Here's the Dirt on Food - Part 2

I failed Veggies 101

So when that food scientist gave me a look of incredulity, I have to admit something. It was the first time since grade 8 that I felt stupid. Why did I not know that not all carrots were created equal? I grew up in a family where we ate well. Not much fruit, but lots of hearty Canadian vegetables cooked in traditionally Irish-Canadian ways - they had the shit boiled out of them. OK, so maybe they could have been prepared better, but one raw carrot is the same as another? Please?

The AHA moment

As I said, I was on a journey. Now that journey had become a quest that quickened when I was invited to an open-yard event near my Calgary home and met my future permaculture teacher, Rob Avis. He had transformed a small city lot into a perennial food forest, with random annual veggies scattered about for good measure. The entire effect was breathtaking - mini Garden of Eden. When he explained to our group that each plant provided a particular design function for the benefit of nearby plants and thus the whole garden, I was hooked.

Since that day, I have learned a great deal from him and many others. I have listened and observed for myself the diversity of life that lives in a self-sustaining environment. I have seen the work (yes, there is a considerable amount of work) that goes into creating such places. I have been made aware of how much soil fertility is restored by food forests as they literally (through their litter) build inch upon precious inch of humus, teeming with the diversity of life that makes a healthy soil food web possible.

Why biology is more important than chemistry to that carrot

Remember what modern farmers are doing? Tilling and adding chemicals like NPK fertilizers, both which slowly destroy the soil food web. Have you even taken a bunch of vitamin C only to pee it out later? That is exactly what happens to most of that NPK. Sure, it's water soluable, but it is not in a form that our bodies can readily use. Do doctors recommend we grind up some seashells and eat them? That's basically what you do when you take a calcium pill.

Just like me, my carrot needs its nutrients given to it in a form it can more easily incorporate. That is exactly the role the microbiology play! They break it down through their own bodies into much more digestible forms than industrial methods can.

Forgive me one final tangent; we are only just beginning to understand the role critters in our guts play, but that is another big story for another time. The missing piece of the puzzle is a little-known fact that it's time to reveal.

How sweet it is!

Most folks understand why a shipped carrot is more tasteless and less sweet than one straight out of the garden. The moment the connection to the soil food web is severed, complex sugar compounds begin the process of breaking down into simple starches. We already know the fresher the more nutritious, right?

It turns out the sweeter something tastes, the more nutritious it is also. No, this doesn't mean candy is good for you, but it does mean that not all carrots are equal!

Would it surprise you to learn there is a way anyone could test nutritional quality right at the produce market? It's called a Brix meter. It measures sugar content and all produce has an optimal range. So here's an idea; let's all get them and shake up the food industry! Big Food, we are coming for you!

Finally - a Government Initiative I Support

It's mere days since the Canadian government dropped this campaign on us and already Big Food lobbyists are spinning it. Yesterday my doctor asked me what I thought of it. I adopted these ratios years ago, so yeah, but she declared it a shame parents are being told to avoid milk for their children. After scanning the 50-plus page report, I didn't see a single sentence about the evils of milk, just the suggestion to make water the go-to beverage of choice. I wonder - did she get the spin before she had time to read the fine print?

In fact the list of foods to be avoided is quite short. Go here to read them for yourself.

Filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables is not hard once you develop the habit and discover recipes that make this task easier. The other two quarters of the plate we are already familiar with. We just need to eat less of them. The Big Food industry may not be happy about a smaller presence on our plates, because we have become reliant on convenient versions of them, loaded with additives and flavour enhancers that studies cite lead to some pretty serious disease. You may have noticed the huge selection of fruit and veggies sold in plastic now, as Big Food struggles to retain marketshare and remain the middle man for produce they did not produce.

The cancer industry and Big Pharma benefit from our disease. There is no incentive for the institutions they help fund to teach doctors about the benefits of blueberries. When I read the vast list of studies referenced in the report, it becomes obvious an update of my country's food guide has been long overdue. I applaud them for it. My only concern is this: the spin doctors are already telling us this plan means we will have to rely on imports for a greater percentage of the food on our plate. This statement is only true if we allow it to be. I think Big Food is counting on us to make it so.

Food security has become for me a worthwhile cause, one that I intend to dedicate the rest of my life to, because I have sensed the fragility of our food system grow over the past decade. The average Canadian has not had to ponder this very much as we have always been a country of abundance. I will attempt to elaborate another time why this is no longer the case when it could easily be. In the meantime, here's the thing; nourishment should not be not a luxury item but a human right protected everywhere on this planet.

The next series of posts will consist of first drafts from the cookbook I am writing as a way of helping my community to learn how to select and prepare local food. Until next time, be well Dear Reader!