High Brix Foods: Going Beyond Organic

I have been doing a lot of reading recently about the concept of producing food that is not only organic, but has been biologically grown to feed the soil and produce foods that are very high in nutrients.  I was very astonished to read that many of the “healthy” foods that we eat (even organic ones) have very low levels of nutrients.  In other words, they are just a lot of water.  Many growers are now testing the nutrient content of their produce using brix meters.  This relatively simple tool, usually used by wine makers and brewers, allows them to measure sugar content by the refraction of light passing through a sample of the plant’s sap.  The brix reading tells them much more than just how much sugar there is though.

The brix reading correlates with the level of many other minerals in food.  A high brix reading always means a higher level of calcium.  Something that industry has led us to believe is only available in high levels from dairy foods.  High brix levels also indicate higher levels of trace minerals such as copper, iron, and manganese.  These trace minerals aid and stimulate the enzymes that are essential for digestion.  High brix foods also have superior taste, disease resistance, and insect resistance.  More on this can be found on a great website called highbrixgardens.com.

Achieving higher brix levels is done by working with the soil’s biology to promote the life of the soil.  Having soil tested and then making the proper amendments like compost tea  helps to feed the living organism that is our soil.  The beauty of using organic inputs that work with the biology of the soils is that unlike chemical inputs that require more and more each year biological inputs build soil fertility and thus demand LESS and LESS input each year.

With the pasture raised poultry model that we use we have gone beyond the requirements of the national organic standards by raising them on fresh grass all the time, not simply allowing access to the outdoors.  Many organic poultry producers still operate much like a confinement operation with a little more square footage per bird and the use of certified organic feed.  I take pride in knowing that the access to quality pasture for the chickens creates a product of higher nutritional quality.  As eaters we need to seek food that goes beyond this “faux organic” and demand not only the omission of chemicals but food that is dense with nutrition.

With the lambs coming this spring I am looking forward to monitoring the brix levels in the pasture and taking steps towards raising its quality.  After all if the animals are consuming better quality, nutrient dense foods, they are passing that on to us as well.  It’s always fun to discover another piece of the puzzle on our quest to produce a product that is as high in nutritional quality as it is in ethics.