As founder and CEO of The Farm Life Movement, Ashley Grosch is on a mission to serve “people and planet.” This takes form in the organic food she and her family grow on their regenerative farm in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach, the clean products they sell at her local organic market and online “farmacy,” and in Ashley’s approach to guiding clients in all stages of life as a functional medicine practitioner. We caught up with Ashley to find out more about her life story, how she guides clients back to health, what’s growing on her family farm—and where she gets her “superpower.”

Everyone can experience the farm life, whether they live in the city or the country. To live the farm life means that you have committed your family to a modern lifestyle that honors your ancestral lifestyle before humans were plagued by inflammatory conditions and diseases. We can embrace modern advances without losing sight of ancient wisdom, but this is easier said than done! I founded The Farm Life Movement to help families find the resources and care they need to live their version of farm life and to enjoy the health that comes with that lifestyle.

I grew up in northern Texas in the suburbs. My grandmother taught me everything I know about gardening. She was born in the 1890s. With my parents, she raised me during my early childhood years. I spent every day after elementary school at her house and learned all about homesteading and gardening. In summers, my parents would send me to my family’s dairy farm in Mississippi to learn more about animal-based farming.

When I was 18, I went to the United States Naval Academy and served as an officer for nine years. I was stationed at Little Creek and then Norfolk Naval Base. I was on the Navy’s triathlon team and was very health conscious even then.

In 2011 when I exited the Navy, I decided to move to the country, start a farm and raise my four children there. That is when functional medicine came into the picture. I was raising my children in a way my grandmother had taught me, as naturally as possible.

I kept encountering crossroads when looking for answers about their health, and much of the information was conflicting and unhealthy. By now I was trying to live off my land and raise healthy children at the same time. It began to overwhelm me. So, I went back to school for regenerative farming and functional medicine to deepen my understanding of the connection between the two.

I studied agriculture at Cornell, where I learned how to design permaculture food production systems. In these systems, the land works in a cyclical nature, honoring all the cycles (as opposed to relying on outside inputs and excess waste). This was the big “Aha” I was seeking as a new farmer!

Next, I studied with Chris Kresser to become an ADAPT certified practitioner. In this school, the focus was on ancestral health and learning how to interpret functional lab work. To further deepen my knowledge on functional lab interpretation, I went to Reed Davis’s school and became a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner (FDN-P).

And finally, to begin working with all ages, including children and prenatal care, I trained with Dr. William Sears and became a Sears Wellness Institute-certified health coach (CHC). I run my clinical functional medicine practice not as a doctor, but as a practitioner who teaches people about true health and how to self-treat. I do not replace a client’s doctor. I fill in the gaps between their appointments with a regular doctor.

Collectively, these trainings and certifications have allowed me to serve people from infancy and up. It gives me peace of mind that I can help parents, their children and aging parents all in one place. When they see me, there’s one stop, with no shuffling around to different doctors and practitioners.

A few years ago, I had a tough time teaching clients how to eat good food. So, I opened my own organic grocery market to serve them. In our Farmacy (at 2090 Princess Anne Road in Virginia Beach) we sell produce that comes from my farm and other local regenerative farms. Beyond that, my general manager and I carefully vet foods that come from outside our local area. In addition to produce, we also sell skincare products and pantry items.

This year I purchased additional land in Virginia Beach’s Pungo area. The idea behind  Pungo Roots Farm is to have a more public facing farm with a call to action for regenerative agriculture and regenerative health. Instead of staying in my introverted comfort zone, a couple of days a week I put myself out there. I use the farm as a platform to teach consumers and farmers in the area what a regenerative farm looks like.

To most people, it may look like chaos! There may be weeds around, but I do not see this as chaos. I see biodiversity and biomimicry: beautiful native plants that attract bugs, pollinators that replenish my soil and so much more! This way of growing food teaches people that a true regenerative system does not look organized and perfect.

On our new farm we have 12,000 strawberry plants. We raise chickens and have bees. Forty percent of the farm is for growing flowers, providing the ecosystem for what we grow and raise. And we offer the property so that customers can have a place for their own chickens.

We are trying different learning formats. And we are building a new store, with a kitchen garden beside it. As a clinician, I teach my patients about living a healthy lifestyle. Instead of saying, “Here you go, have fun getting overwhelmed and stressed about eating a healthy diet,” this shows people how healthy food is grown and where it comes from. There’s wiggle room in all of this. No one is perfect.

On a personal level, getting regular IV infusions from Hang 10 Drips is how I keep my “Super Woman” cape on! We would like to believe we can get the nutrients we need through food, but we need more than food. Almost every person I see has a leaky gut. Including IV therapy in their treatment can be a huge game changer for them.

As part of their treatment, I develop a protocol for my patients that includes an IV component. It is a matter of knowing which tools in the modern world will work for them, and which do not. IV infusion therapy is a useful tool that is worth the expenditure.

I would say about 80% of my clients understand the basic premise of health, so they are primed and ready. I am very good at helping people who are already healthy but need fine tuning. The other 20% of my clients have more complex health conditions, such as cancer, autism, ADHD, mental health needs and irritable bowel syndrome. I believe that any person can be helped.