http://www.farmingmagazine.com/article.php?id=4739
Hi Everybody,
Here is an article that was in a recent issue of Farming Magazine that discusses nutrient dense farming. It’s an interesting article that explains a few basic concepts and some history of the development of this nutritional approach to agriculture.
A Rutgers researcher is mentioned in the article and I really appreciate his willingness to look at things even without funding but he only looked at one aspect (calcium) and couldn’t see much result. This is common for scientists using the scientific method that only looks at one thing at a time and misses the system approach which tries to understand and balance and optimize many different available nutrients.
I have excerpted the first part of the article to give you an idea of what is discussed.
Take care everybody! Btw, did you see Michael Pollan on Oprah the other day? He did a great job!
Bill
Nutrient Dense Crop Production
by Rebekah L. Fraser
Part 1: Grassroots agricultural theory
As the name implies, nutrient dense crop (NDC) production is a system of principles and techniques for maximizing nutrition in crops by creating and maintaining health in the plants and in the soil. Although it seems like an extension of organic farming, Dan Kittredge, a second-generation farmer and leader of the Real Food Campaign, says the two methods can work in harmony, but there is no correlation. He describes organic as a process standard that is all about what farmers do not put into their fields or feed their animals. Practitioners of NDC production understand the ideal environment for their crop(s) and work to create that. According to Kittredge, the benefits of NDC production extend beyond simple nutritional value for consumers, it also makes business easier and more profitable for store owners and farmers.
| JOSEPH HECKMAN. |
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| Dr. Joseph Heckman measures brix of cabbage using a manual refractometer. |
Today’s growers often find themselves moving from infestation to blight, and crisis management seems to be the order of business. In contrast, the standard in NDC production is holistic preventative medicine and proactive nutrition. When the soil is functioning well, plants remain healthy regardless of what threats are present.
While training programs and workshops are available throughout the U.S., there is no formal educational program. At this time, universities in the U.S. are not teaching about nutrient density, and few universities are even researching the theories behind the methods. However, decades of scientific research have proved that NDC is a highly effective method of production.