In an extract from her new book, The Climate Change Resilient Vegetable Garden, Kim Stoddart explains how to help nurture resilience from within
The quality of soil also affects the quality of our food. We all know that fruit and vegetables are good for us, and daily consumption of five to seven portions is an important part of a healthy diet. Yet, what happens if the produce we are eating is really low in vitamins and minerals? How is that going to have the same positive impact as food from a vegetable garden or field that is high in nutritional density?
It’s simply not. All vegetables are not the same.
If you are eating produce that is lower in nutritional value, you have to munch more to get the same benefit as a smaller amount of higher vitamin- and mineralloaded fare. Fruit and vegetables may well be delicious (and I know I’m speaking to the converted here), but it makes sense that we want to be growing and eating the best quality food there is. Quality is important; otherwise the quantity you’d need to eat to play nutritional catch-up might turn mealtimes from a pleasure into an episode of Gardener versus Vegetables.
So how do we know the nutritional level of the produce we are buying or growing?
There is increasing research into the greater nutritional benefit of crops grown with regenerative practices - in healthy, organic-matter-rich soil. In the United States, a 2022 study into soil health and nutrient density revealed some interesting findings that back this up. Specifically, the researchers found that crops grown on farms that practice a combination of “nodig, cover crops, and diverse rotations” demonstrated higher levels of certain minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals, when compared to crops grown with conventional (a.k.a. synthetically fertilised and herbicide-treated fields).
It’s just another example of the benefits of organic, homegrown food. By further enriching and protecting our soils with organic matter and boosting below ground resilience, we are in turn improving the nutritional quality of what we grow and harvest.
How to nurture your own internal biodiverse gut flora and why you should
Soil health is important and there are clear benefits to soil that is alive with microbial activity for vitality and protection of the vegetables growing within. Let’s now take a look at the human microbiome as it’s interlinked with personal well-being and resilience in our changing climate. It is incr
