The "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) movement has brought unprecedented attention to America's chronic disease epidemic. The statistics deserve the attention: 6 in 10 Americans have at least one chronic disease, and the United States lags behind other developed nations in life expectancy despite spending more on healthcare than any other country.
Update - June 25, 2026: the administration signed Executive Order 14414, "Advancing Regenerative Agriculture and Strengthening American Farm Resilience," directing USDA to maximize funding for the federal Regenerative Pilot Program and instructing HHS, USDA, and EPA to build a cumulative chemical exposure research framework. This is meaningful progress. But the order contains no definition of "regenerative," no verification standard, and no mechanism to confirm that claimed soil improvements are actually happening.
MAHA's strategy focuses on four causes of childhood health problems: poor diet, environmental chemicals, lack of physical activity, and overmedicalization. Important - all of it. But there's a critical piece missing from the framework: the soil.
The Missing Link: Where Food Nutrition Actually Begins
MAHA correctly identifies that Americans are overmedicated and undernourished. But that framing addresses symptoms. The root cause is in the ground.
Decades of published research document the decline: Davis et al. (2004) found measurable drops in protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins across 43 garden crops between 1950 and 1999, and Mayer (1997) documented similar mineral declines in UK produce. Industrial management that depletes soil organic matter produces food with less in it. You can't durably fix nutrition without fixing the soil it comes from.
Where EverSoil and MAHA Align
1. Addressing chronic disease at the food level
Nutrient density starts in the soil. At Carter Ranch - our 40,000-acre proof of concept, where soil organic matter climbed from a 1.1% baseline to 5.0% by 2025 - independent testing found beef with an omega-6 to omega-3 ratio around 1.9:1, versus roughly 8:1 typical of grain-fed beef. A less inflammatory fat profile in an everyday staple is exactly the kind of food-supply shift a chronic-disease strategy should care about.
2. Reducing synthetic chemical exposure
Regenerative ranching doesn't reduce synthetic pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer use - it eliminates it. Carter Ranch has operated for years without synthetic applications while productivity improved, because restored soil biology does the work chemicals were substituting for. Where MAHA debates permissible exposure levels, regenerative management removes the exposure at its source: nothing is applied, so nothing needs to be argued about.
3. Children's nutrition
A portion of every EverSoil certification fee funds a nutrient-dense beef stick program for malnourished children ages 4-9 - the developmental window where complete protein, bioavailable iron, B12, and omega-3s matter most (see our post on essential amino acids and childhood development). Feeding kids better isn't a slogan for us; it's in the fee structure.
4. Transparency
MAHA calls for rooting out conflicts of interest and increasing transparency. EverSoil's answer is structural: independent ecological monitoring, independent lab testing of the food itself, third-party certification with no self-reporting, and a QR code that puts the data in the buyer's hand. Trust built on records, not reassurances.
5. Keeping family ranches viable
Ranchers doing this work deserve a market that rewards it. Our position is simple: we focus on selling certified product for the highest possible price - to date, EverSoil certified beef has sold around 20% above conventional, though we do not guarantee a set premium. Verified quality, not commodity volume, is how family operations stay independent.
What EO 14414 Still Doesn't Solve
The executive order describes regenerative agriculture as practices that "strengthen soil health, lower input costs, improve chemical efficiency, and enhance profitability." It does not say how any of those outcomes get measured, by whom, or on what schedule. A federal program that funds "regenerative" acreage without a verification standard will fund a word, not an outcome.
That gap is precisely what EverSoil was built to fill: independent, third-party verified soil and bionutrient data - the audit trail a federal program needs to confirm that enrolled acreage is actually producing the improvements the order mandates.
The Path Forward
MAHA can build public awareness of nutrient density, fund research connecting soil health to human health, and shape policy that levels the field for regenerative producers. EverSoil can supply what a movement cannot: the measurement infrastructure that turns "regenerative" from a marketing word into a verifiable claim, and market mechanisms that reward producers without waiting on federal machinery.
We're not asking permission, and we're not waiting for policy. The proof is growing in Wyoming, the certification exists, and the market is responding.
If you care about children's health and you're frustrated by the chronic disease epidemic: buy verified regenerative food, support ranchers making the transition, and ask every label one question - where's the data?
Sources
- Executive Order 14414. June 25, 2026. "Advancing Regenerative Agriculture and Strengthening American Farm Resilience."
- Davis, D.R., M.D. Epp, and H.D. Riordan. 2004. "Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999." Journal of the American College of Nutrition 23(6): 669-682.
- Mayer, A-M. 1997. "Historical Changes in the Mineral Content of Fruits and Vegetables." British Food Journal 99(6): 207-211.
- CDC. 2024. "Chronic Disease Data." U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
EverSoil Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building the infrastructure for verified regenerative agriculture. Soil health is human health - and we exist to make that connection measurable.