Posts Tagged “feature”
Shifting to a new food freezing method could make for safer and better quality frozen foods while saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, according to a new study by U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of California-Berkeley scientists.
“A complete change over to this new method of food freezing worldwide could cut energy use by as much as 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours each year while reducing the carbon emissions that go along with generating that power by 4.6 billion kg, the equivalent of removing roughly one million cars from roads,” said ARS research food technologist Cristina Bilbao-Sainz. She is with the Healthy Processed Foods Research Unit, part of ARS’s Western Regional Research Center (WRRC) in Albany.
“These savings could be achieved without requiring any significant changes in current frozen food manufacturing equipment and infrastructure if food manufacturers adopt this concept,” Bilbao-Sainz added.
The new freezing method, called isochoric freezing, works by storing foods in a sealed, rigid container—typically made of hard plastic or metal—completely filled with a liquid such as water. Unlike conventional freezing in which the food is exposed to the air and freezes solid at temperatures below 32 degrees F, isochoric freezing preserves food without turning it to solid ice.
As long as the food stays immersed in the liquid portion, it is protected from ice crystallization, which is the main threat to food quality.
“Energy savings come from not having to freeze foods completely solid, which uses a huge amount of energy, plus there is no need to resort to energy-intensive cold storage protocols such as quick freezing to avoid ice crystal formation,” Bilbao-Sainz said.
Isochoric freezing also allows for higher quality storage of fresh foods such as tomatoes, sweet cherries and potatoes that are otherwise difficult to preserve with conventional freezing.
Another benefit of isochoric freezing is that it also kills microbial contaminants during processing.
“The entire food production chain could use isochoric freezing—everyone from growers to food processors, product producers to wholesalers, to retailers. The process will even work in a person’s freezer at home after they purchase a product—all without requiring any major investments in new equipment,” said WRRC center director Tara McHugh, co-leader of this study. “With all of the many potential benefits, if this innovative concept catches on, it could be the next revolution in freezing foods.”
UC-Berkeley biomedical engineer Boris Rubinsky, co-leader of this project, first developed the isochoric freezing method to cryopreserve tissues and organs for transplants.
Since then, ARS and UC-Berkeley have applied for a joint patent for applying isochoric freezing to preserving food. The research team is now developing the best applications for this technology in the frozen foods industry, especially scaling up the technology to an industrial level. They also are seeking commercial partners to help transfer the technology to the commercial sector.
UC-Berkeley mechanical engineer Matthew Powell-Palm, one of the lead authors of the study paper, noted that “isochoric freezing is a cross-cutting technology with promising applications in not only the food industry, but in medicine, biology, even space travel.”
WRRC has also been designated a National Historic Chemical Landmark in 2002 by the American Chemical Society for developing the Time-Temperature Tolerance studies, which made possible the production of stable, safe and high-quality frozen food, revolutionizing the industry in the 1950s.
Avondale, PA —The current market forces of global
supply chain shortages, transportation availability constraints, and a
drastically reduced farm labor market combined with seasonal threats of crop disease are heavily negatively impacting U.S. mushroom production. This will result in significantly reduced mushroom shipments for the holidays, according to the American Mushroom Institute.
Because the mushroom growing process integrates many other industries’ products into the growing medium for mushrooms, when availability for any single ingredient is compromised, it impacts growers’ ability to mitigate crop threats and to maximize yields. The reality is the 2021 holiday season will see greatly reduced salable mushroom pounds than in previous years.
Mushroom growers can rely on upwards of 30 different inputs or raw materials to make their growing substrate for the mushroom beds.
AMI President Rachel Roberts explained:
“Mushroom growers across the country are describing challenges not seen previously in their time working in the industry. A host of raw materials needed to grow their crops are severely limited, including outright cut-offs of certain critical inputs, for the foreseeable future. In addition to the shortages, the competition for growing medium is greater than ever, with many nurseries, home gardeners, and hobbyists using much of the same growing medium, which is also driving inflation for those products. These factors are not expected to change anytime soon.”
Additionally, the mushroom industry is fighting these challenges with a workforce of about 75% of the labor force needed to do the job.
The result of all these pressures—insufficient raw materials availability, crop disease, transportation constraints, and labor shortages—is lower supply than in previous years during the holiday season.
“We continue to work with our local, state, and federal legislators to explain the predicament that our members face every day,” Roberts said. “Our members are telling us that this is the toughest time mushroom farms have faced in more than 30 years.”
About AMI
The American Mushroom Institute (AMI), headquartered in Avondale, Pennsylvania, is a national voluntary trade association representing the growers, processors, and marketers of cultivated mushrooms in the United States and industry suppliers worldwide.
The Cranberry Institute offers an in-depth look at the health benefits of cranberries in the diet.
The group’s Cranberry Health Research Library offers a comprehensive collection of the latest research on the health benefits of cranberries in the diet.
According to The Cranberry Institute, current research reveals:
- Cranberries are thought to provide health benefits due to their flavonoid and phytonutrient content. These naturally occurring compounds have antioxidant and antimicrobial benefits that are evident in the oral cavity, gastrointestinal tract and urinary tract;
- A specific type of flavonoid, proanthocyanidins in cranberries provide urinary tract benefits by interfering with the ability of pathogenic P-fimbriated E. coli to cause infections in the urinary tract;
- The majority of studies have focused on the cranberry’s role in urinary tract health, but the benefits extend beyond the urinary tract. Other key areas include the berry’s antimicrobial activities, cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes, and anti-cancer properties; and
- Cranberries provide numerous cardiovascular benefits. They have been shown to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-oxidation, maintain or improve high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, reducing platelet aggregation and improve vascular function.
Port Manatee and Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. have reached an agreement to keep the company’s fruit imports coming into the fast-growing seaport until at least 2026, with options through 2036.
“Continuing our decades-long partnership with Del Monte is good for Del Monte, good for Port Manatee and good for consumers throughout the U.S. Southeast who rely upon the efficient flow of bananas, pineapples, avocados and other much-in-demand fruits through the company’s regional distribution hub at our dynamic seaport,” said Reggie Bellamy, chairman of the Manatee County Port Authority, which approved the latest lease agreement at a meeting in October.
Under the agreement, the Coral Gables, Florida-based Del Monte unit, which has been importing fresh fruit into Port Manatee since 1989, agrees to continue to lease Port Manatee warehouse facilities through at least August 2026, with two extension options of five years each running through August 2036. The agreement is valued at more than $1 million per year.
“Del Monte has enjoyed a strong, mutually beneficial working relationship with Port Manatee for more than 32 years, and we are delighted to sustain this partnership well into the future,” said Denise Tuck, Del Monte’s Port Manatee-based port manager. “Expansion of the seaport’s dockside container yard facilitates our ability to maintain fluid operations bringing in produce from Central America on our fleet of energy-efficient containerships for many years to come.”
Port Manatee is on schedule to complete by yearend expansion of the paved container yard adjoining the seaport’s Berth 12 and 14 docks, more than doubling the facility to 21.9 acres. Meanwhile, Del Monte this year has completed its transition to a fleet of state-of-industry refrigerated containerships featuring fuel-efficient hull design, emissions-reducing scrubber systems, connections to operate onshore power when at berth, and the latest in preventive maintenance technologies.
Del Monte imports represent a significant contributor to the record flow of containerized cargo through Port Manatee, which just reported a 53.3 percent year-over-year increase in the number of 20-foot-equivalent container units crossing its docks, reaching 135,660 TEUs in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30.
The latest addition to Del Monte’s imports into Port Manatee is sustainably cultivated, trademarked Pinkglow pineapples, which join bananas, traditional pineapples, avocados, plantains, melons and mangos in moving across Port Manatee docks and through the company’s Southeast distribution center.
“Port Manatee could not be more thrilled to extend its longstanding collaboration with Del Monte,” said Carlos Buqueras, Port Manatee’s executive director of Manatee County’s dynamic seaport. “Over the past four decades, we have grown together in fulfilling market demands while boosting our region’s economy.”
Located “Where Tampa Bay Meets the Gulf of Mexico,” Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deepwater seaport to the expanded Panama Canal, with 10 40-foot-draft berths serving container, bulk, breakbulk, heavy-lift, project and general cargo customers. The self-sustaining port generates more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impacts while providing for more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs, all without the benefit of local property tax support.
By the President of the United States of America. a Proclamation.
Whereas it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor—and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the 26th day of November next to be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be—That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks—for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation—for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war—for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and plenty, which we have since enjoyed—for the peaceable and rational manner, in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted—for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed; and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and in general for all the great and various favors which he hath been pleased to confer upon us.
and also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed—to protect and guide all Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shewn kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government, peace, and concord—To promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the encrease of science among them and us—and generally to grant unto all Mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as he alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand at the City of New-York the third day of October in the year of our Lord 1789.
President George Washington
REEDLEY, CA — Fruit World, a family-owned, grower-shipper of organic and conventional fruit, is expecting a robust citrus season, particularly for this year’s organic lemon crop.
Good volumes of organic lemons from California’s desert region are anticipated through early March. Fruit World will also have diverse citrus shipments throughout the season, including organic and conventional mandarins, organic oranges, and organic specialty citrus such as sweet limes and Minneola tangelos.
“This year’s organic lemon crop is looking very strong—both in terms of volume and quality—and we’re seeing exceptional taste, appearance, and juiciness,” shared Bianca Kaprielian, Fruit World co-founder and CEO. There will be good desert, with its Central Valley ranches filling out availability through May.
Fruit World also expects a strong organic specialty citrus program this year. “This is our second year offering organic sweet limes, and we are already delivering promotable volumes which should last into December,” Kaprielian added.
Fruit World’s flagship mandarin program will kicked off in early November, starting with stem & leaf Satsumas and their proprietary Early Dulce mandarin variety. Organic Satsumas and Clementines started in November, with additional varieties available into April.
A lighter than typical season is expected for mandarins this year, a concern seen industry-wide due to excessive heat in May and June paired with last year’s large crop set affecting this year’s bloom.
The company has already started shipping the organic Rio Red grapefruit variety. It’s California-grown Rio Reds are top-notch quality and have beautiful interior color. There has been strong demand, partly due to last season’s freeze in Mexico and Texas which affected the overall grapefruit supply.
Navel oranges started shipping at the end of October, followed by Minneola tangelos in early December, with the season rounding out with Cara Caras and blood oranges starting in January.
As they plan for the future, Fruit World is expanding their specialty citrus program by planting organic mandarinquats, kumquats, lemonade lemons and more that will be available in upcoming seasons. The company also has a significant amount of mandarin and navel acreage in transition from conventional to organic, including heirloom navels in their second year of transition, so coming years should see increased organic volume.
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About Fruit World
Fruit World grows and ships fruit in California—including organic and conventional citrus, organic grapes, organic stone fruit.
Mexican avocado production is forecast to fall by 8% from the previous season, according to a USDA report.
The country is expected to produce 2.33 million metric tons (MMT) between July 2021 and June 2022, following a record volume year in the previous season.
“Growers state that they are expecting needed tree recovery after record productivity and production (especially in Michoacán) in the MY 2020/21 season,” the report said.
“Additionally, insufficient rainfall and high temperatures are likely to reduce production and yields in non-Michoacan producing states.”
Mexico is forecasted to export 1.33 MMT in 2021-22, 8% lower than the previous season, on lower production. Exports to the U.S. are forecasted at 1.04 MMT.
Michoacán, the only state with phytosanitary approvals to export to the U.S. typically exports approximately 85 percent of production.
Profit margins for export to the U.S. are typically more than 50 percent higher than supplies sold to the domestic market. Michoacán also exported 22 percent greater volumes in 2020/21 than the previous MY to non-U.S. markets, on increased production. Canada, Japan, and Spain were the main destinations.
International demand for avocados from Mexico continues to increase, and producers without access to the U.S. market continue to seek international markets with higher profitability than the domestic market. Jalisco exported 26 percent more volume than the previous marketing year in 2020/21, mainly to Japan, Canada, France and Spain.
Planted and harvested areas are forecasted at 561,240 acres and 558,235 acres respectively, with a national yield of 10.30 metric tons per acre.
Harvest reaches peak from October to February, with average supply from March to May, and low season from June to September.
Annual per capita consumption is seven kilograms (approximately 15 pounds) per person. While a staple in Mexican cuisine, avocado consumption has not grown in recent years because of high prices driven by increased international demand.
Mexican fruits and veggies crossing through South Texas – grossing about $4200 to Chicago.
By Karman Eckelbarger, ALC Orlando
Overseas produce from South America could be facing delays due to the flood of cargo ships invading the ports. These port delays and supply chain labor challenges are going to affect the delivery of produce across the east coast. This is especially concerning for delays that could jeopardize the shelf life of berries, citrus, and light density produce that has shorter shelf lives than higher density foods. The demand for overseas goods is on the rise, whilst the availability of drivers and vehicles domestically is plummeting. This can mean higher prices for produce as companies switch or seek out other methods for getting fresh produce into stores. It also means that the transportation and logistics of getting produce delivered on time is going to be increasingly challenging.
Ports are swelled with delayed ships and produce delivery is obstructed as labor and transportation agencies face shortages.
In anticipation of the holiday season rapidly approaching, ports are preparing for the peak season as an influx of ships heads to the east and west coast. However, many of those ships will be surprised to reach those ports and face record-setting delays for the year. As ships flood the west coast, transportation companies facing labor shortages and a drought of available trucks will have to delay unloading the cargo. This is in addition to the unparalleled demand for imported goods that markets have seen since the beginning of the pandemic.
This influx in demand for goods sourced from abroad has continued to pile up on the ports resulting in record-breaking delays to get containers unloaded and ready for on land delivery. Port officials expect most ships to face delays of at least eight days before they can be docked. However, some ships are facing weeks of delays before they can hope to be unloaded.
Consumers are increasingly turning to e-commerce to fulfill their buying needs which means many carriers will have to turn to air-freight or other modes of transportation to evade the delays ships are facing at the ports. For imported produce, the effects have created a risky venture. In addition to west coast ports filling up fast, many ships are seeking re-routes to the east coast in hopes of finding a better unloading date. However, this has created a backlog in the supply chain as even these ports are incapable of handling such a high capacity during this time. For instance, ports that typically experience lighter traffic like Savannah and Charleston are being bombarded with ships awaiting appointments to be unloaded at the moment. As all steps in the supply chain face labor shortages many ports are struggling to keep up.
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Karman Eckelbarger is currently an Intern at ALC Orlando, FL. Karman is currently enrolled as an English major at the University of Central Florida and hopes to graduate with a Bachelors in Fall 2022.
Fewer Idaho potatoes are being shipped this year, but they are larger thanks to hot weather during the growing season.
All shippers were loading new crop potatoes in October, with a smooth transition reported between old crop and new crop supplies this season.
Potandon Produce of Idaho Falls, ID report fresh potato crop acreage is up this year, but the increase is primarily for process use. Additonally, it is believed there will be lower yields.
Wada Farms Markekting Group LLC of Idaho Falls notes fresh potato yields and production could drop as much as 10%.
United Potato Growers of America of Salt Lake City, UT reports acreage is should be up slightly, but yields will be down for Idaho growers this year.
UPG points out the group’s shipping forecast for the U.S. fresh potato crop is 88 million cwt., 1.9 million cwt. less than the 2020-21 crop.
Idaho is expected to ship about 32 million cwt. of fresh russets, about 1.8 million cwt. down from a year ago and the lowest shipment total in about six years.
Idaho acreage is estimated at 315,000 acres, up 6% from 296,000 a year ago.
However, 2021 yield is projected at 430 cwt. per acre, down 5% from 455 cwt. last year. Total Idaho production is anticipated at 135.45 million cwt., up from 134.5 million cwt. a year ago.
The fresh market is expected to account for 24.7% of the Idaho crop, compared with 27.1% for the fresh market in the 2020-21 season.
Idaho Falls potatoes – grossing about $7200 to Atlanta; $9200 to New York City.
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An organic apple contains more microscopic biodiversity, which is an essential ingredient for human health. This was revealed by Austrian research conducted in 2019 that compared the micro-biodiversity of conventionally grown and organic apples. Other new research indicates that microbial biodiversity is crucial for good health. And this is why Eosta is supporting a study carried out by Stichting Bac2nature (Bac2nature Foundation) and Maastricht University on the link between cultivation methods, microbial biodiversity and digestion. “Biodiversity is vitality,” according to Eosta CEO Volkert Engelsman.
Did you know that when you eat a complete apple you ingest approximately 100 million bacteria? Whether the apple is organic or conventionally grown is irrelevant, the quantity of bacteria is the same. But there is a substantive difference – The diversity of the bacteria on an organic apple is far greater, particularly in the flesh. In the Austrian apple study, the biodiversity of organic apples, measured using the Shannon Index, was approximately 6 and approximately 4 in the conventional apple. The Shannon Index is a measure of both the number of species and the degree of uniformity in their distribution. The better the biodiversity, the higher the score. Strikingly, the majority of bacteria were not on the skin. The largest quantity of bacteria and greatest differences in biodiversity were detected in the flesh and the core. Volkert Engelsman, CEO of Eosta: “It has long been known that intensive agriculture reduces the diversity of the microbiome in the soil. But now there is also evidence that intensive agriculture impoverishes the microbiome in our food. And that may not be beneficial to health.”
Bac2food will study this subject in-depth
Marco van Es, founder of stichting Bac2nature (Bac2nature Foundation), which studies the relationship between biodiversity and health dares to make an emphatic statement: “Biodiversity is at the core of our health.” In 2020, the foundation and Maastricht University jointly set up a research programme that is currently studying the links between microbial diversity in food and digestion in greater depth. The significant reduction in the cost of DNA analysis has made it much easier to study the biodiversity of microbiomes in food and in the body. Eosta is one of the players supporting the research.
The importance of microbiomes for health
The microbiome has a significant effect on health. Research has revealed that microbes can play a major role in malnourishment and obesity, and affect all our organs through the immune, nervous and vascular systems. By far the most bacteria (and moulds and other micro-organisms) in the human body are in our digestive system. There are approximately 100 times more bacteria in our intestines than on our skin (ten times as many in the lungs). And there also seems to be a clear link between the diversity of the microbiome in the intestines and health. Studies have highlighted a number of facts, including that healthy people over the age of 90 have greater biodiversity in their guts than average adults.
The importance of diversity in your microbiome
The biodiversity hypothesis, a new version of the old hygiene hypothesis, asserts that contact with the natural environment enriches the human microbiome, which boosts the immune system and provides protection against allergies and inflammatory diseases. Consequently, avoiding contact with natural biodiversity (e.g., by eating large amounts of processed and one-sided food) can have a negative influence on the immune system. Scientists agree that exposure to a highly diverse range of micro-organisms early in life is important for the prevention of an overactive immune system. The soil is an important factor in this. Infants growing up in natural surroundings and playing outside ingest large quantities of soil every day. This makes an important contribution to the development of their immune system.
New techniques make the loss of intestinal biodiversity visible
New organic research techniques are producing breakthroughs in this field. MWAS studies (Metagenome-Wide Association), which strive to map out the relationship between the human microbiome and complex diseases (such as Diabetes 2 or Rheumatoid Arthritis), show that the loss of biodiversity in the intestines is linked to the development of chronic ailments. “Nomics” techniques like genomics are steadily making it easier to unravel the connection between soil biodiversity, plant health, food quality and human health.
Logical from an evolutionary perspective
There are also evolutionary arguments supporting the importance of biodiverse microbiomes in food and our habitat. Humans evolved to exist together with a wide range of organisms in our living space and bodies. “And evolution works in such a way that unavoidable living conditions eventually become necessary living conditions,” says Marco van Es. The western lifestyle has a bad effect on the microbiome in the body. Apparently, peoples who live as hunter-gatherers (e.g., the Hadzas in Tanzania) have the highest level of biodiversity in their guts, followed by peoples who practice traditional agriculture, and people who live in western, urbanised societies languish at the bottom of the scale. In the “blue zones”, regions on earth where people have a very long average life span, people eat a lot of fresh, local and self-grown products – with more biodiversity as a result.
Organic food and health
All of this constitutes a new argument for the potential health-promoting effect of organic food. Although there is no scientific consensus regarding the healthiness of organic food, there are indicators. Firstly, organic food contains fewer pesticides, and it is known that pesticides cause a number of issues, including disrupting the hormonal balance. Considerably fewer pesticides are detected in the urine of people who have an organic diet. Secondly, organic foods frequently contain more nutrients such as antioxidants. The Austrian research is now providing a new argument – the microbiome of organic food has far greater diversity. For that matter, research conducted by Stanford University in 2012 showed that there are fewer multi-resistant (harmful) bacteria present on organic food.
Proof that the food microbiome influences the intestinal microbiome
Although it seems obvious, science does not yet recognise that the food microbiome also has an influence on the microbiome in the body. After all, bacteria that we eat always pass through a bath of stomach acid and other digestive processes. However, a study in the issue of Nature published on 25 May 2020 has now produced the first direct evidence that our food affects the microbiome in our guts – apparently, fermented food increases the level of lactic acid bacteria in our guts and blood. In addition, DNA research clearly points in one direction – the genome suggests that our intestinal bacteria all originated from food bacteria.
Balance between hygiene and biodiversity
According to Marco van Es at Bac2nature, a crucial question is – what is the best way to influence the biodiversity in your body with your food and lifestyle? You cannot just eat mud and rotting food because cases of large-scale food poisoning in the past have shown us that a lack of hygiene can be fatal. The question is – what is the best way to combine food safety and exposure to a microbiome?
Bac2food study: first results at the end of 2021
A great deal of research is needed to answer this. Since April 2021, Eosta has supported the Bac2food project, which is studying whether eating raw, fresh fruit and vegetables, grown with a rich microbiome, has an effect on the health of the digestive process. In the first instance, the research is studying the effect on digestion, which is modelled using an artificial digestive tract. The first results are expected in October or November 2021 and will be published in early 2022. The research is being conducted by Iris van Zoelen at Maastricht University under the supervision of professor Koen Venema (Maastricht) and professor Roel Kort (VU Amsterdam). It focuses specifically on growing methods for tomatoes, cucumber, paprika and lettuce. It must be noted that tomatoes, cucumber and paprika are grown in greenhouses, while lettuce is grown in soil outdoors.
The wider connection – biodiversity is crucial for the continued existence of humanity
Naturally, biodiversity is not only important in our body. The loss of biodiversity on earth is creating vulnerabilities in all areas – ecosystem services such as fertile soils, water availability and even the climate are affected by it. The same applies to the origination of zoonoses and new viruses such as Covid-19. In 2016, a joint venture including Stanford, Berkeley and New York universities asserted that the effect of the microbiome is an extremely important factor in all of the challenges facing humanity in the field of food, energy, clean water, health and ecosystems. In recent years, the NWO has also issued various research calls for more research on micro and macro biodiversity.
Biodiversity: potential USP for organic food
Volkert Engelsman, CEO of van Eosta: “We have degraded the macro-biodiversity of the planet, so we are now being troubled by the micro-biodiversity, with Corona as the current low point. It is becoming clear in a host of domains that biodiversity equals vitality. And that may well be a mega-unique selling point for organic produce. Humans are made from biodiversity. The cells in our bodies are full of material from micro-organisms, from our mitochondria to remnants of viral DNA. We must realise that microscopic life on earth is a precondition for life itself. Bacteria were always regarded as an enemy, as pathogens, in the past. In recent years it has become clear at break-neck speed that bacteria are, in the first place, partners and essential helpers that maintain the balance of human health and the health of the planet. This is why we must back away from chemistry and return to biology.”
In short: eat BIOdiVERSE
Engelsman continues: “Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology in London, wrote in his book The Diet Myth that the diversity of microbes in our bodies is now 30% less than 50 years ago. A diet of junk food dramatically reduces the healthy microbiome in the guts in two days. In short – a great deal of research must still be carried out, but in the meantime you would be wise to eat ‘biodiverse’. In other words, fresh and organic. According to Tim Spector, the only common factor in a healthy diet, healthy guts and a healthy body is diversity. And that is perfectly appropriate for the organic agriculture approach.”
Eosta, with Nature & More as its consumer brand and transparency system, is Europe’s most awarded distributor of organic fruit and vegetables. Eosta is known for its sustainability campaigns such as Living Wage, True Cost of Food and Dr. Goodfood. In 2018, the company won the King William I Plaque for Sustainable Entrepreneurship and in 2019 the European Business Award for the Environment. See also www.eosta.com and www.natureandmore.com.