Written by Eliot Beeby
December 21st, 2023
In this article, I compare the nutritional benefits of organic and regenerative ingredients bought from the Grønt Marked to conventionally produced ingredients purchased in the supermarket. I do so through the lens of a Danish classic: a flæskesteg sandwich.
Flæskesteg Sandwich Credit: @oghsavage
Healthy soil equals healthy people
Crops grown in conventional, industrial agricultural systems have been selected to maximise yields, lengthen shelf lives and for standardisation over the past century, resulting in bland products that might all look the same but are worse for you.
Many of today’s crops are less than half as nutritious as they would have been one hundred years ago. As Anne Biklè and David Montgomery describe in their book What Your Food Ate: “Today, you’d have to eat several apples to keep the proverbial doctor away.”
Soil is not just dirt. When treated well, it’s an incredibly complex ecosystem, filled with organic matter, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and countless other organisms.
The problem is, we don’t treat it well. Industrial agriculture practices destroy this complex ecosystem under our feet through aggressive tillage and the indiscriminate application of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.
Fortunately, there are alternatives.
Agroecological farming, regenerative agriculture, and the best examples of organic agriculture all nurture this soil microbiome. The differences between these forms of agriculture are nuanced, at times provocative and deserving of a whole article unto themselves. Ultimately though, they share many of the same underlying principles.
Common practices between these different schools of thought that can radically improve soil health by nurturing the life underground include: minimal or no tillage, growing diverse cover crops, application of manure and other sources of biological fertility, elimination of synthetic inputs like fertilisers, integrating animals and crops into mixed farming systems and integrating trees into the farm landscape (agroforestry).
Next time you visit the Grønt Marked, I encourage you to speak to the producers to better understand what each of these terms means to them, why they have chosen to farm the way that they do for their specific context and why they have chosen to be certified organic or not – both of which can be legitimate choices.
The link between agricultural practices, soil health and nutrition is an emerging field of study with fascinating implications.
How can we tell what food is more nutrient-rich?
Robb Dunn and Monica Sanchez’s research on the evolution of flavour argues that humans developed taste preferences to help us decipher which foods contain the nutrients we need to survive and flourish. In essence, when we find food more delicious, it can often signal a richer nutritional profile. Flavour can be attributed to the higher concentrations of essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as natural sugars that make them tastier to our palates. So next time you get something from Grønt Marked that tastes incredible, listen to your body – it’s evolved to know what’s good!
One day, it may be possible to go one step further and test this easily. The Bionutrient Food Association is developing a handheld device that will one day allow the nutritional profile of individual food items to be tested in real-time. In the future you might be able to walk around the Grønt Marked or a supermarket and test food as you shop.
Technologies such as this could be a real game changer for farmers. According to the Bionutrient Association: ‘the economic drivers governing crop production could be dramatically shifted… which will govern incentives for growers.’ It could allow them to provide direct evidence of the quality of their food to consumers, and allow them to make more informed decisions and demand more nutritional food.
Ask yourself, if you had evidence that proved that food grown in a particular way was more nutritious, would that make you more willing to pay more for it?
A flæskesteg sandwich
A roasted pork sandwich with extra crisp crackling, braised red cabbage, pickles, and condiments of choice.
To many, Flæskesteg sandwiches are delicious – indulgently so. Hardly what you’d think of as ‘healthy’.
However, using organically or regeneratively grown ingredients – like those available to buy at Grønt Marked – can make a surprising difference to the nutritional profile of even indulgent dishes like this.
A recent study showed how a range of vegetables, grains and meats produced on organic and regenerative farms were much more nutrient-dense compared to those produced conventionally (the type you’d typically buy at the supermarket).
It would be disingenuous to make too many specific claims about food from Grønt Marked based on this research;, farming is incredibly context-specific. Even so, it’s a helpful indicator. Let’s examine that research through the lens of a flæskesteg sandwich.
Pork
Pork raised on pasture and fed with a diverse organic or regeneratively grown feed mix is up to 11 times richer in certain omega-3 fatty acids compared to conventional pork raised indoors. These fatty acids are critical for brain and heart health. Regenerative pork fat may also be especially dense in vitamin D, which is important for a host of health functions, and can help to keep your Danish winter depression at bay.
Wheat
What if you could get most of your daily allowance of key micronutrients vital for health from the bread in a flæskesteg sandwich?
The evidence suggests that wheat and other grains that are grown using regenerative organic practices that promote soil health can have much higher nutritional value. For example, wheat grown in soil where diverse cover cropping is used has ~30-50% more magnesium, boron, calcium and zinc.
Combining these practices with the selection of heritage varieties, like Ølands, can have even bigger benefits. According to another study: “choosing ‘the right’ wheat varieties grown together with suitable growing conditions makes it possible to ensure almost daily requirements of minerals in the produced wheat.”
Cabbage
Everyone knows that veggies are good for you, but what if the braised red cabbage (rødkål) in your flæskesteg sandwich could be even better?
The evidence suggests that cabbages grown on farms that use practices that promote soil health are much more nutritious, containing 20-40% more calcium and potassium, 30-60% more Vitamins B, E and K, and 35-75% more carotenoids and phytosterols. These nutrients could help to lower your cholesterol, protect you from disease and enhance your immune system. The study found similarly impressive results for many different types of vegetables.
Next time you are at Grønt Marked…
This example helps to illustrate how it’s not just what you eat but also how that food is produced that needs to be taken into account when thinking about healthy diets. The preliminary research shared above is encouraging, but it remains that – preliminary. We need more research in this vein conducted in many more contexts, including in Denmark.
One day it may be possible to test in real-time, with innovations like the Bionutrient Sensor, but for now, you must rely on your sense of taste.
So next time find yourself deciding what to buy at the Grønt Marked, why not talk to the producers to better understand why they farm the way that they do? Think about how much the nutrition of foods affects your purchasing decisions. How would more available information affect this? If you could easily test the nutrient density of food whilst out shopping, would you? Do you think it’s worth paying more money for more nutrient-rich food?
Eliot is Food Culture Specialist at DTU’s Sustainable Food Innovation Group. He recently wrote a series of articles exploring divergent future scenarios for agroecology and regenerative agriculture. Check out more of his writing here.
GRØNT MARKED
Article
Is food from a farmer’s market
actually better for you?
Written by Eliot Beeby
December 21st, 2023
In this article, I compare the nutritional benefits of organic and regenerative ingredients bought from the Grønt Marked to conventionally produced ingredients purchased in the supermarket. I do so through the lens of a Danish classic: a flæskesteg sandwich.
Flæskesteg Sandwich Credit: @oghsavage
Healthy soil equals healthy people
Crops grown in conventional, industrial agricultural systems have been selected to maximise yields, lengthen shelf lives and for standardisation over the past century, resulting in bland products that might all look the same but are worse for you.
Many of today’s crops are less than half as nutritious as they would have been one hundred years ago. As Anne Biklè and David Montgomery describe in their book What Your Food Ate: “Today, you’d have to eat several apples to keep the proverbial doctor away.”
Soil is not just dirt. When treated well, it’s an incredibly complex ecosystem, filled with organic matter, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes and countless other organisms.
The problem is, we don’t treat it well. Industrial agriculture practices destroy this complex ecosystem under our feet through aggressive tillage and the indiscriminate application of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.
Fortunately, there are alternatives.
Agroecological farming, regenerative agriculture, and the best examples of organic agriculture all nurture this soil microbiome. The differences between these forms of agriculture are nuanced, at times provocative and deserving of a whole article unto themselves. Ultimately though, they share many of the same underlying principles.
Common practices between these different schools of thought that can radically improve soil health by nurturing the life underground include: minimal or no tillage, growing diverse cover crops, application of manure and other sources of biological fertility, elimination of synthetic inputs like fertilisers, integrating animals and crops into mixed farming systems and integrating trees into the farm landscape (agroforestry).
Next time you visit the Grønt Marked, I encourage you to speak to the producers to better understand what each of these terms means to them, why they have chosen to farm the way that they do for their specific context and why they have chosen to be certified organic or not – both of which can be legitimate choices.
The link between agricultural practices, soil health and nutrition is an emerging field of study with fascinating implications.
How can we tell what food is more nutrient-rich?
Robb Dunn and Monica Sanchez’s research on the evolution of flavour argues that humans developed taste preferences to help us decipher which foods contain the nutrients we need to survive and flourish. In essence, when we find food more delicious, it can often signal a richer nutritional profile. Flavour can be attributed to the higher concentrations of essential nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, as well as natural sugars that make them tastier to our palates. So next time you get something from Grønt Marked that tastes incredible, listen to your body – it’s evolved to know what’s good!
One day, it may be possible to go one step further and test this easily. The Bionutrient Food Association is developing a handheld device that will one day allow the nutritional profile of individual food items to be tested in real-time. In the future you might be able to walk around the Grønt Marked or a supermarket and test food as you shop.
Technologies such as this could be a real game changer for farmers. According to the Bionutrient Association: ‘the economic drivers governing crop production could be dramatically shifted… which will govern incentives for growers.’ It could allow them to provide direct evidence of the quality of their food to consumers, and allow them to make more informed decisions and demand more nutritional food.
Ask yourself, if you had evidence that proved that food grown in a particular way was more nutritious, would that make you more willing to pay more for it?
A flæskesteg sandwich
A roasted pork sandwich with extra crisp crackling, braised red cabbage, pickles, and condiments of choice.
To many, Flæskesteg sandwiches are delicious – indulgently so. Hardly what you’d think of as ‘healthy’.
However, using organically or regeneratively grown ingredients – like those available to buy at Grønt Marked – can make a surprising difference to the nutritional profile of even indulgent dishes like this.
A recent study showed how a range of vegetables, grains and meats produced on organic and regenerative farms were much more nutrient-dense compared to those produced conventionally (the type you’d typically buy at the supermarket).
It would be disingenuous to make too many specific claims about food from Grønt Marked based on this research;, farming is incredibly context-specific. Even so, it’s a helpful indicator. Let’s examine that research through the lens of a flæskesteg sandwich.
Pork
Pork raised on pasture and fed with a diverse organic or regeneratively grown feed mix is up to 11 times richer in certain omega-3 fatty acids compared to conventional pork raised indoors. These fatty acids are critical for brain and heart health. Regenerative pork fat may also be especially dense in vitamin D, which is important for a host of health functions, and can help to keep your Danish winter depression at bay.
Wheat
What if you could get most of your daily allowance of key micronutrients vital for health from the bread in a flæskesteg sandwich?
The evidence suggests that wheat and other grains that are grown using regenerative organic practices that promote soil health can have much higher nutritional value. For example, wheat grown in soil where diverse cover cropping is used has ~30-50% more magnesium, boron, calcium and zinc.
Combining these practices with the selection of heritage varieties, like Ølands, can have even bigger benefits. According to another study: “choosing ‘the right’ wheat varieties grown together with suitable growing conditions makes it possible to ensure almost daily requirements of minerals in the produced wheat.”
Cabbage
Everyone knows that veggies are good for you, but what if the braised red cabbage (rødkål) in your flæskesteg sandwich could be even better?
The evidence suggests that cabbages grown on farms that use practices that promote soil health are much more nutritious, containing 20-40% more calcium and potassium, 30-60% more Vitamins B, E and K, and 35-75% more carotenoids and phytosterols. These nutrients could help to lower your cholesterol, protect you from disease and enhance your immune system. The study found similarly impressive results for many different types of vegetables.
Next time you are at Grønt Marked…
This example helps to illustrate how it’s not just what you eat but also how that food is produced that needs to be taken into account when thinking about healthy diets. The preliminary research shared above is encouraging, but it remains that – preliminary. We need more research in this vein conducted in many more contexts, including in Denmark.
One day it may be possible to test in real-time, with innovations like the Bionutrient Sensor, but for now, you must rely on your sense of taste.
So next time find yourself deciding what to buy at the Grønt Marked, why not talk to the producers to better understand why they farm the way that they do? Think about how much the nutrition of foods affects your purchasing decisions. How would more available information affect this? If you could easily test the nutrient density of food whilst out shopping, would you?
Do you think it’s worth paying more money for more nutrient-rich food?
Eliot is Food Culture Specialist at DTU’s Sustainable Food Innovation Group.
He recently wrote a series of articles exploring divergent future scenarios for agroecology and regenerative agriculture. Check out more of his writing here.