Measuring Nutrient Density with Dan Kittredge
11/05/19 • 43 min
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
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
Previous Episode
Rebuilding The Soil Carbon Sponge, and Cooling the Climate Fast with Walter Jehne
In this episode of The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, John Kempf interviews Walter Jehne, an Australian soil microbiologist and the Director of Healthy Soils Australia. Walter has written and taught extensively about the earth’s soil carbon sponge and hydrology as they relate to climate change.
Walter provides context for the extreme weather events we are experiencing, and clearly identifies the role that water plays as a climate regulator. He describes how we can manage water to safely and naturally cool the planet and regulate climate change.
Walter has developed a perspective on the impact that farmers can have on the climate that is different than the dominant narrative on carbon sequestration. While carbon sequestration is an important piece of the puzzle, Walter explains how managing the way our soils retain and hold water has a much bigger impact due to the way the hydrological system functions as a regulator for the planet. Walter describes how specific tactics in the management of water in our soils can reduce extreme weather events.
Here are a few things Walter and John discuss in this engaging episode:
- Why rising co2 levels are a symptom, rather than the cause, of the abnormal warming of the past 250 years
- How improving the soil’s water-holding capacity contributes to a more stable climate
- The foundational principles of atmospheric physics and the climate
- The effect of land degradation on the hydrological dynamics of the planet
- How regenerating the soil carbon sponge is the critical bridge between carbon management and hydrology management
- How increasing photosynthesis and “green longevity” is the key to restoring the hydrological balance, thus restoring climate balance and reducing extreme weather events
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.
Sign Up For Email Updates
To be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast email list.
Feedback & Booking
Please send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or a booking request: [email protected]
Email John directly: [email protected]
Credits
This episode was recorded by John Kempf and Walter Jehne and produced by Nathan Harman, Robin Kitowski, and Anna Kempf.
Next Episode
Intercropping and Regenerative Soil Management with Derek Axten
In this podcast interview, host John Kempf and Canadian farmer Derek Axten discuss Derek’s path to profitable farming practices. This journey started in 2007 when Derek made a trip to Dakota Lakes Research Farm where he witnessed soil health and water infiltration levels beyond which he knew were possible. In subsequent trips to Dakota Lakes and visits to Gabe Brown’s ranch, Derek learned soil and crop management principles which he’s adapted to his own farm. In this episode, learn about the methods and systems Derek has applied and how they’ve changed the trajectory of his farm from soil health and economic perspectives.
Derek describes his system of inter-cropping and the management practices he employs to increase soil infiltration. He and John also discuss controlled traffic farming, Derek’s liquid fertilizer regimen, and decreasing the use of applied nitrogen and other synthetic inputs.
Listen to learn how Derek approaches:
- Soil management tactics and results
- Water infiltration
- Intercropping with two or more crops
- Fertility applications and compost teas
- Tillage
- Controlled traffic farming
Support For This ShowThis 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.
Sign Up For Email UpdatesTo be alerted via email when new episodes are released, and get special updates about John speaking, teaching, and podcast LIVE recordings, be sure to sign up for The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast email list.
Feedback & BookingPlease send your feedback, requests for topics or guests, or a booking request: [email protected]
Email John directly: [email protected]
CreditsThis episode was recorded by John Kempf and Derek Axten and produced by Nathan Harman, Robin Kitowski, and Anna Kempf.
We’ve put together a survey; here’s the link: advancingecoag.com/podcast. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!
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