals and tarot cards to check your health. Instead, Daphne is promoting the type of agriculture our grandparents (or at least great-grandparents) practiced! Where they know every inch of the land, and how to continue their farm health. Work in manure, don't just treat the land with deadly chemicals.
"Each farm that I visited represents a series of 'conversations' - microbes talking with soil, soil talking with plants, plants talking with cows and farmers, farmers talking with the farming community."
This has to be reflected in the medical and larger communities. She gives the below resources for places to find local volunteer opportunities and CSAs to promote optimal health:
www.localharvest.org
volunteermatch.com
EVERYONE should read this, but it should start by those in the medical profession to make a change of how we approach our healthcare.
Daphne talks about the idea that along with our factory farms, we have (somewhat inadvertently) created "factory medicine". We have patients that are treated like our sad industrial farms: give the proper inputs, treat each bug or problem with - waaaay too much - medicine, then wonder why they aren't thriving.
Daphne uses each chapter to talk about a parallel between a different farm and aspect of medicine. I absolutely loved her quote:
"First, I now understand that the secret to good farming - a secret shared by all the farmers in this book - is to care more for the farm than for any product that farm may produce."
"Feed the soil, not the plant."
This whole book promotes a more holistic agriculture and medical outlook. Unfortunately, this term often gets used and half the population immediately downplays it as going to use crystals and tarot cards to check your health. Instead, Daphne is promoting the type of agriculture our grandparents (or at least great-grandparents) practiced! Where they know every inch of the land, and how to continue their farm health. Work in manure, don't just treat the land with deadly chemicals.
"Each farm that I visited represents a series of 'conversations' - microbes talking with soil, soil talking with plants, plants talking with cows and farmers, farmers talking with the farming community."
This has to be reflected in the medical and larger communities. She gives the below resources for places to find local volunteer opportunities and CSAs to promote optimal health:
www.localharvest.org
volunteermatch.com
EVERYONE should read this, but it should start by those in the medical profession to make a change of how we approach our healthcare.
March 22, 2018
Key points for me:
- Sustainable farming is very important - sometime more so than organic farms because not all organic farming is sustainable and they deplete the soil of nutrients to supply big box stores
- Support your local CSA
- Soil quality is VERY important
- In one study breast fed babies had a more expansive palate than formula fed
- start them with fruits and veggies young they may love them forever
- minimize antibiotic and steroid use
- ear drops made of olive oil infused with mullein and garlic - helped an ear infection as long as there was no pus or discharge from the ear.
- Stress - low grade stress but chronic stress is not good. vs. others who have high stress for a little amount of time.
- chickens and their stress level is very important to keep low.
- stress reduction in humans - join the flock - do something you love for yourself
- Integrated pest management is amazing!
- IPM and cancer care - treat it as a pest not a killer (control the disease for the long run)
- lots of vegetables - little meat
- cancer thrives in acidic environments - sugary environments
- Eat a light dinner
- Hydrosols are great for skin (rose water)
- Sustainable farming is very important - sometime more so than organic farms because not all organic farming is sustainable and they deplete the soil of nutrients to supply big box stores
- Support your local CSA
- Soil quality is VERY important
- In one study breast fed babies had a more expansive palate than formula fed
- start them with fruits and veggies young they may love them forever
- minimize antibiotic and steroid use
- ear drops made of olive oil infused with mullein and garlic - helped an ear infection as long as there was no pus or discharge from the ear.
- Stress - low grade stress but chronic stress is not good. vs. others who have high stress for a little amount of time.
- chickens and their stress level is very important to keep low.
- stress reduction in humans - join the flock - do something you love for yourself
- Integrated pest management is amazing!
- IPM and cancer care - treat it as a pest not a killer (control the disease for the long run)
- lots of vegetables - little meat
- cancer thrives in acidic environments - sugary environments
- Eat a light dinner
- Hydrosols are great for skin (rose water)
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May 7, 2024I borrowed this from my DD, right up my street, pop science and medicine. I was a bit worried about the chatty memoir style, but Dr. Miller turns out to be a good writer and storyteller, engaging and informative without being either too technical or patronising. Broadly speaking, Dr. Miller explores links between farming, the food chain [US-centric], medical interventions, and our health & well-being. Each chapter looks at a particular element of farming (eggs, wine grapes, aromatics, mixed agricultural & animal pastures, and urban community farms etc.) and a case study on individual farms and eco-farmers, and sometimes a patient(s) of hers. It’s fascinating to hear her connect the dots between healthy management of soil and the overall ecosystem (biome?), and the way that feeds into our human flora and fauna. It all makes perfect sense, after all, ‘we are what we eat’ There is a little mis-step into crystal energies - maybe a subject for another book - but mostly fascinating. However, it’s cautionary to think about how scalable these models in the face of powerful farming and food supply industries, and consumers demands for cheap protein, sugary, fatty & processed food.
February 15, 2022
Written by a traditionally-trained doctor with an open and receptive mind, this book is a great piece showcasing scientific evidence of the interconnectedness of mankind with the environment. Dr. Miller traces her way through her initial vague idea of the parallels between working the soil and caring for the community, the body and overall well-being. She relates interactions and periods of study with a number of professionals across different specialties, citing anecdotal comparative outcomes between some of her patients with similar situations and afflictions who went about their treatments very differently. All the while, she relates the broad number of ways people are reconnecting with the earth and growing food. Her curiosity, open-mindedness and scientifically-driven approach is also imminently readable as she has a caring and intelligent writing style.
All in all a fabulous book; I'll definitely be watching for more work from her in the future.
All in all a fabulous book; I'll definitely be watching for more work from her in the future.
September 10, 2018
If you don’t think that human health and food have any connection, then this is the book for you because it’s a freaking education. It’s written by a family physician who travelled the country visiting a variety of farming/ranching operations and writes this book to show us exactly how the medical industry and the farming industry are not only connected but maybe even mirror images of one another. If we can understand how everything is connected, how diversity in the soil and in medical treatments and even our bodies microbiome matters, then we might be able to solve many of the things that simultaneously ail our bodies and this planet both. It’s a wonderful, insightful read. If you stick food in your mouth or put makeup on your face or feel ill once in awhile you should read this.
June 2, 2024
Awesome look at health, ecology, and science, and how they all play together.
Our health is very much tied to and similar to the health of our environment.
Science's role in health and environment can be good, but only as long as it "preserves and complements the natural system." or as Aldo Leopold wrote, "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."
Giving more than you take in all relationships (with land, community, etc) is important. Care more for the land and the person than for what they produce.
We are all one, nature, people, everything. In the same way that St Francis called Brother Sun and Sister Moon.
Our health is very much tied to and similar to the health of our environment.
Science's role in health and environment can be good, but only as long as it "preserves and complements the natural system." or as Aldo Leopold wrote, "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering."
Giving more than you take in all relationships (with land, community, etc) is important. Care more for the land and the person than for what they produce.
We are all one, nature, people, everything. In the same way that St Francis called Brother Sun and Sister Moon.
April 7, 2025
I loved this book?
I wasn't expecting to, really. I thought it would interest me, but I wasn't expecting to be quite so enthralled. It was a good mix of story and research.
Do I agree with everything it said? No, not at all (for example, I think Dr. Miller got dangerously close to endorsing raw milk). But I came away with so much more that I agree with and will implement in my life. It made me more aware of my diet, my shopping habits, my environment, and my priorities, and I've started implementing changes.
I have recommended it to friends and family. I love this style of science communication and am deeply impressed with the author. I'm hoping to read her other books soon, too.
I wasn't expecting to, really. I thought it would interest me, but I wasn't expecting to be quite so enthralled. It was a good mix of story and research.
Do I agree with everything it said? No, not at all (for example, I think Dr. Miller got dangerously close to endorsing raw milk). But I came away with so much more that I agree with and will implement in my life. It made me more aware of my diet, my shopping habits, my environment, and my priorities, and I've started implementing changes.
I have recommended it to friends and family. I love this style of science communication and am deeply impressed with the author. I'm hoping to read her other books soon, too.
October 24, 2019
I think the most important principal that was reinforced by this book was the parallel between modern agriculture and modern medicine. Fixing specific, measurable parameters in order to boost production profits usually results in poor soil health. Instead, if we look at the soil as a living organism, increasing it's health will naturally result in increased and superior production.
Miller shows us a number of farmers who take this approach. Nothing earth-shattering, but it certainly reinforces the principle. The herb farmer chapter was a bit woo-woo.
Miller shows us a number of farmers who take this approach. Nothing earth-shattering, but it certainly reinforces the principle. The herb farmer chapter was a bit woo-woo.
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