About SALUD

Sustainable Agriculture for Life, Unity, and Development

SALUD is a group of University of Florida scientists working to create self-sustaining grassroots solutions for iron-deficiency anemia and food insecurity in the Philippines. Our work underscores the connectivity between soil heath, agricultural practices and human nutrition, as long-term health effects of food quality ultimately depend on its incorporation into daily diets.

It is implemented by SALUD via two complementary projects. The first one is to develop a Filipino recipe book that uses iron-biofortified crops in traditional dishes and retains cultural food habits. To ensure cultural relevance and uptake, we are planning to partner with community Filipino restaurants in identifying core meals along side culturally acceptable methods of fortification of nutrient-dense whole foods. These recipes will be professionally formatted, printed and disseminated as a nutrition education tool.

The second effort sees research-based agricultural development undertaken with UF IFAS faculty to compare the relative merits of regenerative cropping systems including interplanting and rotation planting. Such approaches are designed to provide a long-term solution for restoring the health of soils, increasing the availability of micronutrients and can be used for sustained cultivation of iron-rich crops.