Category — Organics

The heirloom tomatoes in your garden may not just be tastier than commercially grown vegetables, but healthier too, according to a study from the American College of Nutrition.

The study looked for 13 nutrients in 43 crops grown from 1950 to 1999 and discovered that the vegetables enjoyed by our grandparents were significantly more nutritious than the veggies found on supermarket shelves today.

After rigorous statistical analysis, the researchers found that, on average, all three minerals evaluated have declined; two of five vitamins have declined; and protein content has dropped by 6 percent.

The decline is attributed to the relentless pursuit of crop strains that produce high yields, but few nutrients. One solution, short of agribusiness embracing lower-yielding crop strains or starting a vegetable garden, is to patronize farm stands and farmer’s markets where you can buy from smaller, multi-crop farmers that value quality above quantity.

Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999 [Journal of the American College of Nutrition]

Sounds like Prince Charles has finally convinced his Mum, The Queen of England, to embrace some of his green habits.

According to Ecorazzi [yes, there is a web site devoted to green gossip]:

An advert has been placed looking for someone to “help phase out the use of pesticides from the Palace’s gardens, improving ‘environmental and conservation practices’ as well as maintaining a new organic vegetable garden at Clarence House.”

The position pays £13,500 and will no doubt potentially include some tea-time with the green prince himself.

Charles has been an avid organic gardener for the past 25 years and, as the article points out, his garden at Highgrove House is considered one of the jewels of the organic movement.

His latest book, The Elements Of Organic Gardening, offers advice on converting to organic and reveals the methods used at some of the palace gardens like Clarence House and Birkhall in Scotland.

That tub of fruit yoghurt on the supermarket shelf has been advertised as healthy, fresh – and probably organic into the bargain.

But it also probably represents as much as 9000 kilometres of road and air transport to get it to the shelf. The yoghurt base, the fruit, the jar or tub, the lid, the label and even the bulk carton it came in have all come from widely scattered places. Germans consume 3 billion serves of processed yoghurt every year. [Read more →]

The organic food movement’s adherents have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams, but success has imperiled their ideals. It simply isn’t clear that organic food production can be replicated on a mass scale.

And it looks like big business is going to do it their way …

Just as mainstream consumers are growing hungry for untainted food that also nourishes their social conscience, it is getting harder and harder to find organic ingredients.

There simply aren’t enough organic cows in the US, never mind the organic grain to feed them, to go around. Nor are there sufficient organic strawberries, sugar, or apple pulp — some of the other ingredients that go into the world’s best-selling organic yogurt.

So what are we eating?

Drinking green tea can substantially cut the risk of dying from a range of illnesses, a Japanese study has found.

The research, which looked at over 40,000 people, found the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease was cut by more than a quarter. [Read more →]

*Or why we should all worship the ground we walk on

Tamsyn Jones has written an evocative cover story for the latest issue of E/The Environmental Magazin which succinctly argues that our future depends on our looking after it. [The photograph is an outtake from the cover photoshoot by Jon Moe.]

“It’s one of nature’s most perfect contradictions”, says Tamsyn, “a substance that is ubiquitous but unseen; humble but essential; surprisingly strong but profoundly fragile. It nurtures life and death; undergirds cities, forests and oceans; and feeds all terrestrial life on Earth.” [Read more →]

As organic food becomes a bigger presence on the shelves of major grocery stores, the University of Florida is following suit by expanding the study and research of organic farming. The photograph shows a field technician at the university using a propane burner as a weed killer.

UF officials recently announced the university will be one of the first in the U.S. to offer an organic farming major. A class in organic crop production is being offered for the first time this fall semester as part of the program. [Read more →]

A good cobber, Peter Adams of Windgrove, has a fascinating blog — Life on the Edge — that often challenges his readers.

Today’s entry was typical. He asks: How much of the earth’s land is available to grow food?

Imagine, says Peter, that the earth is the apple above. [Read more →]