Michael Pollan’s book, “In Defense of Food” can be summarized as a potent 200 page read. It dives into the standard Western diet, and how it’s fueling a nutritional crisis despite a general obsession with “nutritionism.” This phenomena is also known as the “American Paradox.” On one hand, you look at a country like France, where people love eating fat-rich foods deemed toxic by american nutritionists, yet they have substantially lower rates of heart disease than we do on our elaborately engineered low-fat diets. What gives?
There are an array of reasons the American diet is conducive to obesity and poor health, but the one that stuck out was how our country’s food lacks nutritional content, and is strikingly high in carbs. USDA researchers have found “reliable declines” in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B2, and vitamin C in fruits and vegetables over the past half century. To get the same nutritional content in an apple grown in the 1950s, you may have to eat double or even triple.
Whether we’re talking about edible plants or animals, it all starts with the soil. Farmers who use soil with a high amount of organic matter, and don’t use artificial fertilizers, produce a crop with a higher nutritional density. This may require an annual application of compost, but overtime the farmer will see increased yields, lower irrigation costs (since compost has great water holding capacity), and reduced money spent on pesticides and fertilizers. (Check out this California almond farm that boosted its bottom line by focusing on soil health. )
The industrial food chain routinely overlooks soil health as a factor in creating a nutritious product. It should be obvious that healthy soil goes on to grow a strong plant or lush fields for animals to graze on. The animal or human consuming that plant would internalize those same nutrients, and be diversifying their intake.
Instead, farmers mostly look at the big three nutrients; nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (MPK). These cause crops to grow and yield faster, but ultimately create an imbalanced weaker plant that attracts insects, and has shallower roots.
It’s not as simple as saying “eat organic.,” because oftentimes organic produce comes from California’s industrial farms, or even as far as China. With such a long distance traveled to get to your plate, much of the nutrition is lost in transportation. Ideally, you want to look for produce that is both organic and local, such as a Fleet Farming CSA, or what you can find at the farmer’s markets.
Although, when you do find yourself in the grocery store, as a rule of thumb, imagine shopping with your great-grandmother. If she wouldn’t recognize it, the so called “food” is probably a creation of the industrial food system, and you want to avoid it.
