Time magazine’s cover story, ‘The Real Cost of Cheap Food’ (Aug 31, 2009) links farm animal health and welfare with consumer health, the big missing link in current debates over human health care reforms. About time indeed! But the statement ‘There’s no firm evidence that organic is more nutritious than conventional food’ is incorrect. Studies comparing the nutrient content of organic versus conventionally grown crops report significantly lower levels of potentially toxic aluminium, mercury and lead in the organically grown, that also had higher levels of many essential trace minerals and other nutrients, notably boron, calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium, selenium and zinc; also more vitamin C and other antioxidants, and less nitrates and water. Read More
Whole Green Blog
Archive for October, 2009
Fall for Gardening
- by: Scott Meyer
- |
- 10.05.2009
- |
- 11:12 am
After 10 years of tending my own vegetable garden, I was feeling pretty successful. Each season I harvested lots of tomatoes, peas, lettuce, peppers and even a few more challenging crops like potatoes, onions and melons. But despite repeated tries, never had I produced a single salad bowlful of spinach. Either I planted the seeds too early in spring – tempted by a warm spell – and the little sprouts froze before they reached an edible size. Or I planted too late and the leaves turned bitter as the temperatures heated up in late spring. I had just about given up trying spinach (which my kids willingly eat only if the leaves are small and fresh-picked) when I met a gardener who told me she plants spinach in the fall. With her advice, I now harvest spinach in fall and early spring. In the process, I’ve discovered a whole new growing season. Read More
