Nutritionally Enriched Soil & Food (Organic Food)

[Guest guest]

Dear Members & friends, I would like to share my article on “Nutritionally Enriched Soil & Food” which is published in today’s The Times of India; Anand Plus (Saturday October 7, 2006) .The article shows the link between soil health and human health. It also shows the benefits of organic farming and organic products.

I would also like your valuable comments/Feedback Etc. Dr.Y.C.Zala, Agricultural Economist Link: http://www.anandplu s.com/fullStory. asp?articleID= ANAN1ART1072006 Nutritionally Enriched Soil & Food By: Dr. Y. C. Zala Agricultural Economist, ANAND. The controversy on we eat to live or live to eat proves that food is an important parameter in our lives. Economists, social scientists and even policymakers consider quality food as the point of reference of well-being. Our health depends on the type of food we eat and eventually it determines the quality of life we lead. Food and Health have always been the foundation of all civilizations not only in the modern era but also in the bygone days. Without quality food, there can be no health and without health, there can be no trade, education, peace or wealth. If we consider the growth and need of an individual or the country as a whole, quality food is absolutely indispensable. The financial standard is a determining factor for the people to buy the food materials available in the market and to satisfy their nutritional need. Mostly it is assumed that certain foods contain a certain amount of vitamins and minerals and we go for those items and are ready to pay even higher price. This is especially true in fruits, vegetables, and other so-called healthy products, but few people are acquainted with the truth that most of the declared worth of nutritional content is not correct. Most of the produce sold in

the market does not match with the nutritional description they claim they have. This is because minerals are the substances that are naturally present in the earth and are not formed from animal or vegetable matter whereas vitamins and phytonutrients are prepared in plants. Phytonutrients The controversy on we eat to live or live to eat proves that food is an important parameter in our lives. Economists, social scientists and even policymakers consider quality food as the point of reference of well-being. Our health depends on the type of food we eat and eventually it determines the quality of life we lead. Food and Health have always been the foundation of all civilizations not only in the modern era but also in the bygone days.

Without quality food, there can be no health and without health, there can be no trade, education, peace or wealth. If we consider the growth and need of an individual or the country as are nutrients concentrated in the skins of many vegetables and fruits, and are responsible for their colour, hue, scent, and flavour. To a lesser extent, phytonutrients are also found in grains and seeds. Plants generate vitamins and phytonutrient through chemical and energetic processes. But as capable as they are, plants do not generate minerals. Minerals have to be absorbed through the soil, and if they are deficient or absent in the soil, then the plant's roots cannot take them up, and therefore they will not be present in the plant or food. So there is nothing wrong in claiming that our food quality depends upon soil health. The nutritional and mineral profile of the plant ultimately depends on the mineral content of the soil. Soil today is so overused that nothing is left but a few basic minerals; most of our food produce lacks the minerals they should contain. For example, a lot of plants absorb Iodine when Iodine is present in the soil. But when Iodine is not present in the soil, obviously it's not available to the plant. The plant gets grown and taken to the market and sold and consumed anyway, even though it doesn't have the levels of Iodine that it should contain. Generally, Farmers replace certain key macro minerals like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium to

stimulate plant growth. They replace trace minerals when their deficiencies are affecting crop production. Crops are generally grown for only yield, not for maximum mineral content or nutrition. It is noteworthy that some vegetables can be grown to look very tempting with eye-catching exterior, even though they lack many minerals that should be present. It requires only three minerals to grow tomatoes or other vegetables. Obviously, those vegetables will be nutritionally deficient, which means they won't be as healthy as they could be. They won't be as

resistant to disease and pests, and they won't taste nearly as good either. So if you are eating tomatoes or produce grown in nutritionally degraded soils, then you are consuming low-quality produce, and that's what's available in the market today. Here's a common query about minerals and produce: How do tomatoes or other plants know which minerals to take in? The answer is that each plant has a different mineral absorption profile. A tomato will only absorb the 56 minerals as it is programmed to absorb that number of minerals only. Grasses for example, will absorb over 70 minerals. Sweet potatoes,

or yams, absorb more minerals than potatoes, and some plants absorb fewer minerals. Some plants absorb only 20 or 30 minerals. Each plant has a different profile of what it will absorb. Naturally, it can only absorb what is available in the soil. So even though a tomato should contain 56 minerals, you may be eating a tomato purchased from vegetable market that only contains 12 minerals or 7 minerals. You are missing out on all the minerals it could have. You'd think, wouldn't you, that a carrot is a carrot - that one is about as good as another as, so far as nourishment is concerned? But it isn't; one carrot may look and taste like another and yet be lacking in the particular mineral element which our system requires and which carrots are supposed to contain. Laboratory test prove that the fruits, the

vegetables, the grains, the eggs, and even the milk and the meats of today are not what they were a few generations ago. Wheat grown in Bhal area of Gujarat is called Bhaliya Wheat. Its outer appearance is not better looking than other wheat varieties but it is nutritionally and taste-wise the best quality as it is grown in rainfed and mineralised soil, which is appropriate to wheat crop. You must have observed that the Kankuda (Contola) is very tasty and nutritionally superior vegetable, as that’s grown wild in naturally mineralised soils. This indicates that when we read in a book that leafy vegetables or beans is a great source of calcium, or

that Bajra, Ragi, ground-nuts, spinach (Palak) and other green vegetables are good source of iron, we really have to imagine an asterisk behind that statement. Leafy vegetable may be a good source of calcium if there was calcium present in the soil in which it was grown. Bajara, Ragi, Groundnut, Spinach may be a good source of Iron, but only if Iron was present in the soil. Certainly, iron is a very important mineral for preventing the disease called anaemia and many other disorders. Many examples, we may quote like everybody knows a deficiency of calcium and phosphorous leads to malformation of bones and teeth. Thus, we realize the importance of minerals available in the soil, which affects our health. Now the question is how to maintain our soil health. The longer our soils are farmed with large-scale commercial farming techniques, the worse the situation is going to get and the lower the mineral content will become. Though natural disasters like floods, tsunamis and volcanoes massacre and destroy human property, they are also very good for humans in the long-term, because they recycle the soil and deposit more minerals and new nutrients onto lands that can be used for farming. It also improves saline soil and reduces toxicity deposited in the soil. Theist may say that the God always manage the world scientifically or the nature balances all in its own way. Since the beginning; life and civilization have been dependent largely on rivers. The earliest civilization developed along the banks of the Indus and the Ganga and their tributaries. When live thrived on the banks of the river, it regularly flooded and would bring nutrients and minerals back to the lands. That is what sustained early human civilization. The dawn of agriculture was dependent on the flooding of a river. Had that river not flooded and that land been farmed

over and over again from generation to generation, the civilization there would have died due to malnutrition. It could not have sustained itself. These days, a new concept called “Demand led Agriculture” introduced. Therefore actually farmers should produce agricultural products, which have higher vitamins and minerals and no residues of insecticides and pesticides. It can be possible through organic farming. Organic farming is considered sustainable farming too. Soil health is maintained and soil becomes sustainable for generation to generation by adopting organic farming. The objective is to make aware the educated consumers who can afford

quality food product, should buy organic food products from the authentic shop by giving premium rate as cost of production of organic food products are higher than that of the products produced by chemical farming. The next time you go into mall for shopping; don't trust the mineral claims on fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds. If you want to boost the mineral content of the foods you buy, buy organic. Organic foods almost always have higher mineral concentration than conventionally grown foods. But the problem is that the consumers cannot distinguish between the organic food and the food grown conventionally. In some mall, consumers can find certified organic food. Though the organic food price rate is higher in the market, our educated consumers should realise that health is the most important aspect to be taken care of and for that a little higher rate is always preferred. The benefit of organic farming and adverse effects of chemical farming is so obvious that there should not be any compromise. Chemically grown food satisfies our hunger but spoils our health; on the other hand organic food helps us live a healthy life. Now the choice is yours. ************ ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********

Find out what India is talking about on - Answers India Send FREE SMS to your friend's mobile from Messenger Version 8. Get it NOW