How do you know if a piece of produce is nutritious? If an apple is organic, is it nutritious? If it is organic, is it safe? The answers to each of these questions are not as simple as you might think.
What Makes Food Nutritious?
Well, nutrients make food nutritious! The key to growing or purchasing nutritious produce is understanding how plants grow and develop, and store nutrients that we eat. A little bit of botany helps. First, Photosynthesis. Plants take in water from their roots, and carbon dioxide and sun energy in their leaves and convert those to oxygen and sugar. Oxygen is released into the atmosphere. Sugars are stored in different parts of the plant, along with nutrients.
Plants are divided into two major parts: roots and shoots. The roots are where the plant absorbs water and nutrients. Some plants, like sweet potatoes, potatoes, and ginger store large amounts of nutrients, vitamins and sugars in their roots. The shoot, or top of the plant includes stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. Plants such as lettuce, onions, spinach and chard store nutrients in their leaves, and that is the part we eat. Broccoli and cauliflower are actually modified flowers. Celery and rhubarb are plant stems, as is sugar cane. Zucchini, apples, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green beans and many other foods that we eat are the fruits of the plant.
How Does Botany Impact Nutrition?
Plant growth habits impact nutrition because the way plants are treated, fed, harvested and stored affects their nutrient values. Different plants need different nutrients at different times. Additionally, growing produce for long-haul shipping is different than growing produce for local distribution or backyard gardening. Have you ever noticed that tomatoes purchased from the supermarket in winter have no flavor, and are hard as rocks, while tomatoes grown in your backyard, or purchased at the local farmer's market are juicy, beautiful and tasty? That is not a coincidence. For a plant to have the most flavor, and the most nutrients, it must be allowed to grow until fully ripe, and harvested at the right time. Grocery store tomatoes are picked before they are ripe, and gassed with Ethylene, a plant hormone that causes them to turn red. They may be red, but they were not fully ripe when picked, and thus have fewer nutrients. Apples, bananas and other fruits are treated in much the same way.
How Does Soil Affect Nutrition?
Plants take up the majority of nutrients from the soil in which they are planted. There are some foliar solutions that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in order to feed, but feeding the ground, so the ground feeds the plant is the most conventional method of fertilizing. Several factors affect this fertilizing method. Temperature, presence of bacteria in the soil, soil type (amount of clay, organic matter and sand), and moisture levels all affect a plant's ability to take up nutrients. Many nutrients bind with clay, meaning that they can be present in soil, but unavailable to plants. Sandy soils tend to leach nutrients quickly into the groundwater, causing pollution problems with use of synthetic fertilizer. To grow your own nutritious and tasty produce, you need to understand your soil type, and the needs of the plant that you are growing. If you do not, you may unnecessarily add too much of the wrong kind of nutrient, which will then go unused by the plant, and will contaminate groundwater.
Natural Fertilizer For Nutrition
The best way to know if you are consuming nutritious produce is to buy locally grown produce, or to grow your own. Locally grown produce is picked at the peak of freshness and thus contains the most nutrients. If you have a green thumb, growing your own is best. The safest way to ensure that you are growing nutritious plants with peak performance is to use a variety of feeding methods. Organic mulches such as wood mulch, recycled paper mulch, or composted leaf mulch are a must. They will naturally break down and improve soil structure and nutrient availability. When first establishing a garden, it is important to apply fertilizer as well. Natural fertilizers made of seaweed emulsions are the most nutrient-rich, environmentally safe fertilizers available and they work in harmony with mulches and other gardening techniques. It is important to read the label and apply in correct amounts; however, if too much is applied, or the timing is not right, natural fertilizers are much less likely to pollute groundwater and cause problems. For nutritious, safe and healthy food, growing you own with natural fertilizers is the best option.
