Measuring Nutrient Density with Dan Kittredge

Before we present our newest episode, we have a request for you. As we complete our second season of the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, we have a supporting base of over 5,000 listeners who engage with our episodes shortly after we post them. We now ask for your feedback on the podcast, whether there are topics you’d like to hear more about, and what suggestions you have for improvement. We’ve put together a survey that allows you to tell us what you think. Here’s the link: advancingecoag.com/podcast. We are appreciative of your feedback and we look forward to implementing it to make the Regenerative Agriculture Podcast ever better!

Thank you for permitting the interruption…now, on to the show notes!

In this episode of the podcast, John interviews Dan Kittredge, the Executive Director of the Bionutrient Food Association, whose development of sustainable agriculture techniques has connected him to farmers worldwide.

In this interview, John and Dan delve into the science of growing crops as it relates to human nutrition, describing how agricultural production practices can produce a better nutrient profile in our foods and the potential this holds for human health. He explains why a balanced, as well as a higher nutrient density in crops, is desirable. He discusses the complex relationships between the sun, soil, and plants that lead to these higher and balanced levels of nutrition. Dan explains that across the same food types, i.e., all carrots, wheat, milk, etc., there can be discrepancies in the reported nutritional values and how nutritional data on food packages can be wildly incorrect.

Over the past few years, Dan has been working on the development of a BioNutrient Meter, a handheld spectrometer which tests mineral levels in fruits and vegetables. Dan describes the science of spectroscopy, which is based on the frequencies emitted by each chemical element --this same technology helps scientists and astrophysicists determine the composition of stars six light-years away in our solar system. By measuring the frequencies and light particular elements emit, they can measure the percentage of hydrogen, helium and other gases. With the science of spectroscopy, and other new technology, Dan and his team at the BioNutrient Food Association have built a first-generation model of a miniaturized consumer-priced spectrometer for testing the nutrient levels in crops.

Listen to this provocative conversation between two pioneers who are truly passionate about growing food as medicine to learn:

• How Dan founded BFA, and how this non-profit provides support and education for farmers about the use of biological systems
• The science behind plant resistance to insects, and why these resistant crops make good, in fact better, food for humans.
• The differences in nutrient density between instances of the same crop when grown on different soil under different conditions
• How soil and plant health correlates to nutrient density
• How the compounds that correlate with flavor and aroma are those that make the plant indigestible for an insect or disease
• The science of spectroscopy, and how the new BioNutrient Meter works

Resources

The BioNutrient Food Association is having their annual Soil & Nutrition Conference in Massachusetts on November 13 to 17, 2019. For more information, visit soilandnutrition.org. 

For more information on the BioNutrient Meter, visit the BioNutrient Food Association website.

Our community impact spot for this episode is provided by Hourglass Films. Hourglass Films has developed a documentary about regenerative agriculture called Sustainable, a film about the land, the people who work it and what must be done to sustain it for future generations. The film features some regenerative growers who work with AEA, and is currently available on Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and more. We hope you watch this documentary and find it engaging and useful.

We’ve put together a survey; here’s the link: advancingecoag.com/podcast. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

 

Support For This Show

This show is brought to you by AEA, helping professional growers make more money using regenerative agriculture since 2006.

If you grow on a large scale and are looking to increase crop revenue and quality, email [email protected] or call 800-495-6603 to be connected with a dedicated AEA crop consultant.