The Brix Index ~ Why Modern Day Veggies Taste like $***

The Brix Index

Have you ever seen those 'V8 Juice' commercials where they bop themselves in the head and say, "Shoulda had a V8!" And on one of those commercials the guy says, "You can do that (bop) all day long. I'm not going to have a V8 juice because I don't like the taste."

Well NO $*^!. In doing some research I have found out WHY vegetables taste like ***t. (Well at least modern day vegetables)

Commercially grown fruits and vegetables have been genetically modified (GMO) from seeds to produce the biggest, best looking, fastest growing product possible. These GMO'd seeds are then put into dirt which is fertilized with not so natural chemicals to 'enhance' growth; then the crops are sprayed with chemical pesticides to kill off any bugs (good or bad) to ensure a usable crop. The cycle depletes the soil and continues to produce less and less nutrient rich foods, year after year.

Some sources believe that if we were to take a head of broccoli from 1950 and test its nutrient levels against a head of broccoli grown today the difference in nutrient value would be shockingly less than the veggie from 70 years ago.

The other factor which is hardly ever talked about is the taste. By genetically modifying these fruits and vegetables we effectively have been modifying the taste! No wonder broccoli tastes like ***t ~ pass the chips please!

Enter the Brix Index... This folks is what got me on the band wagon!!!!

The Brix Index ~ in the most simplest of terms ~ is an index which measures the natural sugars (and much more) found in fruits and vegetables.

Here are some links with more information:

 http://crossroads.ws/brix/index.htm                    http://www.highbrixgardens.com/what-is-brix.html

In essence using non GMO seeds and fertilizing with 'natural fertilizers' (sea weed, compost etc) we can attain some of the best tasting fruits and veggies.

If you take away nothing else from this blog than understand the essentials: (as quoted from the aforementioned websites)

~ “Food should taste good and not just be ‘pretty.’”

~ ‘..Crops grown to the very best standards are so healthy that they don’t need toxic spray to protect them from insects & disease…. The very best produce will NOT rot or mold.’

~ “Brix = Quality”

~ Brix fruits and veggies have higher carbohydrate levels and mineral density

~ High Brix plants are resistant to insects and disease

So in order for we ‘Urban Agrarians’ to obtain this ‘high Brix’ fruits and veggies we plan to grow ‘Heirloom’ seeds; aka non GMO seeds. And we plan to grow them as organically as possible.

Nick will follow up with more info on ‘Heirloom Gardening.’ Thanks for reading!

 Kate