From Soil to Soul: Lessons on Health, Culture, and Connection from the Hera Institute

Yesterday, October 15, at the Café Milano in Georgetown, I had the opportunity to attend Healthier Eating for Better Lives – The Italian Way, a symposium hosted by the Hera Institute. The symposium provided an opportunity to address a challenge: rethinking how we grow, cook, and distribute our food, as well as reconsidering how the fundamental principles of the Mediterranean diet can transform public health and policy in America.

A Bridge Between Science, Culture, and Humanity

Most striking to me was the way that the conference bridged traditional distinctions among science, policy, and culture. Hera's mission—to link ancient knowledge of the Mediterranean with today's scientific evidence—was evident in every presentation. It wasn't simply about olive oil or tomatoes; it was about earth, people, and the intimate relationship between how we nourish the world and how we nourish ourselves.

Tim Phillips, President of Hera Institute, hit the mark. He reminded us that human nature is everywhere the same—that our desire to be part of something more than ourselves can power a movement toward healthier, more sustainable living. His words echoed with a theme close to my own work in global health: that change in systems begins with people, not institutions. You can build a policy or a program, but trust is established only when you invite people to be part of something meaningful.

Science with Soul

The after-symposium dove into the science. Professors from Rutgers, Harvard, and Italy explored how soil health and microbial richness affect not just crop quality but human health. As someone who has spent years working on global health systems, I was interested in this convergence of microbiome science, agricultural practices, and nutrition policy. It resonates with me because it is reminding us that our health data and our food data are speaking the same language—they both point back to how we take care of living systems.

Dr. Gianluca De Novi's presentation on medical innovation, alongside Amy Riolo's reflections on food and culture, captured the dual heart of the Mediterranean tradition: rigor and beauty, science and art. Riolo's personal story—linking her mother's experience with diabetes to her lifelong mission of promoting Mediterranean cooking—was a poignant reminder that evidence-based health promotion is most potent when it's also deeply personal.

A Nonpartisan Path Forward

What Hera is attempting in America is ambitious: to weave nutrition, agriculture, and culture into a nonpartisan national movement for health. When all else appears to be polarized these days, their "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) campaign aims to unify people around something we can all agree on: more health from more food.

It was energizing to see so many different stakeholders converse together. That spirit of collaboration reminded me of my own experience building partnerships between governments, NGOs, and business: you get ahead when you put aside the labels and summon the common purpose.

From Policy to Plate

The Hera Institute's future steps—launching community education programs in South Florida, expanding research collaborations, and piloting traceability technology for authentic foods—represent a rare intersection of policy advocacy and grassroots activism. It's the very kind of thinking that can transform not only what Americans consume, but how they think about health.

As I sat there, I couldn't help but recall one sentence: science with an emotional component. That's what this event embodied. The science of nutrition was exact, the evidence compelling, but the stories and their commonality lent it soul. It made me remember that wherever it is—agriculture, food, policy, or progress—it's about humans and dignity.

Closing Reflection

Walking out of the Café Milano in Georgetown, into the fall weather, I could feel the old sense of possibility, the same sense I've had throughout my career in global health and advocacy. Hera Institute's mission resonates deeply with me because it's not just about healthier food; it's about reuniting science and culture, and policy and people.

Healthy systems, just like healthy bodies, depend on a balance between innovation and tradition, local and global, individual and community. Hera's labor, as much as the Mediterranean way itself, reminds us that balance is not an endpoint but rather something we build one meal, one community, one partnership at a time.

#GlobalHealth #Sustainability #MediterraneanDiet #HealthPolicy #FoodSystems #Leadership #PublicHealth #HeraInstitute