from "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual," by Michael Pollan*****
PART I: What Kind of Food Should I Eat?
(Mostly plants.)
RULE #30 - Eat well-grown food from healthy soil.
It would have been easier to say "eat organic" and it is true that food certified organic is usually well grown in relatively healthy soil - soil nourished by organic matter rather than chemical fertilizers. (It also will contain little or no residue from synthetic pesticides or pharmaceuticals.) Yet there are exceptional farmers and ranchers in America who for one reason or another are not certified organic, and the excellent food they grow should not be overlooked. (And just because a food is labeled organic does not mean it's good for you: Organic soda is still soda - a large quantity of utterly empty calories.)
We now have a body of research supporting the hypothesis, first advanced by organic pioneers Sir Albert Howard and J.I. Rodale, that soils rich in organic matter produce more nutritious food: that is, food with higher levels of antioxidants, flavonoids, vitamins, and minerals. Of course, after a few days riding cross-country in a truck, the nutritional quality of any kind of produce will deteriorate, so ideally you want to eat food that is both organic and local.
*****
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
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