We Want Real Food

by Graham Harvey

Mineral levels in meat and milk plummet over 60 years and "We Want Real Food" explains why and how it can be reversed. We are all being encouraged to eat more fresh fruit and vegetables and many of us regularly spend more on organic produce in the belief that is better for our health and taste buds. However Graham Harvey illustrates how our increasingly industrial farming techniques are denuding our soil of the essential nutrients, minerals and structures needed to produce quality produce. Everyday fruits and vegetables have significantly lower nutrient contents from those grown 30 years ago, and are set to diminish further unless action is taken now. Harvey argues that many of the illnesses that plague modern society from obesity, tooth decay, arthritis and cancer to social disorder caused by increasing numbers with Attention Deficit Disorder have their roots in our diet that is low in the essential nutrients and minerals that our bodies have evolved to need. Far from the solution being too complex Harvey shows how the integration of small amounts of ground rock can re-mineralize the soil.This process mimics the action of the glaciers that provided us with the fertile soils we have been exploiting since the end of the last ice age. With the re-introduction of these essential minerals soil fertility is drastically improved producing bumper crops with a substantially improved flavour. This is an important book that is the next stage in the debate about the food we eat and how a simple solution can improve the nation's health and environment.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Health

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2006

Reviews

[Marianne Broadgate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book. It is clear after reading it that we need to fundamentally change the way we are living. It is too important for us to continue as we are sleep walking into oblivion destroying our surroundings and our health.

[Izzat Halim · Rating 5 out of 5]

a book that tells the story of how the foods come to our table and the degradation of the quality of our foods primarily due to the exploitation of the most abundant treasure that we take most granted for ; our soil. Recommended read by Imam Afroz Ali

[Martin Kirby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vital. Shocking. Well written. Warning - you are inclined to feel stupid for trusting that everything you eat to be as perfect as the packaging.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The shocking and sometimes very surprising truth about our food.

[Laura Weide · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great if you want a detailed understanding of nutrition and agriculture. Definitely recommend

[Herrholz Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

The argument is compelling. The widespread use of industrial fertilizers, helps to grow sufficient quantities of food stuffs (big vegetables), but the quality, mineral and nutrient content of those vegetables is compromised and also the soil becomes degraded, losing much of its original life enhancing qualities. This is a result of not replenishing the soil with traditional forms of nutrients contained in manure and compost and also the abandonment of crop rotation as a form of land management. This in turn leads to poor health in the population which leads to opportunities for the pharmaceutical industries and so the idea of preventative medicine is pushed aside and becomes a system of treatment for ailments. In addition, the chemical industries see opportunities in suppling agro chemicals which then ensures the continuing degradation of the soil and our health. Also the eco system becomes less healthy with the loss of countless species which rely on the food chain to survive.

`The first farming revolution, the revolution of rotations and mixed farming, doubled crop yields and fed the nation during its emergence as an industrial power. The farming revolution of the twentieth century took away farmers` independence, ruined their soils and made the nation dependent on imported chemicals and oil for its food supply. And the foods themselves were degraded.`

In the first chapter on nutrition in food, the author says `Feeding people well, ought to be easy by now. After all, we`ve been at it long enough. Farming of one sort or another has been around for 12,000 years`. My first reaction was that we now have a much larger global population to feed than before and that according to some sources, it is the technology we deploy like GMO which enables us to produce large enough quantities of food. Whether we might still produce better healthier food is another question. In other words, we may be able to meet the demand for food, but we will need commensurate capacity in the health care system to nurse the ailing population. This is a disastrous outcome in my opinion. And we can see it happening before our eyes.
When talking about the importance of minerals he says `Minerals are in our foods today because of events that took place more than 10,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. As the glaciers retreated, they exposed the fine dust produced by the grinding action of ice on the rocks below. This mineral-rich dust was spread by the wind across the surface of the planet, re-mineralising soils and producing a burst of biological activity. Three thousand years after glaciation, soils across the Earth`s land surface reached an average depth of almost 2 metres. Today the average depth is just 12 centimetres. In the mineral enriched soils, trees could grow to massive proportions. In the pre-historic forest of post glacial Europe, trees grew trunks that measured 23 metres to the first branch. The legendary giant elk of Ireland – Megaloceros giganteus – stood two metres tall at the shoulders.

One thing we need to bear in mind is that there seems to be no definitive research available proving exactly how bad for health modern food production methods are. There will be many who are not interested/have no time for this discussion and in any case prefer the taste of processed foods. It becomes an issue for everybody in that widespread ill health leads to rapidly increasing health care costs which need to be met somehow and is a complex problem. Personally, I find the topic of nutrition of great interest, most likely because I have a personal interest in preserving my own health. The ideas expressed in this book, linking the mineral content and fertility profile of the soil with the health of all life dependent on that soil and the associated food chain, and this, going all the way back to the origins of life itself, are both thought provoking and inspiring. Life evolves according to the resources at hand. If those resources change or cease to exist, we will also change. You are what you eat!
I started putting volcanic rock dust on my plants some time ago after reading about the benefits. Reading this book helped to confirm these benefits. The book is full of interesting information about food production and quality and I could point to many more instances which I felt worth repeating. I can only recommend reading the book.