Finding Quality Food:

Posted by farmfresh

Posted: June 28, 2009 - 11:30 pm

Comments (0) |

We’re exploring local food, right? Well, locally produced food is no better than imported food if it lacks vitality and nutrients. Ailing vegetables and fruits rescued by toxic chemicals are not healthy for anybody. And what fun is a pithy strawberry or bitter broccoli?

So how do you distinguish the quality of your produce before you buy it? There is a way. Allow me to introduce the fascinating term “brix”. Brix is a quick scientific measure of the sugar levels in those fruits and vegetables.

Did I say SUGAR? Yes, this is the one time more sugar means more health! The larger the brix number, the more you rejoice. Why? More plant sugar means higher food quality. It just so happens that plant sugar levels tell you the status of the plant’s overall health regarding vitamin and mineral content, trace minerals, their proportions and balance, enzymes, vitality, and yes, sweetness.

The higher the brix read-out of your strawberry or broccoli, the higher the nutrient density AND the better the flavor. We’re talking exhilarating taste—not bitterness or empty blah-ness. Brix determines whether or not you can get your kids to eat vegetables! Since high nutrient density means healthy plants, this means those fruits, grains, and vegetables build you a healthy body. Here is the direct connection from soil and crop health to your human health. High brix = high health.

High brix is achieved by growing crops with conscientious attention to building whole, balanced, living soils, without herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides. You measure brix by squeezing 2 drops of plant juice on a cigar-sized instrument with a prism. It’s called a refractometer and its scale tells you the brix. Most produce on the grocery shelves today comes nowhere near the high brix that would indicate the full flavor and nutrient density possible.

So, how to discern the awful from the delicious? Should you buy a refractometer and take it discretely to the grocery store? Well, you could do that. But personally I recommend growing your own fruit and veggies, and supplement at the farmers markets. I also recommend an excellent free booklet called High Brix Gardens. It tells you how to achieve high brix without buying the instrument. You’ll enjoy it immensely whether you are a grower or simply someone concerned about healthy eating.

Request yours by writing, calling, or e-mailing International Ag Labs, Inc., 800 W. Lake Ave, Fairmont, MN 56031, 507-235-6909, info@aglabs.com; www.aglabs.com; www.highbrixgardens.com They have info about refractometers as well.

Well, dear readers, be green and build with brix!

login or register to post comments