There have been several threads lately about mixing one's own feed for chickens. Also, threads about feeding chickens as people did before commercial feeds were so available. This is not meant to be the end of that discussion. It is a perspective. The following is a series of selections from a book about food for people that I found to be a good starting place for thinking differently about food. The book is Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson published in 2013. When I picked it up in a resale shop, I thought it was about wild plants as food. It is not. It is about comparing the nutrition of different kinds (sometimes varieties) of domesticated plants with wild versions and each other. Also, why it matters. Also, some simple things that can be done to increase the nutrients our bodies can use. Also, a little history, some plant biology, some human biology, and a little sociology.
All of the following are semiquotes from this book [within brackets are my comments]
Unwittingly, as we went about breeding more palatable fruits and vegetables, we were stripping away some of the very nutrients we now know to be essential of optimum health. ... The ancestors of our modern corn is a grass plant called teosinte... with about 30% protein and 2% sugar. Old-fashioned sweet corn is 4% protein and 10% sugar. Some of the newest varieties of supersweet corn are as high as 40% sugar.
...One species of wild tomato has 15 times more lycopene than the typical supermarket tomato. Some of the native potatoes that grow in the foothills of the Andes have twenty-eight times more phytonutrients than our russet potatoes. One species of wild apple that grows in Nepal has an amazing one hundred time more bionutrients that our most popular apples...
By the time of the Roman Empire, the difference between wild and our man-made varieties had, even then, become marked. The roots of domesticated beets, carrots, and parsnips were twice as large as the roots of their wild ancestors, and they contained less protein, more sugar, and more starch. Most domesticated fruits were several times larger than wild versions, and they had thinner skins, more sugar, less fiber, more pulp, and fewer antioxidents.
In the twentieth century, science-based breeding techniques speeded up the process.
The entire time, the nutritional content of our man-made varieties has been an afterthought. [Sometimes that gives unexpected results]... Many people in this country believe that the varieties of fruits and vegetables that were raised by our grandparents and great-grandparents are better for our health than the ones we grow today. ...the latest research shows that many modern varieties are more nutritious than heirlooms. The Liberty apple, released seventy-five years after Golden Delicious has twice the antioxidant value... {we need to look at} ten thousand years of agriculture, not just the last one hundred or two hundred years.
What to do? We cannot go back to foraging for wild plants - there are too many of us and not enough wilderness. This book presents a new and radical solution, we can eat "on the wild side" by selecting varieties of fruits and vegetables that have retained much of the nutritional content of their wild ancestors.
A sample from the chapters on some of the foods covered [usually a chapter to each - much, much more information than I put here].
Corn - choose cornmeal made from blue, red, and purple corn to get more fiber, antioxidants, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, choline, and betaine.
Potato- Purple Peruvian potato (Solanum tuberosum subsp. adigena is sometimes available is one of the most nutritious of all varieties. On an ounce by ounce basis, it has twenty-eight time more bionutrients than Russet Burbank and 166 times more than Kennebec. And less sugar and rapidly digested starch so doesn't give the sharp rise in blood glucose level. Of the most common varieties in grocery stores, Russet Burbank has the most phytonutrients, especially vitamin C, B2, B3, and folic acid. Some grocery stores are starting to carry "novelty" potatoes - with red, blue, purple, or black skin and/or deeply colored flesh. Colored skins are somewhat better, deeply colored flesh is much, much better. Blue is better than Red is better than Yellow is better than White. If you grow your own: Mountain Rose, Purple Majesty, and All Blue were bred specifically to increase their nutritional content (all with traditional breeding techniques). Red French Fingerling has ten times more antioxidants that Yukon Gold. And cooking potatoes, then chilling them for 24 hours before eating them or reheating them tames the glycemic spike.
Potato chaper covers: Apios (Apios americana) was eaten by the Souix. It has three times more protein than our potatoes and is a rich source of genistein (linked with lowered risk of breast and prostate cancers) and lowers high blood pressure). Solanum tuberosum (Irish potato) has as many as five thousand varieties (mostly in its native Andes) but many also have high levels of deadly glycolkaloids that can be dealt with but you have to know to do so.
Carrots. Purple/yellow carrots have almost 40 total phenolics per gram purple/orange have almost 15, red and orange and white all have less than five. And most of them in each case are in the skin and other outer layers - the part cut off to make baby carrots. Cooked carrots are more nutritious than raw carrots. Cooking them whole hold more of their nutrients than carrots sliced before cooking, and eating them with a bit of fat or oil is more nutritious than without the lipids. Whole carrots, steamed whole, with a bit of oil gives 8 times the beta-carotene as eating baby carrots raw.
Legumes, lentils (not same family but similar profiles and uses)
Legumes are very high in protein but low in methionine, which most grains are rich in. Tan-colored lentils are good, brown is better, black is best.
Early farmers in the Middle East grew wheat and barley, peas and beans. Early farmers in East Asia grew rice with lentils, peas, beans, and chickpeas. Early farmers in Africa grew millet, peanuts, and cowpeas. Early farmers in the Americas grew corn, squash, and beans.
Beans come in many colors, green is the least nutritious of all the common fruits and vegetables. Fresh black-eyed peas have five times more antioxidant activity. Royal Burgundy, Royalty Purple, and Black-seeded Kentucky Wonder also have much more. Yellow dried peas give six times the antioxidant protection of green dried peas. Black beans give twice as much as yellow dried peas. Lentils give a little more than black beans. One cup of navy beans has 19 grams of fiber, the third best source listed by the USDA National Nutrient Database.
Most of the time, the more highly colored variety is more nutritious. There are exceptions. Cauliflower, for one. White peaches for another. There are others.
Most of the time, the smaller the fruit compared to others of the species; the more nutritious. There are exceptions.
All of the following are semiquotes from this book [within brackets are my comments]
Unwittingly, as we went about breeding more palatable fruits and vegetables, we were stripping away some of the very nutrients we now know to be essential of optimum health. ... The ancestors of our modern corn is a grass plant called teosinte... with about 30% protein and 2% sugar. Old-fashioned sweet corn is 4% protein and 10% sugar. Some of the newest varieties of supersweet corn are as high as 40% sugar.
...One species of wild tomato has 15 times more lycopene than the typical supermarket tomato. Some of the native potatoes that grow in the foothills of the Andes have twenty-eight times more phytonutrients than our russet potatoes. One species of wild apple that grows in Nepal has an amazing one hundred time more bionutrients that our most popular apples...
By the time of the Roman Empire, the difference between wild and our man-made varieties had, even then, become marked. The roots of domesticated beets, carrots, and parsnips were twice as large as the roots of their wild ancestors, and they contained less protein, more sugar, and more starch. Most domesticated fruits were several times larger than wild versions, and they had thinner skins, more sugar, less fiber, more pulp, and fewer antioxidents.
In the twentieth century, science-based breeding techniques speeded up the process.
The entire time, the nutritional content of our man-made varieties has been an afterthought. [Sometimes that gives unexpected results]... Many people in this country believe that the varieties of fruits and vegetables that were raised by our grandparents and great-grandparents are better for our health than the ones we grow today. ...the latest research shows that many modern varieties are more nutritious than heirlooms. The Liberty apple, released seventy-five years after Golden Delicious has twice the antioxidant value... {we need to look at} ten thousand years of agriculture, not just the last one hundred or two hundred years.
What to do? We cannot go back to foraging for wild plants - there are too many of us and not enough wilderness. This book presents a new and radical solution, we can eat "on the wild side" by selecting varieties of fruits and vegetables that have retained much of the nutritional content of their wild ancestors.
A sample from the chapters on some of the foods covered [usually a chapter to each - much, much more information than I put here].
Corn - choose cornmeal made from blue, red, and purple corn to get more fiber, antioxidants, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, choline, and betaine.
Potato- Purple Peruvian potato (Solanum tuberosum subsp. adigena is sometimes available is one of the most nutritious of all varieties. On an ounce by ounce basis, it has twenty-eight time more bionutrients than Russet Burbank and 166 times more than Kennebec. And less sugar and rapidly digested starch so doesn't give the sharp rise in blood glucose level. Of the most common varieties in grocery stores, Russet Burbank has the most phytonutrients, especially vitamin C, B2, B3, and folic acid. Some grocery stores are starting to carry "novelty" potatoes - with red, blue, purple, or black skin and/or deeply colored flesh. Colored skins are somewhat better, deeply colored flesh is much, much better. Blue is better than Red is better than Yellow is better than White. If you grow your own: Mountain Rose, Purple Majesty, and All Blue were bred specifically to increase their nutritional content (all with traditional breeding techniques). Red French Fingerling has ten times more antioxidants that Yukon Gold. And cooking potatoes, then chilling them for 24 hours before eating them or reheating them tames the glycemic spike.
Potato chaper covers: Apios (Apios americana) was eaten by the Souix. It has three times more protein than our potatoes and is a rich source of genistein (linked with lowered risk of breast and prostate cancers) and lowers high blood pressure). Solanum tuberosum (Irish potato) has as many as five thousand varieties (mostly in its native Andes) but many also have high levels of deadly glycolkaloids that can be dealt with but you have to know to do so.
Carrots. Purple/yellow carrots have almost 40 total phenolics per gram purple/orange have almost 15, red and orange and white all have less than five. And most of them in each case are in the skin and other outer layers - the part cut off to make baby carrots. Cooked carrots are more nutritious than raw carrots. Cooking them whole hold more of their nutrients than carrots sliced before cooking, and eating them with a bit of fat or oil is more nutritious than without the lipids. Whole carrots, steamed whole, with a bit of oil gives 8 times the beta-carotene as eating baby carrots raw.
Legumes, lentils (not same family but similar profiles and uses)
Legumes are very high in protein but low in methionine, which most grains are rich in. Tan-colored lentils are good, brown is better, black is best.
Early farmers in the Middle East grew wheat and barley, peas and beans. Early farmers in East Asia grew rice with lentils, peas, beans, and chickpeas. Early farmers in Africa grew millet, peanuts, and cowpeas. Early farmers in the Americas grew corn, squash, and beans.
Beans come in many colors, green is the least nutritious of all the common fruits and vegetables. Fresh black-eyed peas have five times more antioxidant activity. Royal Burgundy, Royalty Purple, and Black-seeded Kentucky Wonder also have much more. Yellow dried peas give six times the antioxidant protection of green dried peas. Black beans give twice as much as yellow dried peas. Lentils give a little more than black beans. One cup of navy beans has 19 grams of fiber, the third best source listed by the USDA National Nutrient Database.
Most of the time, the more highly colored variety is more nutritious. There are exceptions. Cauliflower, for one. White peaches for another. There are others.
Most of the time, the smaller the fruit compared to others of the species; the more nutritious. There are exceptions.
