Good Food from Healthy Farms
Science
Greenwashing & Other Fine Tales
Aug 6th
We have the first in a new series of podcasts posted on our blog for those interested in hearing an impromptu conversation about McDonalds, Wal-Mart, sustainability and how local food production, and Terra Organics, fits into the mix.
There’s also a graphic that I’ve been holding onto for a while, and it now seems timely to share it.
The subsidy regime pits commodity growers against vegetable and fruit growers, and McDonalds and others buy fillers and subsidized meat, dairy, and grains at an artificially low cost. The foods that should be accessible to the least healthy amongst us have little to no price supports. So long as corn syrup and factory meat and dairy dominate the $60 billion a year farm program in this country, McDonalds will always dominate the way food is produced and consumed in this country, no matter how many new farmers markets are springing up around the country.
But, of course, that doesn’t mean we can give up the fight.
Ask Dan: Trouble in the News
May 13th
Call it a perfect storm. Since the advent of organics in the marketplace in the mid-to-late 90′s, there has not been a confluence of events and media reports that has done more to challenge the industrial food paradigm than what we have seen in recent weeks. I was asked to speak on a panel of entrepreneurs this past week at a breakfast held in Seattle by my alma mater, University of Puget Sound, and these were a few of the stories I highlighted: More >
Science! Brix Sugar Test
Apr 12th
The strawberries in question
The other day at Terra headquarters, our chief scientist, Dan led us in a riveting science experiment to test the sugar content of two organic strawberry brands. The rule of thumb is the higher the sugar content, the better the produce. But how does one determine sugar content?
Enter the Refractometer
No, the Refractometer is not some made up tool out of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon (did I just date myself?), it’s a highly scientific, and delicately calibrated machine composed of hundreds of tiny computer processors. Okay, I lied about that last bit. The Refractometer is an instrument which measures an index of refraction or reflection of light. It can be used to determine the fraction of sugar (sucrose) content or Degrees Brix (which is sugar per 100 parts).
A standard Refractometer
Once the refraction of the fruit in question is determined, it requires a base scale to compare it to. which determines the quality of a fruit.
How does this experiment work?
Step 1: Select your strawberries. We picked a strawberry from each batch which was comparable in size and color.
Step 2: Squeeze liquid from one of the strawberries onto the Refractometer screen (or slice it, if you’re in no mood to squeeze strawberries).
Step 3: Close the Refractometer lid and hold the instrument up to some light. At this point you can glance through the viewing lens and take note of the readout.
Step 4: Clean lens and repeat with other test subject. (Note: this test works with a plethora of fruits, but we don’t recommend trying this with anything alive even if it’s a mosquito.)
Refractometer view
The Refractometer was passed around, we had our chuckles and we took our bets. Some of us were quite surprised to see which brand won the crown of Sweetest April Strawberry. John was especially surprised because he bet his car on the wrong horse. I’ll enjoy driving his Mustang to and from my car for the summer. Just kidding, I don’t know how to drive.
Besides getting to play with a funky scientific instrument, we also learned that the redder strawberries were not necessarily the sweetest, nor were the larger ones. That just goes to show that you should never judge a fruit by it’s cover…or color…or size. Just don’t judge fruit. It doesn’t do anyone any good.
Until next week, kids!
