The Story Behind | Earth Foods 2024

What does Autism have to do with Soil's issue?

In 2006, when my first child came into the world, something inside me shifted. Without realizing it, I started to pay closer attention to the health of babies and children, as if my own heart had cracked open to a new awareness.

That was when I stumbled upon a shocking report from the ADDM (Autism and Development Disabilities Monitoring Network). Back in the 1970s, when I was born, autism affected 1 in every 10,000 children. But by the year 2000, that number had skyrocketed to 1 in every 150. These figures haunted me. It was as if a silent storm had crept into our lives, yet the world around me remained strangely quiet, indifferent.

I felt a deep unease, a question gnawing at my core: What was happening to our children? And why weren’t we doing anything about it?

That question sent me spiraling into a journey I never expected...

I began devouring research, desperate to find the root cause. From pediatric neurologists to soil and nutrition experts (please check the references at the bottom of this article), their findings illuminated a troubling truth: the world beneath our feet was dying, and with it, so were we.

Plants need at least 17 essential nutrients to thrive. However, every time we harvest a crop, we strip the soil of these elements—more than 17—taking far more than we give back. For 200 years, we’ve been replenishing only 3 to 5 elements (primarily nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), leaving the rest of the soil's life-giving nutrients to vanish into dust.

And the results were all around us: barren lands, nutrient-depleted crops, and humans starved of the very elements we need to survive. The land was decaying, and we were decaying with it. Chronic illnesses, metabolic disorders, diseases that once seemed rare were now everywhere, like a dark mirror reflecting the earth's slow death.

But it wasn’t just facts and numbers—this was personal. The earth’s cry for help was echoing in our bodies, in the silent suffering of our children.

That realization hit me hard. I couldn’t stand by. So I gathered a team of brilliant, determined scientists, and together we formed Earth Foods. Our mission was clear: to bridge the chasm between the earth and the food we eat. To restore balance. To heal what was broken. Through groundbreaking technology, we aimed to revive the soil, return its lost nutrients, and with it, create a future where both plants and people could thrive once again.

In 2015, that urgency became personal when my brother’s son was diagnosed with autism. I’ll never forget the weight in his eyes and the helplessness in his voice. This bright-eyed boy seemed trapped on a distant planet, unable to connect. In that moment, I realized our mission transcended food and soil; it was about saving lives and bringing our children back from that unreachable place.

We poured everything into Earth Foods. Years of relentless work, and at last, we developed a breakthrough—a full-nutrient organic-inorganic compound fertilizer that could breathe life back into the soil. And as the soil healed, so did the crops. We were growing food that could nourish people the way nature had always intended.

But despite our success, it felt like a drop in the ocean. The larger world wasn’t listening, and our impact remained painfully small.

Then, in 2020, the latest report from ADDM shattered me once again. Autism rates had climbed to an alarming 1 in 36. The numbers were terrifying, but the stories were worse—my wife’s family, my child’s classmates, children from our church—all around me, kids were falling into the same silent world. Autism had become an unspoken epidemic, spreading in whispers, leaving families like mine searching for answers, for hope.

I knew then that our fight wasn’t over. Changing the way humanity farmed, thought, lived—it wasn’t going to happen overnight. It might take twenty years, maybe longer, to reverse the damage of centuries. But I couldn’t turn back. I couldn’t let go of the belief that “Soil Health is Human Health.” It was more than a motto—it was our lifeline.

This wasn’t just about feeding the world. It was about saving it. And we would keep going—until every inch of earth was restored, and every child had a chance to reach out from that distant star and come back to us.

Dr. Richard E. Frye: Frye’s research highlights that autistic children often lack nutrients like folate, vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, and zinc, emphasizing the importance of proper nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood. (2000-2010）
Dr. Martha Herbert: Herbert’s work suggests that poor nutrition may contribute to autism by impairing brain development due to missing key nutrients in modern diets. (2010-2015.)
Dr. William J. Walsh: Walsh reports that autistic children frequently have imbalances in nutrients such as zinc, copper, magnesium, and calcium, which may impact brain development and autism symptoms. (2000-2010.)
2007 Review Article: "Soil Degradation and Human Health" by David Pimentel et al. (published in EcoHealth journal): Highlights the significant impact of soil degradation on human health. Explores the connection between soil quality, water quality, food safety, and nutrient content. Discusses the potential for increased disease spread due to soil degradation.
2015 Study: "Global Health Impacts of Soil Degradation" by Timothy D. Searchinger et al. (published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences): Examines how soil degradation affects food production and nutrient content. Assesses the global health implications of degraded soil. Proposes key strategies to improve soil quality to mitigate health impacts.

References