EDITORS’ LETTER
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ELCOME TO OUR WORLD. The Rooted Journal is a new magazine that exists to pique curiosity and elevate our
understanding of the entire food system. We celebrate farmers, farming, food, family, and the future. We follow a philosophy we call Modern Old School where the intersection between tradition and technology produces the tastiest, most nutritious food, while also incorporating new thinking to improve yields, create carbon-rich soil, and grow in a way that creates a brighter climate reality (“Elevated Nation,” p. 30). We believe food is medicine and can help solve some of the most costly and damaging diseases. To explore this, we asked Santana Diaz at UC Davis Health to share his mission to make hospital food more nutritious (“Wellness on the Menu,” p. 8). Access to quality food is a human right, so we approached the modern food-justice system with a critical lens, examining how those scales need to balance out for a more equitable future (“The Justice League,” p. 116). After all, we need food fairness for everyone. We know that farmers are not just heroes but also three-dimensional thinkers who are critical to both the American and global way of life. We trace the path of a legacy greens grower (“A Century of Harvests,” p. 52), a multigenerational fruit farm (“A Sentimental Bounty,” p. 96), and a family whose sons are gathering knowledge and sharing those stories through a podcast (“Family Values,” p. 72). We also explore the journey of a grape grower whose vines depend on a microscopic view of regenerative soil (“Bunches of Brilliance,” p. 132).
We like our boots dirty and the feel of soil beneath our feet. It’s inspiring for everyone to know where the food on their table comes from and who coaxed those seeds out of the ground. A Grammy Award -winning songwriter shares that passion, so we took a closer look at his land with his gardener, who is growing rare and peculiar varieties in his kitchen garden (“Harmony in the Garden,” p. 24). We are driven to return to a life where dangerous chemicals stay out of food, and where big, faceless agriculture learns from the Modern Old School and adopts a friendlier approach. That starts right in the ground when seeds are sown, so we examine where some of the rarest varieties are stored and how you can get access to them (“Seeds of Resilience,” p. 46). Every story in this issue captures a relentless commitment to preserving a more sustainable future, from understanding where water needs to flow to what new technologies farmers can adopt to put healthier food on people’s tables (“Blade Runners,” p. 80). Our approach is one of optimistic pragmatism in a rapidly changing world where the mass adoption of regenerative practices offers hope. Chef and farmer Chris Fischer once said a co- worker told him: “I wasn’t just raised on a farm, but a farm raised me.” The Rooted Journal wants everyone to know this truth and aspires to capture
that sentiment in every story, photo, illustration, and issue we produce. Thanks for reading and sharing. Stay rooted. Stay elevated.
— THE ROOTED JOURNAL EDITORS
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