Where was this tomato grown, nearby or across the planet? Do I choose the organic option, or does it even matter when organic certification still allows certain pesticides, and contamination from any neighboring conventional farms is difficult to fully avoid? How healthy was the soil this onion rooted in, biodiverse and thriving or depleted? Does the label on this chicken truly mean it lived a good life or is it deceiving? I can’t go to the grocery store anymore without these thoughts swirling through my head. I want to eat healthily and affordably while limiting any harmful chemicals in my body. Why is that so hard? I don’t yet know how to change the system, but I’m starting with giving myself and anyone else who wants to follow along full transparency into what’s in our food on one small farm through an 8-month farm pilot called Farm Protocols.

A lot of things happened at once to make this project a reality. I was ready to change my career focus after 4.5 years in data-centric technology, I found an incredible farmer who was willing to let me use her land and mentor me, and I had this nagging feeling that this is my moment to leap. I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t take a risk when I had the opportunity. So now I’m here in the Hudson Valley spending a season farming and researching how what’s in the soil impacts the nutrients in our food, learning to farm, and testing everything I can along the way.

I want to go to the grocery store and know exactly what nutrients are in every piece of produce, how it was grown, and if there are traces of heavy metals or microplastics so I can make the best decision for my health and my budget. If I choose to smoke, I know the risk I'm taking, but I shouldn't be unknowingly exposed to harmful chemicals while actively trying to make good choices in the produce aisle. I should be able to see if the organic broccoli or the asparagus grown locally have more nutrients in them than the ones conventionally grown by industrial farms. This level of transparency in our food system doesn’t exist yet. The technology isn’t there in a way that’s economically feasible for the people growing our food, but it’s the first step toward rebuilding trust in what we eat. Your typical local farmer can’t afford the lab tests required to verify soil health, nutrient content of what’s produced, microplastics presence, and more. But nothing is going to change unless we start somewhere. I’m starting by testing everything I can on one small farm and sharing it publicly.

The National Academies of Sciences published a report in 2024 on the connection between soil health and human health. Their conclusion was essentially that the link is real, but we need more data collected systematically. That's where I'm starting. I want to understand how what's in the soil ends up in the food, whether contaminants in the irrigation water find their way into what we eat, and whether microplastics from ordinary farm equipment show up in the fruits and vegetables coming out of the ground. I want full transparency for all in every piece of food we buy. Farm Protocols is what happens when you get tired of not knowing and decide to go find out.

Follow along: @farmprotocols on Instagram · farmprotocols.com