Artisanal Seeds: Your food is not what you think

Artisanal pizza or artisanal bread. I am sure you have enjoyed both.

But do you know what an artisanal seed is?

I didn’t either until very recently. A few global companies control most of the seeds used to grow fruits and vegetables.

These companies produce the seeds that your farmer will use to grow your F & V.

The goal is simple. Maximize the crop yield. Maximization can imply lengthening the shelf life of the plant. It can mean cross-breeding a small red berry with a larger, not so red one.

It can mean making the crop more pest resistant or cold or heat resistant. It can mean allowing them to grow with less water.

But obviously, all of this comes with a cost.

One of the most important outcomes is a drop in nutrition. So the amount of calcium, magnesium, potassium could drop by as much as fifty percent.

To the naked eye, we are looking for aesthetics and appearance. Does the fruit look fine? Has it started to ripen or spoil?

For the more aware, ask if it has a coating of wax?

But chances are that you did not ask the most vital question of all. Nutrition.

But the reason you were eating it was not for appearance. It was for nutrition.

Here is the twist. Most of the taste in the F & V also comes from it being nutrient rich. It turns out that the more the nutrient, the more the taste to the human tongue.

So if you have friends who own land, look for artisanal seeds. Seeds that have not been cross-bred for the commercial market. Ask them to grow these crops for you. Pay them if you need to.

But slowly, start switching away from the commercially available crop that does not have the nutrition that you need.

Isn’t it kind of silly to be having poor quality food and then sitting injecting yourself with intravenous (IV) vitamin C.

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