From the Ground Up: A Regenerative Approach to Modern Wellness

Please introduce yourself. Tell us who you are and what lights you up in the wellness space.

Hi! My name is Nadine Clopton. 

I’m most lit up by getting to the roots of wellness – looking at how the foods we eat, products we use, and practices that support wellness can also contribute to planetary wellness and soil health. I’m deeply passionate about taking an integrative approach to both wellness and systems change. 

At my core, I’m a systems midwife – my work is to show up to support the transition of our systems from extractive and disconnected to regenerative and reciprocal. I’m an educator, writer, herbalist, singer, and huge foodie.

I have my Masters degree in Environmental Policy Design from Lehigh University – where I studied systems change, environmental health, and sustainable development. In my time as an undergrad, also at Lehigh, I received a dual degree in Public Health and Political Science.

Currently, I serve as the Regenerative Education Program Manager at Rodale Institute, where I’ve had the opportunity to co-create a program called Regenerative Health – diving deep into wellness at the intersection of soil health and human health. Our work at the Institute is in advancing regenerative organic agriculture – connecting the dots between healthy soil, healthy food, and healthy people.Continuing the thread of my passion for the food system, I’m also a co-founder of VendWell Provisions Co. alongside my fiancé, Aidan. VendWell is a wellness-driven company reimagining how people nourish themselves at work and on the go through thoughtfully curated snacks and beverages that elevate the health of both people and planet.

What is your mission within the modern wellness movement, and how do you hope to inspire others through your work?  

Reconnection. We’ve been so systematically disconnected from Earth, our ecosystems, communities, ourselves, & each other. 

My mission within the modern wellness movement is to inspire others to reconnect – whether that’s encouraging people to reconnect with their local foodshed by getting to know a local farmer, educating healthcare professionals about the interconnections between the chronic disease epidemic and soil health, or inspiring others to reconnect to the land beneath their feet.

How did your personal wellness journey begin? What experiences shaped your path toward intentional living?

My personal wellness journey began as a child. My mom is diabetic, so I grew up having to think about things like blood sugar and how to step in to caring for someone with a chronic illness when needed. If you talked to me at the age of 10, I would have told you I wanted to become a holistic doctor. I was always fascinated by the world of alternative medicine.

Flash forward to my college years, I got diagnosed with psoriasis and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). I knew I wanted to go a different path in my healing journey than the conventional route. At 20, I began seeing a functional medicine doctor who put me on an elimination diet to examine if food was contributing to inflammation in my body. I dropped 60 lbs in a matter of months & became passionate about the role food plays in health.

Then, during the pandemic, I was living in Vermont with my partner at the time. It was there that I met a wonderful array of people living in connection to land – integrated as part of nature, living reciprocally with their environment. I embarked on a journey to learn as much as I could about herbalism, apprenticing and getting my hands in the soil for the first time. Something clicked for me – that tending to soil with intentionality was key to growing both herbs and food that nourish the body. At that point, I knew I wanted to live in service to soil. When a role with Rodale Institute opened up, it was kismet & has been deeply fulfilling ever since.

Flash forward again to January 2025, when I had a trip to the emergency room at our local hospital. I was hungry, had an unreasonably high resting heart rate of 154 BPM, and was sitting face-to-face in the waiting room across from a conventional vending machine. Staring down a cartoon character on a bag of ultra-processed neon orange snacks – I was perplexed that that was the only option for snacks in the ER for patients, families, and hospital staff.

That experience led me to co-founding VendWell, where we’re bringing thoughtfully curated snacks and beverages to the places it matters most. Our curated wellness markets prioritize snacks that are seed-oil free, high protein, low sugar, low salt, use delicious, whole food ingredients, and are sourced with integrity from regenerative and organic suppliers. 

It’s our love letter to the community we care about – our vote for small changes that lead to longer term shifts in health.

What are you most passionate about when it comes to holistic wellness—whether that’s food, movement, environment, or mindset—and how do those passions fuel your purpose?

All of the above! I’m passionate about an integrated approach to holistic wellness – leaning in to food, movement, environment, AND mindset as key pillars that create a strong foundation for wellness. 

In my career, I focus most on food and environment. The age old adage “you are what you eat” has a lot of truth to it. We’ve become so detached from the source of our food, the ways that food is grown, & the impact it has on our environment.

The majority of people in America cannot name a farmer in their community – and it isn’t their fault. We’ve hyper-centralized our food system – with the majority of food companies and food production being owned by a small handful of massive corporations. 

Collectively, due to time poverty, economic disparity, and other socioeconomic factors, we’ve prioritized food that is fast, cheap, and filling. Again, not the fault of the people, but the systems that surround us. 

As a social scientist / political scientist at heart, I’m fascinated by the ways in which systematic disconnection from land and our traditional foodways has contributed to adverse health outcomes in mind, body, and spirit.

My passion for food and the environment propel me forward in my work reconnecting seemingly disparate systems – healthcare and agriculture – through my work at Rodale Institute.

In both my personal and professional life, I’ve become a passionate advocate for using food as medicine and supporting regenerative organic agricultural production methods.

What core values or beliefs guide your daily life and work?

The core values that guide my daily life and work are reciprocity, compassion, regeneration, gratitude, and reimagination.

Wellness is more than one thing—it’s a connected ecosystem. How do you define wellness, and what areas (nutrition, mindset, movement, environment, relationships) do you personally nurture most?

For me, wellness is like a complex choral piece. You have a lot of component parts working in harmony to create a unique expression. There’s no one prescriptive way to do wellness. It’s an ever evolving conversation between you, your environment, and your community – and what may support your wellness in one season of life may be different in the next. It’s absolutely an integrated ecosystem of practices, beliefs, and community.

Right now, I’m honestly focusing on all 5 of those with pretty equal weight. 

This past year was big for honing my mindset – I had some setbacks in my health and in my personal life. Focusing on getting grounded, acceptance, and being gentle with myself has been essential. I’m a huge proponent of therapy – especially if you’re navigating a complex chronic health condition(s). 

Fundamental to wellness is relationships. I have a powerhouse circle of women in my life that inspire me in so many countless ways – friends, mentors, family, colleagues. Tending to these relationships with care and intentionality has been a huge unlock for me. I’ve learned to lean into community in both easy and hard times and that has made all the difference.

How do you see the different elements of wellness—body, mind, community, and planet—interacting to create true balance and vitality?

They’re all integrated! By tending to our mind and community, we give ourselves the foundations for mental and spiritual wellness that makes tending to our body and planet. The reverse is also true – tending to the health of our body and planet can be foundational for mental health and community health.

I’m convinced that balance is a total illusion. We’re all out of balance somewhere, and that’s okay and entirely human. Imbalance is an opportunity and an invitation to look at something from a different angle. Vitality also takes many different forms. There are times I feel vital, lush, and abundance in one domain of my life and lackluster in others. Doing the best we can, when we can, where we can, and how we can is all part of the equation.

What is one mindset shift or daily practice you’d share with someone beginning their own wellness journey?

Lean into service. Asking yourself “what are my unique gifts and offerings to the world and how can I be of service?” at least once a year or once a quarter can be transformative. Often, wellness is looked at as an individual thing. While there’s nothing wrong with that, I’d like to offer that real wellness goes beyond the self and extends to something greater than ourselves – whether that’s our neighborhood, community, ecosystem, or entire planet. If we’re narrowly focused on getting well as an individual without focusing on how that can extend outward to others, we can find ourselves feeling like an island.

Also – one of my absolute favorite practices for checking in with myself is journaling. I try to journal a few times a week, but if that isn’t tenable, at the very least I will always journal with the new moon and the full moon each month. 

With the new moon, I reflect on what I’m manifesting or calling in – both for the collective and me as an individual. With the full moon, I meditate on what it is that I am releasing and letting go of – extending that out to our greater human family. I’ve been doing this for the past 7 years and it is fascinating to see what patterns have emerged across the various moon cycles. Each moon has its own unique astrology that can guide your reflections.

How can we inspire and empower the next generation to pursue wellness in a more connected, sustainable way? What role do community gatherings and events like this play in that vision?

By empowering the next generation to show up as a force for good in their community and in their ecosystem, wellness is an inevitable result. 

Embodiment is also a powerful tool for inspiration and empowerment. Gatherings like these enable young people to connect with others who are embodying wellness in their own unique ways.

I think about people like Malala Yousafzai, who inspires girls around the world to pursue education not just by talking about it, but by being a living embodiment of what that looks like out in the world. Her recent memoir is an honest reflection on her coming of age years at Oxford – the light, shadow, and everything in between. 

Part of wellness is also accepting that it is never perfect or polished – it is always a process of becoming, shedding, & evolving. 

Leaning into communities like these are essential in having containers for holding us in our times of transition. There’s a reason why Indigenous communities have rites of passage that young people navigate with support of a community. 

Wellness is never just about the self, but how we can show up as our best selves to serve a greater purpose. The key is having spaces and processes for young people to explore questions around what their purpose might be and to unlock what their gifts are to give to the greater whole.

Nadine’s journey reminds us that wellness is not a solo pursuit but a symphony — an ongoing, interconnected dance between body, mind, community, and planet. Her call to action is simple yet profound: to reconnect, to serve, and to live in harmony with the systems that sustain us. Through intentional choices, community collaboration, and care for the soil beneath our feet, we can cultivate a more balanced, regenerative, and compassionate future for all.