Agricultural Soil Health System Upstart Adds Powerhouse Prof. Elizabeth Kucinich
MyLand announces the addition of Prof. Elizabeth Kucinich as VP of Industry and Government Relations. Kucinich will lend her knowledge, experience and expertise to MyLand’s emerging microalgae biological approach to help growers rebuild soil health and the natural capital of irrigated farmland.
“Farmers are hurting financially and soils across the world are dying at rapid rates due to chemical agriculture and dominating land management practices. At the same time aquifers are being drained and landscapes are becoming more arid as salination rates rise in irrigated croplands,” said Kucinich. “The MyLand agricultural system enters the market at a critical time to address all these issues. I am thrilled to join the MyLand team and thankful that this company exists.”
Prof. Kucinich works with domestic and international organizations, businesses and government to strengthen those who work to bring social, economic, health, agricultural and ecological systems into balance. Kucinich is a European Commission appointee to the SINO-EU panel on land and soil. She is a former board policy chair of the Rodale Institute and currently sits on the board of Groundswell International, promoting agroecology. Previous roles include director of Government Affairs for Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Policy Director at the Center for Food Safety. She was an executive producer of the award-winning documentary “GMO OMG” and is currently a producer of “Organic Rising.” Prof. Kucinich worked to support the establishment of the Organic Farmers Association, Plant Based Foods Association, the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and the Regenerative Organic Agriculture Certification.
“Prof. Kucinich is a leader in the international effort to drive meaningful change in our food and agriculture systems. She is dedicated to inducing that change on a truly global scale,” said Dane Hague, President and co-founder, MyLand. “We’re excited to have her join the MyLand team to connect our technology to the urgent challenges of improving the growing capacity of soils and moving growers toward the implementation of regenerative agriculture practices.”
“The MyLand microalgae cultivating system is a transformational development which helps large scale growers to transition from chemical to biological agriculture,” said Kucinich. “The MyLand irrigation technology increases the biological health of the soil and enables farmers to improve their land, increase productivity and nutrient density of crops, while reducing salination levels and the need for fertilizers,” she continued. “The approach works as a complement to conventional large scale commercial irrigated agricultural systems, and, for those looking to transition to higher value organic crop production, MyLand is an easy-to-adopt leap to ‘get your land off drugs’ while maintaining productivity in transition.”
The benefits for the MyLand system and its approach include everything from farmers’ bottom lines and productivity to reduced chemical exposure and, according to preliminary research data, increases in soil carbon sequestration and improved water management.