Organic, biological, ecological, local, seasonal, regenerative... Does it really make a difference what you eat?

Yes, it does!

Try to imagine the following: fresh peas that you got from a nearby small farm. No synthetic fertilisers or pesticides were used. The farmer says they grew along with some basil and marigolds to protect them from pests.
And now, imagine peas that you bought from the nearest supermarket. You can't see them because they are canned, but you know that in this can they are swimming in synthetic preservatives. While growing, the peas were sprayed with chemicals, and, oh, by the way, they were genetically modified.
Which peas did you like most?

There are definitely distinct differences between the quality or 'healthyness' of natural and processed foods and between conventional and ecological agricultural practices. But what are you really paying for when you buy organic, and, is going organic really good enough?

Apparently, it is possible that it is not. But before writing organic foods off as just a hoax, let's take a closer look inside the world of food production. Below, I'll take you through some crucial differences between natural and processed foods, between conventional and organic farming, and I'll highlight my favourite option, which is regenerative farming.

Natural vs. Processed

Fruits and veggies get their nutrients and water from the plant they are attached to. As soon as you cut them off, their life-sustaining supply is gone. Some foods then start to convert their starches into sugars, so they ripen and become sweeter. But others (and, in the end, all) will fall into emergency mode when detached from their plant's food supply. They shut down certain metabolic processes, only letting those that are really necessary continue. This frees up some nutrients to keep themselves alive, but in the end, the fruit basically has to break down its own tissues to release nutrients to feed itself.

And yes, we humans have that capacity too. During fasting, at a point, the body will start to break down its own tissues to get the protein, etc. that it needs to keep its vital organs, like the heart and brain, up and running.

But, back to our veggies. In emergency mode, decay starts to set in. The food is less protected against bacteria and pathogens that further the rotting process. The fresher you can eat a food, the better.
Depending on the climate in which you find yourself and also depending on the food, you can keep fresh fruit and vegetables fresh for a few days up to about 2 weeks. Every fruit and vegetable that is packaged and that can be stored for much longer than that amount of time is not fresh.

Preventing decay

There are simple and harmless methods to make food last longer than those 2 weeks. At the Chaikuni Institute, we dry leaves so they become herbal teas. We grate, dry, and toast mandioc, some nuts, and pijuayo (a potato-like food) to turn them into flour. We boil the fruit and peel of aguaje to extract its oil. And in none of these processes, other substances are added to create a long-lasting end product. But, for most supermarket products with a long shelf life, this unfortunately does not count.

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Above you can see Jorge climbing an aguaje tree to harvest the fruits. My colleague Teresa cooks them for hours to extract the oil.

Salt as a preservative

Salt can really help preserve things. This is the logic behind salted fish. Seems harmless, right? Unfortunately, we should not consume as much salt as we do. It contributes to a multitude of health problems, high blood pressure being one of them.

Going back to our peas. Mr. Ballentine wrote in his book that fresh raw peas contain only about 2 mg of sodium (this is salt) and 316 mg of potassium. When these same peas are canned, they contain 236 mg of sodium, and potassium levels have dropped to 96 mg.
It is thought that humans need about 2500 mg of potassium per day. You're not gonna get there by eating processed foods. And unfortunately, salt isn't the only thing in the can...

Food additives

Food additives are colorings, flavour enhancers, aromatics, sweeteners, stabilisers, and preservatives. Natural substances are sometimes used, for example, in processed foods that are certified organic.
Tumeric is one of those, used for its yellow color. Now, turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory medicine, so it seems okay to add that to foods. Still, we can debate how good it is to add something out of context, sometimes in extremely high (and thus unnatural) concentrations. Overconsumption of tumeric can still lead to gastrointestinal difficulties.

But the worst are the synthetic additives—human-made chemical substances that sometimes aren't even properly tested for their side effects. We know that certain additives (for example, the preservative sodium benzoate) exacerbate hyperactivity in children. Sodium nitrate and other nitrates and nitrites, still used in meat products, are known to interact with other substances in the food and also in our body's tissues, which can result in the formation of nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are cancer-causing agents.

There is much more to be said about processed foods; however, I think you already understand that I am advising you to minimise your intake of them. Let's move on.

Conventional vs. Organic Foods

The main farming system today is still the monoculture, using either natural or genetically modified seeds, chemical fertilisers, and pesticides.

Natural pest and weed control

The way I see it, the great problem of the conventional system is growing only one and the same crop year after year. Here at Chaikuni, we know that if you combine different crops on one land, your system is much more resilient to pests. We add specific aromatic plants that are known to repel certain bugs, and we make sure to add ground cover. Ground cover are plants that stay close to the ground, and we also add a lot of organic material (leaves, for example) on top of the soil. This minimises weeds from popping up, keeps more water in the soil, and prevents erosion from wind or rain.

When you use these types of techniques in a smart way, you do not need chemical pesticides. Also, a specific insect or pathogen usually affects a specific crop. If they go for your potatoes, and you only grow potatoes, you are in big trouble. However, when you grow 25 crops on your land and some bugs destroy 2 of them, you still have 23 crops to eat and sell.

Pesticides and depression

Chemical pesticides are generally sprayed over the crops. Once they land on plants and their fruits, they can get absorbed. These chemicals are thus in our food as well, and they have been found damaging to humans as well as wildlife and water.

An example is glyphostate. This substance kills certain weeds. But it also inhibits the synthesis of one of our human enzymes, the enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate. This enzyme is involved in generating products like tryptophan and tyrosine, which are precursors of dopamine and serotonin. These, in turn, are neurotransmitters that help you feel happy and motivated. It is known that glyphostate can contribute to experiencing depression.

Fertiliser from kitchen scraps

Synthetic fertilisers are also found to contain substances that are really bad for our human health. It is known that many contain heavy metals as well as those nasty nitrates we already spoke about.
Fertilisers are meant to add nutrients to the soil, like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. However, again, it is the system of planting only one and the same crop every year that depletes the soil of those precise nutrients needed to grow that specific crop.

If you add several crops, change to different crops after a harvest, and add organic material on top of the soil, your soil won't be so dramatically depleted. Different plants take different nutrients in different amounts. Certain plants are even known to add nitrogen or other substances to the soil.

But it is true that some regions on our planet need some extra help. In the Amazon, it rains so much that many nutrients are just washed away, and the soil can be relatively poor.
To help some of our plants, we brew a fermented drink from our kitchen scraps, some sugars, and alcohol to create what we call biol. It's an organic fertiliser that does no harm to anyone.

It takes a bit of study, but if you want to learn and experiment, farming can be very adventurous, creative, and completely harmless to the world.

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This is Pedro from Mi Amazonas creating biol. Yes, it smells as nice as it looks.

Organic Farming

Within the organic world, farms can work in slightly different ways. But generally, the definition of organic farming entails that they don't use chemical but natural methods of pest control and fertilization. So, no glyphosate and no heavy metals. That is really good! Organic foods are definitely an improvement. But did you notice that something important is still missing here?

Organic vs. Regenerative

By the definition of organic—not using synthetic fertilisers or pesticides—they can still use the system of monocropping. Also, they can still apply practices, like tillage, that are damaging to the soil. Better said, disturbing the soil, and that is what tilling does, damages the microbiome living in the soil.

Soil is alive

Healthy soils are teeming with tiny microbes and loads of funghi. And just like the microbiome in our gut can support our health, this microbiome supports plants.

Some of these microbes put nitrogen in the ground in their act of eating nitrogen-containing organic matter that they find in the soil. Nitrogen helps plants grow, but as long as it stays in organic matter (for example, decaying leaves or bugs), plants cannot reach it. Microbes need to free the nitrogen first. Other bacteria can also help protect the plants from pathogens.

Funghi are known to support plants in absorbing nutrients like iron, magnesium, and zinc. About 300 enzymes in our body need zinc, but there aren't many foods that contain high amounts of this element. For this reason, we really need all the help we can get to receive more zinc. Disturbing the funghi in the soil that aid to put zinc in our food is thus not a good idea.

Many studies have already shown that crop diversity supports the microbes in the ground and that chemical pesticides and fertilisers can greatly harm (kill) them. Harming this microbiome, which supports healthy plant and food growth, makes farmers need more fertiliser and pesticides.

Let's bring it all together: seasonal food from your local regenerative farm

At Chaikuni, we produce organic foods, as we don't spray synthetic stuff. But we are also a regenerative farm; we focus on restoring and improving the soil and our environment instead of harming them.

More nutrients in the food

There isn't yet a lot of science to back this up, but we could definitely ask the question of whether regenerative foods contain more nutrients. As this farming method supports those organisms in the soil that help plants absorb nutrients, and conventional farming applies techniques that harm this microbal life, we could start to think that, yes, regenerative foods are more nutritious. And more nutritious food is better for your health.

Regonal and seasonal

At Chaikuni, we also focus on restoring the Amazon Rainforest. For this reason, we prefer to grow native plants and foods. Many regenerative farms share this vision of growing what would naturally occur in the region and also to grow things at the time when they would naturally grow.

It is said that food, when grown in its proper season and area, has more taste and is more nutritious. And this makes sense. Different plants have different needs. Bananas love the heat, and kale needs the cold. Trying to grow a kale in the tropics in conditions that do not support its needs would result in either a whithering plant or just no kale.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is said that each season and place has its own energy. Foods, as well as we, take in the energy of the seasons and the place we live in. By consuming foods that are grown in their right season in our area, we are more in harmony with the current season and our environment, thus healthier and more at peace.

The verdict

Organic is way better, and if that is available and affordable to you, I would definitely recommend it.
However, if you have a regenerative farm nearby, contact them. It has become popular for small farms to sell weekly baskets of food, so give it a go!
Organic and regenerative farms provide much healthier food than conventional farming does. But, regenerative farms greatly support the environment, which also affects our health, even more than organic farms do. Their food can be more nutritious because they actively support soil health and because they often grow seasonal foods.

But if none of these options are available to you, don't panic. Focus on eating less processed foods, add a good amount of veggies and some fruits, and add some healthy grains like whole rice, and you'll be fine!

Want to know more?

Many people have already started the agricultural revolution. If the above has sparked your interest, then check out the links below.

Volunteering:

https://chaikuni.org/work/immerse-yourself-in-the-peruvian-amazon

Movies:

https://kissthegroundmovie.com

https://soilhealthinstitute.org/our-work/initiatives/living-soil-documentary/

Inspiring people and projects: