In 1922 when Alfred and Fanny Smith settled in the woods that would become their dairy farm, they had a horse, a chain, and dynamite. From much hard labor, these 80 acres would be transformed into Alfred Smith’s Dairy, and the place where Alfred’s grandson, John, would spend every summer of his boyhood. John now lives in the log house his mother built in 1976 on that same land. The old dairy barn’s remains are a reminder of what it was. But it stands for something entirely different now. John moved here in 2020 to care for his mom and to reclaim Alfred Smith’s Farm and start growing the healthiest of foods, and to connect with the community in order to spread the message that a truly healthy diet and lifestyle, can not only prevent most chronic disease, but that they can often be reversed, including diabetes, heart disease, and many cancers.
John and his partner, Leah, wanted to grow what they eat. And, they eat a “plant-slant”, whole food diet. This is a diet where a majority of calories come from plants, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans and legumes, minimally processed, and without added sugars. A study by Dan Buettner & the National Geographic Society identified many places around the world (Blue Zones) where people naturally live long (highest concentration of centenarians), healthy lives, relatively void of chronic disease. They found that the people living in these areas shared the following lifestyle qualities: eat a diet rich in whole plant foods, have a sense of purpose and learn to relax, stay connected with loved ones and the community, and get plenty of natural exercise.
Thanks to the Blue Zones study and an overwhelming body of scientific evidence, a new specialty has opened up within medicine, Lifestyle Medicine. Here’s the statement from the website for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, “Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based approach to treating and reversing disease by replacing unhealthy behaviors with positive ones.”
So, John began to ready the farm for growing. Guided by results from the soil tests, he added organic amendments to improve pH and fertility, including compost from Duluth’s Western Lake Superior Sanitary District (WLSSD) project. Finally, cover crops like oats, buckwheat, field peas, daikon radish, rye and hairy vetch (also known as green manure) were planted to rebuild the soil and reinvigorate the “soil food web” in order to grow the healthiest plants without using any inputs disallowed by the National Organic Program (NOP). Alfred Smith’s Farm is working toward organic certification by the USDA, a process that can take up to three years. Last summer, 2020, a 20’ x 50’ garden plot yielded its first round of crops. This year, ¼-acre parcel produced a bountiful harvest of broccoli, garlic, potatoes, tomatoes, spinach, lettuces, peppers, cabbage, beans, basil, leeks, onions, beets, chard and sweetcorn. This fall 4.5 acres were planted in a cover crop in preparation to expand next year’s planting.
In addition to a summer crop of mixed vegetables, fruit & garlic, Leah and John cultivate microgreens inside the house under grow lights. You can find them for sale at Natural Harvest Food Coop, directly through the farm, and online through the Open Food Network.
This place in the country outside of Hibbing isn’t your typical farm or even your typical market garden operation. John and Leah take their products to area farmers markets occasionally, but spend more time at the market talking with customers about “lifestyle medicine” and the health benefits of a “plant forward” lifestyle. John finished a course in plant-based nutrition through Cornell University this past spring. But his health & wellness journey really began when he watched the film Forks Over Knives just six years ago.
In 2018 his then 90-year-old mother was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. She was internet-savvy and forward John a website she thought offered some practical advice for those facing a cancer diagnosis: Chris Wark’s website ChrisBeatCancer.com. Adopting some of those recommendations, John cooked lots of healthy vegetables and prepared juices for her. She lived that full two years, after being given 6 months maximum.
John began to study and keep abreast of new medical research on the relationship between plant-based nutrition and health. He began following the work of Drs. Michael Greger MD (www.nutritionfacts.org ), Dean Ornish MD cardiologst (Ornish.com), and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn MD, Cleveland Clinic (book: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease). John and Leah’s dream became one of welcoming people to the farm and building community around healthy eating & lifestyle interventions to improve human health.
John currently does one-to-one health coaching with folks who want to explore plant-based options. And he refers folks to Essentia Health’s doctors in Duluth who are a part of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine: Dr. Jason Buffington and Todd Plocher, Physician’s Assistant. They practice at Essentia Clinic west and at the Essentia Wellness Center also in Duluth. Byers often recommends documentaries to those interested in learning more. Code Blue (www.codebluedoc.com ) follows a physician who recovers from MS to run a marathon by following a whole foods, plant-based diet. His favorite recommendation these days is Swich (www.thebigswich.com), an online community of folks learning to cook with plants for health. Here’s their promise: “We will provide basic health-supportive and plant-forward cooking education for every person on the planet that wants to take control of their health and well-being through food and cooking. And we’ll do it for free.” They already have 100,000 members.
The upshot of all this interest and learning is that John went back to his beloved grandfather’s farm to build a vision. In his other life, John is a web designer with Byers Media in Hibbing. But his passion is plant-based nutrition and helping folks understand its benefits. You can find him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/johndbyers and at the Farm website, https://www.alfredsmithsfarm.com/
