RE: re: Vegetables Without Vitamins - How to deal with low quality foods produced by local farms

[Guest guest]

Katja, i for one would like you to go on and on...(or recommend some

books...)

I've been obsessed with nutrition the last 10 or 20 years but I've never

given soil a second, or even first, thought.

my thinking, i guess incorrectly, has always been, that whatever is

growing is growing, therefore it must be getting what it needs from the

soil in order to grow. i guess that thinking is wrong.

also, referring to suze, i have no idea what a refractometer is and how

it tells you your produce is good or not.

is it possible that so many of our health problems have its roots in poor

soil, and so there's pretty much nothing we can do except build up our

own soil at home and grow our own stuff and live exclusively on that?

I've been trying to live on raw kefir and yogurt with little success,

thinking i was getting superior nutrition. but maybe the grass the cows

eat that produces the milk is inferior and so I'm not doing myself any

favors?

thanks.

laura

i could go on and on...but i won't unless someone wants me to.

I just started using my

>refractometer a few days ago to test produce and milk in order to find

out

>the highest quality sources of these foods.

[Guest guest]

> Re: re: Vegetables Without Vitamins - How to deal with low

>quality foods produced by local farms

>my thinking, i guess incorrectly, has always been, that whatever is

>growing is growing, therefore it must be getting what it needs from the

>soil in order to grow. i guess that thinking is wrong.

Right, it's wrong.

>

>also, referring to suze, i have no idea what a refractometer is and how

>it tells you your produce is good or not.

It's a tool that measures the total dissolved solids (vits, mins, sugars,

etc) in produce. In essence, it measures the amount of nutrition in a food.

The measurement is called " brix " and there are brix index charts that list

the numerical equivalent of the quality of produce. For example tomatoes are

classified as 4=poor, 6=average, 8=good and 12=excellent. I tested one

yesterday from a local hydroponic producer and it measured 3.75 brix - below

poor. So far almost everything I've measured has come out with a " poor "

reading. I'm told this is typical. It probably would've been quite

*atypical* for the produce that Price's groups ate (as well as the forage

their livestock ate).

>

>is it possible that so many of our health problems have its roots in poor

>soil,

Not only possible, this is the crux of the matter.

and so there's pretty much nothing we can do except build up our

>own soil at home and grow our own stuff and live exclusively on that?

That is one option. Or you can get a refractometer and use it to identify

producers of high quality produce in your area. If you get meat/dairy from

local sources, you might also be able to measure the brix of the pasture the

livestock is on, if the farmer lets you. You can also help local farmers

improve the quality of their produce if you feel so inclined.

>

>I've been trying to live on raw kefir and yogurt with little success,

>thinking i was getting superior nutrition. but maybe the grass the cows

>eat that produces the milk is inferior and so I'm not doing myself any

>favors?

That is quite possible, and perhaps even likely.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to thank everyone for your ideas.

I will let you know how our experiment goes tonight at our WAPF potluck when

people bring foods to be tested. My hope is to find at least ONE item that

measures " good " on the brix index, but I'm not holding my breath! It will be

a great learning experience for all of us though, I'm sure.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

" The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times. " --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------

>

[Guest guest]

***...you can get a refractometer and use it to identify producers of high

quality produce in your area. If you get meat/dairy from local sources, you

might also be able to measure the brix of the pasture the livestock is on, if

the farmer lets you. You can also help local farmers improve the quality of

their produce if you feel so inclined.***

So where do you get them and how much are they?

Cheers,

Tas'.