The Dr. Hyman Show
Big Ag, Pesticides & The Food System Keeping You Sick | Ian Somerhalder
Wed, 19 Mar 2025
You probably know Ian Somerhalder from The Vampire Diaries or Lost, but these days, he’s on a mission far bigger than Hollywood. Ian has dedicated his time and platform to tackling some of the most pressing issues of our time—our broken food system, soil depletion, and the health crisis caused by industrial agriculture. In this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show, we explore: How Ian’s passion for regenerative agriculture was shaped by his childhood and family history. The alarming impact of pesticides on human health and the environment. Why farmers are stuck in a toxic cycle—and how regenerative farming offers a way out. How shifting just 10% of U.S. farmland to regenerative practices could transform our health and economy. The powerful connection between soil health, gut health, and disease prevention. Ian’s journey proves that real change starts with what’s on our plates. Don’t miss this inspiring conversation. View Show Notes From This Episode Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hyman Sign Up for Dr. Hyman’s Weekly Longevity Journal This episode is brought to you by Seed, Fatty15, Perfect Amino, AirDoctor, and Pique. Visit seed.com/hyman and use code 25HYMAN for 25% off your first month of Seed's DS-01® Daily Synbiotic. Pre-order The Longevity Nutrient today, wherever books are sold. Get pure essential amino acids today. Go to bodyhealth.com and use HYMAN20 to get 20% off your first order. Get cleaner air. Right now, you can get up to $300 off at airdoctorpro.com/drhyman. Head to piquelife.com/hyman to get 20% off + a free beaker and frother today.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic of this episode?
Coming up on this episode of The Dr. Hyman Show.
But why are we sending $80 billion of American farmers' money overseas? It's just the system is set up for us to fail. And this isn't like some conspiracy theory. You're just looking at data.
Chapter 2: How are American farmers impacted by the current system?
Yeah, I mean, it's true.
When we start injecting $50 to $80 billion back in the middle America, well, that's going to be the re-industrialization of middle America. It's going to change our economy. It's going to be amazing. Farmers are going to be able to go down to that local Chevy dealership and get a new car.
So you're saying regenerative farmers actually will be more successful economically by switching from our industrial agricultural practices, which destroy the soil and produce commodity crops that go into processed food that make us sick.
That make us sick.
And you're saying by switching over, it's not just sort of crunchy granola, organic agriculture.
Nothing crunchy about it.
It's actually a better economic model for the farmers and for the country because we're not shipping our dollars overseas to buy all these chemicals and seeds from foreign companies and fertilizer companies, which are global.
And keeping our population sick.
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Chapter 3: What are the benefits of regenerative agriculture?
And what's been so amazing about getting into this whole regenerative ag thing is because I see it when I'm in D.C. and I know you see it, too. both sides are coming together on this. And that's the thing is they're doing this. They found something that is meaningful to both sides because it's meaningful for the country.
And I'll definitely get into the question you just asked, but I think for you and I both, I've had all these conversations and calls and emails and stuff looking for endorsements of all these candidates and stuff. And I'll tell you, one of the things I realized, and Josh and Rebecca and I talked about this.
Josh and Rebecca are the filmmakers who made Kiss the Ground.
The directors and producers and writers of the films of Kiss the Ground and Common Ground and Ground Swell, was that as long as we stay laser focused on building systems that are impervious to, let's call it regime change, because at the end of the day, It's the same, you know, I said this to many heads of state. At the end of the day, they, you know, they're regimes. They come in, they change.
So, you know, you work so hard to get something done, someone else comes in. And what I was saying to some of the president's guys and gals, and then also to my Republican sisters and brothers in D.C. was, so listen, if you had a company, right, whether it's a Fortune 500, Fortune 50 company, whatever, right?
And you had a CEO that came in every four years, and you busted ass to create all these amazing scenarios where the company does well. But every four years, another CEO comes in and just gets rid of those. The company would never work. First of all, your shareholders would be freaking out. It just wouldn't work. So why do we run our country that way? It's quite interesting, right?
You mentioned Lost. Do you realize it's been 20 years since that show premiered? It was, I think, September 21 or September 22, 2004. And we still look the same.
But in that span of those 20 years, going from Lost into a very humbling experience, which was the, I forgot what we called it, Spenter, it was like the intermediate period between Lost and Vampire Diaries, which was about three and a half years. What Vampire Diaries did was it built a massive global platform for me to stand on because it's been seen by something like 1.2 billion people.
Not views, people. So at the end of the day, just look at it from a numbers perspective.
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Chapter 4: How do pesticides affect health?
Chapter 5: What is the connection between soil health and human health?
Yeah, I'm sure. No, I'm sure.
A different generation.
I'm sure it's a different generation. I didn't watch Lost. But if you look at that, it's one in eight people on the planet have seen or somehow intersected or interacted with this material.
And it gave you a chance to have a big voice.
A big voice. And I think if you get a big voice, but then you're inspiring people with the things that you care about that are actually there for the betterment of not yourself, but for the community around you or for the global community around you. I think that's where it's really valuable. And I sit there...
Your family was very into this. Like you have some Native American heritage. Your mom sort of was into Eastern stuff.
I grew up with Eastern medicine.
Yeah. And so you were sort of predisposed to thinking about health and wellness in a different way and the relationship with nature.
From the get-go.
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