At Sanctuary Farms on Detroit’s East Side, Jøn Kent and a team of volunteers use cardboard and paper bags to starve invasive weedy plants instead of using herbicides; they plant marigolds and lavender amid squash, melons, and collards instead of using pesticides; and they turn food scraps into lush, clean compost.

Kent and his business partner, Jean Parker, wanted to grow fresh produce for their working-class community, which Kent describes as a “food desert.” They also wanted to make sure their farming practices didn’t contribute to the area’s water pollution crisis.

“In Michigan, we have been left with polluted waters in Black neighborhoods from Benton Harbor to Flint,” he said. So Kent and Parker, who launched Sanctuary Farms in 2020, turned to regenerative agriculture practices, like alternating flowers with crops to attract pollinators and repel pests, to have a positive impact on the environment.

“The goal here is to really create a food-sovereign, energy efficient, zero-waste place, so our community knows it’s possible to live off the land,” said Kent.

Young Farmers Lead the Way in Regenerative Farming

Many young farmers share Kent’s commitment to sustainability, according to a new report from the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC). In a survey of over 10,000 farmers across the country, 86% of respondents under 40 said they used regenerative farming practices, which the survey defined as “an approach to farming and ranching that builds healthy soils and ecosystems, supports climate-resilient farms and communities, and addresses inequity in agriculture.”

Of course, as the survey notes, regenerative farming practices aren’t new. Indigenous communities — many of whom were pushed off the land they stewarded for millennia — innovated and practiced these farming techniques for thousands of years.

“Young farmers today find motivation to farm in environmental conservation; anti-racism; and creating healthy, food-secure, and climate-resilient communities,” said Vanessa García Polanco, NYFC’s policy campaign director.

Overhauling the United States’ agriculture system will be crucial to meeting its climate goals. Farms cover about 40% of all US land, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture, and agriculture accounts for about 11% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Some regenerative farming practices, such as no-till farming, cover cropping, and rotational grazing, can help the US reduce those emissions.

But young farmers — particularly young farmers of color — need more support.

Supporting Young BIPOC Farmers

Fifty-nine percent of respondents said finding affordable land to buy was “very or extremely challenging.” Among those who identified as Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), that figure was 65%. Respondents also reported difficulty accessing capital, affording health care, and paying off student loans. In all cases, BIPOC respondents reported greater difficulties than their white counterparts.

These challenges may explain why more young people aren’t taking up the profession. The average age of a US farmer is over 57 and is steadily increasing, according to the most recent Census of Agriculture. According to that report, less than 8% of farmers are under age 35.

Kent, 29, spent his early childhood in Detroit. “My community is often hit with the reality that the government doesn’t always come through for us,” said Kent, who is Black. Kent, who only recently paid off his student loans, said accessing capital to finance Sanctuary Farms was a challenge, but added, “In spite of our lack of finances, we have faith. We just gotta keep puttin’ in that work.”

Adapting to Climate Change

Climate change poses another challenge. More than 73% of respondents said they experienced at least one “climate impact” in the form of extreme weather, hotter temperatures, or excess precipitation on their farm in the past year. That figure is up from 66% in 2017, the last time NYFC released a survey.

For some, climate change has wrought devastation.

Carolina Mueller, a farmer from Austin, Texas, and coalition manager with NYFC, said she suffered over $30,000 in losses when a winter storm in February 2021 froze much of the state.

“Winter Storm Uri last year was incredibly traumatic and damaging,” Mueller said. “Temperatures plummeted quickly, and we lost a lot of our livestock and produce.” All three members of the Texas NYFC chapter decided to stop farming after Uri.

For those young farmers across the country who continue to farm, there is an increased awareness of the need to adapt to the changing climate, said Debi Kelly, a field specialist and horticulturist with the University of Missouri’s extension program.

“Some of those old ways of agriculture can’t continue anymore,” said Kelly. “With all these weather events and with population growth, we have to learn how to do things a little bit differently.”

Taking Risks to Meet Climate Goals

Kelly said younger farmers she works with tend to be more willing to take risks and change their practices than older farmers. She said she also noticed younger farmers tend to be more concerned with how their operations affect their surrounding communities. According to the NYFC survey, 83% of young farmers reported that “one of their farm’s primary purposes for existing is engaging in conservation or regeneration.”

The NYFC report comes out as lawmakers are debating the 2023 Farm Bill, a massive omnibus bill that goes before Congress roughly every five years and includes farm subsidies, climate resilience initiatives, and food assistance programs.

If the US is to meet its climate goal by 2030, which requires a 50–52% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels, Polanco said she believes it will need a transformative farm bill, one that addresses the climate crisis and the rising costs of land.

A New Inclusive Farm Bill

“Land is climate infrastructure for our young farmers,” Polanco said. But land costs are soaring. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), farmland values increased by $420 per acre, or more than 12%, in 2021. The report, which notes that “land ownership is rooted in the dispossession of Indigenous land,” calls on the USDA to support Indigenous communities in securing greater land sovereignty and for the agency to seat the Tribal Advisory Committee, a body created in 2018 to facilitate coordination between Native groups and the federal government.

Polanco said she’d like to see a farm bill that invests in community-led projects, prioritizing projects led by and benefiting socially disadvantaged and economically distressed farmers and ranchers. She said a successful bill would also invest in climate-smart farming adaptations.

These adaptations would look like an expansion of programs like the USDA’s recently launched Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities initiative, which supports the production and marketing of climate-smart commodities, increases funding for first-time farmers and ranchers, and improves access to crop insurance programs. The Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $20 billion for USDA conservation programs, presents an important opportunity for young farmers as well.

Getting young, climate-conscious farmers on the land “is the best way we can fight climate change,” Polanco said. “But we desperately need climate investments that are part of a safety net for farmers, so they can continue stewarding the land when a disaster strikes.”

—–

This article appeared in Nexus Media News on October 17, 2022, with editing help from YES! Magazine and was made possible by a grant from the Open Society Foundations. Nexus Media News is an editorially independent, nonprofit news service covering climate change.

Tell us in the comments:

• How do you think farms can become more climate resilient?
• How can government and community organizations better support young farmers of color?
• In what ways can you contribute to or support sustainable agriculture in your local community?

Featured Image: Jøn Kent at Sanctuary Farms in Detroit; Photo By Britny Cordera

Read Next:

• An Overlooked Public Health Crisis Among Black Farmers
• What You Eat Can Impact Climate Change! See 9 Foods That Harm the Planet and 11 Foods That Can Help Save It

The post From Food Deserts to Fertile Grounds: The Rise of Regenerative Farming in Urban America appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Before long my fever was raging at 104 degrees, and I was so weak I was unable to muster a cry.

I’m grateful that my parents took me to a doctor, who put me on antibiotics. Within hours, my fever was down, and my sickness had reversed.

That antibiotic prescription may have saved my life.

What Exactly Are Antibiotics?

Alexander Fleming, a professor of bacteriology at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, discovered penicillin — the first antibiotic — in 1928.

He’d been experimenting with colonies of Staphylococcus bacteria growing in Petri dishes. And he noticed that one dish had a spot of mold with a clear ring around it. This ring was a secretion from the mold that prevented further bacterial growth. It turned out to be penicillin.

Fleming and his colleagues worked to isolate penicillin, discovering its ability to attack other bacteria, like streptococcus, meningococcus, and diphtheria bacillus.

In later years, researchers developed new antibiotics that were effective in killing different classes of bacteria.

Altogether, antibiotics have saved millions of lives worldwide — overpowering such potentially lethal diseases as meningitis, tuberculosis, and cholera.

When used appropriately, antibiotics are a blessing and a welcome arrow in humanity’s medical quiver. But the reality is that they’re vastly overprescribed.

According to the CDC, in 2021, health care professionals prescribed 211.1 million antibiotic prescriptions — and many of these prescriptions are unnecessary.

Many health care professionals prescribe antibiotics at an alarming rate. Sometimes they prescribe them without making sure the drug will effectively attack whatever germ is involved — or without confirming that it is a bacteria and not a virus. (Antibiotics are completely ineffective against viral infections.)

And this lax approach doesn’t come without consequences.

The Dark Side of Antibiotic Use

Antibiotics don’t just target harmful bacteria in your body. They’re destructive to all microbes, which can leave your body’s natural microbiome unbalanced and damaged.

And this ecosystem won’t always go back to normal unless you consciously make an effort to make it so. Odds are, if your microbiome is currently out of balance, past antibiotic use has significantly contributed to your condition.

It’s also likely that the health care professionals who prescribed those antibiotics to you didn’t discuss how to counteract the collateral destruction of good bacteria in your body.

A couple of years ago, I was considering taking antibiotics to fight a strep infection. I asked my doctor if he could recommend any protocol for repopulating my body with healthy bacteria.

He replied that he didn’t learn anything about that in medical school, so he couldn’t offer me any advice. “My wife took a nutrition class online,” he told me, “so she’d be a better person to ask.”

It’s pretty crazy, if you think about it, that our medical system is so good at destroying a bacterial ecosystem but so ineffective at rebuilding it.

For more on the importance of gut health, and the use of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics, read our in-depth article here.

How Antibiotic Overuse Is Creating “Superbugs”

Not only do antibiotics damage good bacteria, but their overuse encourages the widespread development of “superbugs,” or bacteria that display antibiotic resistance.

Bacteria, you see, are very much like accountants. No matter how much you change the tax laws, there will always be wily accountants who will find a way around them to escape taxes. Similarly, when you increase the dose of antibiotics or engineer new ones, some bacteria will find a way to mutate and resist them.

As a consequence of antibiotic overuse, we’ve had to start turning to “last-line” antibiotics, or medications typically only used as a last resort when the usual medications no longer work.

These drugs are meant to be used sparingly in human medicine to limit bacterial exposure to them, in the hope of preventing the development of antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, because antibiotic resistance has increased, the prescription of last-resort antibiotics has also increased.

Antibiotic Resistance Can Be Deadly

Antibiotic resistance is leading to more and more deaths that were once preventable. That doesn’t sound like the kind of progress we’ve come to expect from the field of medicine.

In the United States, nearly three million people contract an antibiotic-resistant infection each year — with more than 35,000 people dying. Worldwide, antibiotic-resistant microbes are estimated to cause nearly five million deaths per year. And these numbers are rising.

Superbugs now threaten to make many common infections, such as urinary tract infections and pneumonia, lethal once again.

Many public health authorities fear that we could be on the verge of entering into a “post-antibiotic world” that threatens to kill millions of people annually by 2050. Antibiotic resistance already costs over $55 billion in medical treatment and hospitalizations just in the US. And this number is expected to rise dramatically in the coming decades.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that the World Health Organization has declared antibiotic resistance to be one of our greatest global threats to health, security, and development.

But is the medical overuse of antibiotics really the primary cause of the rise of the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance?

Antibiotics in the Livestock Industry

Factory farms, also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), were created as a way to keep up with an enormous demand for animal products that’s emerged in the last century.

Modern farms look far different from farms of the past. The images that leap to mind when many of us think of a farm — the iconic red barn or a green pasture full of animals happily grazing in the sun — no longer represent how most farm animals spend their lives.

To say that animals in CAFOs endure close quarters and overpopulation would be an understatement. The average chicken raised for meat has less than one square foot of space per bird. And modern broiler operations have bred birds to grow so quickly that they often become unable to walk. As a result, these birds spend their lives sitting in feces. Animals regularly get sick, injured, and even die as a result of these miserable conditions.

So how do modern CAFOs cope with the threat of disease wiping out their livestock? Antibiotics to the rescue! Antibiotics are routinely administered (through injections or medicated feed) not just to livestock who have become sick, but rather to every single animal housed in these filthy and brutally inhumane conditions.

In addition to helping keep animals alive in an unsanitary environment, antibiotics serve another purpose, too. It turns out that antibiotics make animals gain weight faster — which increases producer profits.

How Do Bacteria Become Antibiotic-Resistant in CAFOs?

When bacteria have continual exposure to low doses of an antibiotic, any of the microbes that are resistant to the drug will survive and reproduce. The rest die off, resulting in a new bacteria population resistant to the antibiotic.

Modern factory farms provide continuous low doses of antibiotics to billions of livestock — thus creating the perfect conditions for breeding antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

If, for some diabolical reason, someone wanted to create conditions that would breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria, they would be hard-pressed to do better than the conditions prevalent in industrial meat production today.

The Truth About Food Recalls

Already, the breeding of bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics in modern meat production is hurting human health in many ways.

Have you ever gotten sick after eating at a restaurant? It’s an experience that’s not easy to forget. You just ate the most delicious meal, yet hours later, you’re regretting ever leaving the house that day.

Foodborne illnesses — such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli — affect one in six Americans every year. That’s more than 55 million people annually. About 128,000 of them have to be hospitalized for their symptoms. And 3,000 of these people end up dying.

Two of the most common foodborne pathogens, Salmonella and Campylobacter, cause a combined 660,900 antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States each year.

Where do these bacteria come from? The truth is most pathogens that cause food poisoning originate with the intensive, confinement-based livestock production methods used in factory farming.

The US federal government tests supermarket meats to track trends in bacteria and resistance. Recent findings show that 73% of bacteria that FDA testing found on ground turkey were resistant to tetracyclines, the most widely used antibiotic in farm animals and a critical medicine to treat serious bacterial infections in humans.

Additionally, one in five strains of Salmonella in chicken meat were resistant to amoxicillin — the second most frequently used antibiotic on farms and the number one medication prescribed to children. And 1 in every 25 packages of raw chicken is said to have Salmonella contamination, according to the CDC.

E. coli has also been found to contaminate 40% of raw chicken samples tested. But beef is the most common source of E. coli exposure for humans. This bacteria is thought to cause up to 85% of urinary tract infections each year. It’s also a major part of the Salmonella risk.

What About Food Recalls from Vegetables?

“But, wait!” you say. “What about the E. coli that have been found in plant foods, like romaine lettuce or tomatoes? Aren’t vegetables as risky as animal foods?”

It’s a reasonable question to ask, given the media coverage of E. coli outbreaks. But the truth is, E. coli lives in the intestines of animals.

Last I checked, romaine lettuce and tomatoes don’t have intestines. The only way any vegetable can be linked to E. coli is to be contaminated by the feces of animals.

Usually, this contamination happens because there’s a factory farm upstream (or up-manure) from a vegetable farm. It’s remarkable how often these plain facts are not conveyed in media coverage of E. coli scares.

Pathogens, like E. coli and Salmonella, are abundant in animal waste, which can run downhill during a rainstorm or seep into underground aquifers, ultimately getting into nearby water systems that spread the pathogens elsewhere.

These hardy pathogens can spread not only to raw meat products but also to produce (through water or soil contamination) and to cooking surfaces where food is prepared. When you consume this contaminated food, that’s when you may get sick.

The largest multistate E. coli outbreak in over a decade, related to romaine lettuce, occurred in the spring of 2018. It ended up affecting people in 36 states, resulting in 210 illnesses, 96 hospitalizations, and 5 deaths. What caused it? All evidence points to a large industrial cattle farm near the affected romaine crop in Yuma, Arizona.

How Factory Farming Drives the Problem with Antibiotics

It’s true that antibiotics are overprescribed to people, and that is a problem. But antibiotics are used and abused even more egregiously in animal agriculture.

According to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2015, the world uses about 63,000 tons of antibiotics each year to raise cows, chickens, and pigs. That’s roughly twice as much as the volume of all antibiotics prescribed by doctors globally to humans.

In fact, 80% of the antibiotics used in the United States are not given to sick humans, but to animals on CAFOs.

And antibiotics are typically NOT used to cure disease on CAFOs. Rather, they’re used to promote growth or prevent diseases from keeping animals in unsanitary conditions.

What’s worse, last-resort antibiotics for humans are commonly used in CAFOs. So it’s no wonder that resistant bacteria are rampant in industrial meat products.

Regulatory Efforts Have Been Botched

Attempts have been made to better regulate antibiotic use in CAFOs.

In January 2012, the FDA prohibited the use of cephalosporins in food animals. This didn’t make much difference, though, because this class of antibiotics makes up less than 1% of the antibiotics used in the United States on food animals every year.

A study published by researchers at Ohio State University in 2016 warned of the very real potential of a post-antibiotic age. The study was sparked when bacteria that was resistant to last-line antibiotics was found on a Midwestern hog farm.

The FDA eventually took action in 2017, stating that farmers were no longer allowed to give antibiotics to animals for the purposes of weight gain, nor could they buy antibiotics without the oversight of a veterinarian.

But even after the 2017 attempt to crack down on CAFO antibiotic use, government records show that things haven’t changed as much as many had hoped. While sales of antibiotics for agricultural purposes dropped right after the 2017 ban on use for growth promotion, they’ve somewhat leveled out since then. Officially, there’s no ban on using antibiotics to prevent or treat diseases in animals — and so many animals in CAFOs are unhealthy, that this could potentially allow for very widespread use. The fact is that many companies that pledged to reduce antibiotics in their food supply haven’t followed through.

Beef suppliers for some of the largest fast-food corporations, like McDonald’s and Taco Bell, are still using the highest priority, critically important antibiotics (HP-CIAs) on farm animals, despite the risks to human health. USDA testing shows that between 2017 and 2022, all 10 of the biggest meat packers in the US were using at least one HP-CIA on livestock. And according to reporting by The Guardian, the dosages used are identical to the ones used previously to fatten up cattle.

Because there’s no universal ban on antibiotics in the food supply, companies seem likely to continue finding ways to exploit regulatory loopholes.

Antibiotics Aren’t Only Used for Land Animals

Just as we’ve industrialized agriculture for land animals, we’ve done the same to aquatic animals. And although fish aren’t what typically comes to mind when we envision factory farms, that doesn’t mean that farmed fish are living in better conditions. Antibiotic use runs deep in the aquatic environment, too — and so does antibiotic resistance.

Farmed fish are often packed tightly together in huge, unsanitary pools. Just as happens in the factory farming of land animals, the fish are given antibiotics (and other drugs, like pesticides) to prevent the spread of disease.

A 2015 study published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials sheds light on this hidden problem. Researchers looked at 27 fish from 11 countries. The researchers found residues of five antibiotics — including tetracycline and other drugs used to treat human infections.

Remarkably enough, they even found residues in farmed fish with an antibiotic-free label. It turns out that farmed fish don’t have to be given antibiotics directly to carry them because many are eating antibiotic-contaminated fish meal.

Levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in seafood have exploded in the past 30 years.

For more on the true cost of farmed fish, see this article.

What Can You Do About Antibiotic Resistance?

The hope, of course, is that one day, governments will take stronger action against antibiotic use on factory farms.

Some countries have done so already, including Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands. And they are seeing significant reductions in antibiotic overuse.

Whether or not government policy grows more enlightened, we can all take positive actions now to help preserve the efficacy of antibiotics and to support better industrial food practices.

The most significant contribution we can each make is to transition to a plant-powered diet. And for those who opt to consume animal products, it’s best to go organic since the use of antibiotics is not permitted under organic certification. If enough of us make these changes, we’ll drastically reduce consumer support for industrialized animal agriculture — the inhumane industry that’s fueling this public health crisis.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has made avoiding factory-farmed animal products easier than ever with this handy Shop With Your Heart Grocery List.

How to Change the Future Right Now

Antibiotics are a miracle of medicine. But now, thanks to factory farming, antibiotic overuse has become a driver of what could become one of the most terrifying public health emergencies in history.

Unless we take action to preserve the viability of antibiotics for future generations, millions of lives will be lost.

The problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria isn’t one that any of us can solve all by ourselves. Slowing its spread is going to take collective action from governments, farmers, corporations, and concerned citizens around the world. It’s also going to take reducing the frequency with which doctors prescribe antibiotics to humans.

But just because you and I can’t solve it all by ourselves doesn’t mean we should refuse to do what we can.

As a concerned citizen who wants a safe future for humanity, the number one step you can take is to boycott factory-farmed animal products. You can also go a step further and urge restaurants and supermarkets to do the same.

We should ensure a future in which, if a crisis arises, every baby’s life can be saved by these miracle drugs the way mine was when I was three months old.

Tell us in the comments below:

• Have you ever encountered antibiotic-resistant bacteria?
• Does this help you understand antibiotic resistance and how antibiotic use on factory farms affects humans?
• What did you find useful, interesting, or surprising in this article?

Featured Image: iStock.com/branex

Read Next:

• Unhealthy Conditions for Farm Animals are — No Surprise — Bad for Humans, Too

The post The Surprising Truth About Antibiotics, Factory Farms, and Food Recalls appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

According to economists (who, it seems to me, are a lot better at explaining the past than predicting the future), this massive food inflation is actually caused by a perfect storm of rising demand and lower supply — both intensified by several calamities (like droughts, floods, wars, and knock-on effects of the COVID-19 pandemic) — as well as rising costs for fuel and fertilizer.

For perspective, food prices have typically been rising by about 2% a year for a long time. But from 2021 to 2022, they went up by an average of 11%. And while things seem to have calmed down a bit since then, it’s still easy to get sticker shock any time you visit a cash register.

Even if you’re not paying more outright, you might be paying more in subtle ways. The food industry has recently implemented a tactic known as “shrinkflation,” whereby they offer the same product for the same price — in a smaller quantity, thus avoiding the appearance of higher prices. (“Hey, this is one expensive cornflake!”)

So why exactly have food prices gone up so much? Why do some foods always seem to cost more (or less) than others? And what can you, as a consumer, do about it?

What Influences Food Prices

Did I mention that I’m not an economist? That might be good news here because I’m going to try to simplify the issue of food pricing. There are a few major factors that always influence food pricing. These include how much it costs to produce the food (including the cost of labor for everyone involved in growing and processing it), the cost of transportation and distribution, good old supply and demand, and global trade policies.

Why have food prices gone up so much in the last few years? Three factors stand out, in particular: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the intensifying climate crisis.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

Starting in 2020, the pandemic disrupted nearly every link in the food supply chain. The food processing sector was hit particularly hard, with COVID-19 outbreaks racing through the workforce, due to many people working in close, inadequately ventilated quarters. And the increase in worker turnover, in addition to new COVID protocols, further increased food production costs.

The same labor shortages affected the shipping industry, causing delays and increasing competition for limited shipping space. This led to rising transportation costs. It also increased the price of labor: In order to attract workers, companies had to increase wages, a cost they largely passed directly on to consumers.

As many people shifted their food spending from restaurants to grocery stores, suppliers could not keep up with the change in demand, resulting in massive food waste that effectively decreased supply.

And while 2020 is in the rearview mirror, there’s a funny thing about economics. When prices go up, they rarely come down again. So in some ways, we’re still feeling the effects of the price increases that started in 2020. And now, some additional factors have intensified the situation.

The War in Ukraine

Before the war, Russia and Ukraine were among the largest wheat producers in the world, together accounting for 30% of all exports — and a staggering 12% of all agricultural calories traded on earth. Both production and export have dropped dramatically due to the war.

Russia set up blockades of Ukrainian food exports in the Black Sea, stranding food in ports and creating global shortages. Western countries responded with sanctions against Russian grain exports, intensifying those shortages.

In addition to embargoes on food, the West has also implemented partial bans on Russian exports. These have included oil and gas, which have increased the energy costs associated with food production around the world.

Another blockaded product is fertilizer. As Russia is a major exporter of synthetic fertilizers, accounting for almost 30% of all exports globally, fertilizer prices have also been soaring — impacting farmers and, therefore, food prices.

Increasing Climate Chaos and Disasters

As temperatures continue to rise, crops are sustaining damage from excess heat. And as precipitation patterns change, droughts and flooding (sometimes alternating in the same place) also prevent crops from thriving. This can harm crops by eroding soil, depleting soil nutrients, and increasing runoff.

No farmer wants to try to coax crops out of the ground in conditions of extreme and prolonged drought. As more and more of the arable land on Earth suffers under multiyear drought, farmers are increasingly relying on groundwater, which they’re depleting at an alarming rate.

Additionally, rising temperatures increase pest populations and sometimes allow new pests to take up residence in regions that had previously been inhospitable for them. Temperature shifts can also cause a mismatch in pollination cycles, so the “good” bugs can’t do their jobs — leading to low pollination rates or delayed pollination.

One more disastrous effect of a warming planet is the danger to agricultural workers. More and more of them are suffering from the effects of extreme heat as they toil in parched fields. The National Institutes of Health tells us that farmworkers are 35 times more likely to die of heat exposure than workers in other industries. As conditions become less hospitable, it can be harder for farm owners to find the skilled laborers they need to get their fields planted and harvested. And dynamics in US immigration policy have contributed to a shortage of these workers.

As the planet continues to overheat, and as groundwater gets depleted and droughts and floods intensify, food prices are expected to continue to increase in the coming decades.

Why Do Some Foods Always Cost More (or Less)?

Governmental policies cause some foods to be more expensive than they would be otherwise — while others are made artificially cheaper. To see this in action, let’s look at a category of foods whose price is inflated (organic foods) and another whose price is deflated (grains and the products derived from grains).

Organic and Healthy Food Costs

Organic foods are more expensive than their “conventional” counterparts for several reasons. For one, organic food typically costs more to produce because the process is more labor-intensive than large-scale industrial agricultural methods.

Supply and demand play a role here as well. There’s a much smaller supply of organic food than nonorganic, even though demand for organic foods has more than doubled in the past 10 years. While this demand has caught the attention of some farmers who have decided to convert part or all of their operations to organic methods, this process takes time. In the meanwhile, prices continue to rise as demand grows, but supply lags.

There’s also a policy choice that makes organic food more expensive, which is that organic certification is costly, and getting that certification can be time-consuming. Organic farmers must keep extensive records and pay for organic certification, while farms that use synthetic pesticides don’t have to do either.

Another reason for organic’s higher prices has to do with the concept of “externalities” — that is, costs that arguably should be included in the market price but aren’t.

For example, what are the true costs of topsoil erosion, pesticide exposure for farmworkers and consumers, water and air pollution, or of the routine use of antibiotics in modern factory farms? If these were factored in, we might find that organic food would cost less, not more, than its conventional counterparts.

The fact is that organically grown foods tend to be better for environmental protection and carbon sequestration, deliver higher standards for animal welfare, and contribute to a safer and healthier food supply.

But consumers still have to pay more, and sometimes a lot more, to purchase foods that are grown organically.

Despite this, there are still some compelling advantages to go organic if you can afford to do so. And if you can’t, then you might want to soak your produce in a dab of baking soda to help rid it of pesticide exposure (for our article on what works best, click here).

Government Subsidies

The US government provides agricultural subsidies — monetary payments and other types of support — to farmers or agribusinesses. This ensures that farmers receive a minimum price for their crops while also incentivizing overproduction and inflated production costs. That way, subsidized foods and products made from them appear cheaper than nonsubsidized foods.

Generally, only the largest producers can take advantage of farm subsidies. According to a report from the Environmental Working Group, between 1995 and 2021, the top 10% of all US farm subsidy recipients received almost 80% of all subsidies, while the bottom 80% got less than 10%.

The five major “program” commodities are corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice.

Most soybeans and corn are produced by massive monocrop farms rather than small family enterprises. A lot of this subsidized corn and soy is fed to livestock, which artificially lowers the price of animal-derived foods produced on factory farms. All told, the US federal government spends $38 billion every year subsidizing the meat and dairy industries. Without these subsidies, a pound of hamburger meat could cost $30, rather than the $5 price seen today. But the true cost plays out in its impact on our health, animals, and the environment — and in the form of taxes and expansion of the national debt.

Is it better in Europe? Well, in many ways, it’s not. According to a 2019 report from Greenpeace, nearly one-fifth of the EU’s entire budget goes to subsidizing the livestock industry.

In effect, these subsidies consistently decrease the price of things like factory-farmed meat, high-fructose corn syrup, white bread, and many of the additives in our food supply — creating a marketplace distortion that makes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and other healthy staples more expensive in comparison.

To my eyes, it’s a bit like we’re all being fined for wearing our seatbelts. If we want to do the safer and more responsible thing, we have to pay extra.

What You Can Do About Rising Food Prices

If you’re feeling the pinch of rising food prices yourself, there are several strategies that can help you stay within your budget without sacrificing your family’s health.

Make a budget and shop from a list to avoid making impulse purchases while at the store. Prioritize nutrient-dense foods over calorie-dense ones. The latter may seem cheaper by the pound or the calorie, but in terms of what foods can do for you (or to you), good nutrition is more economical than impaired functioning or chronic disease. And buy and cook in bulk to save money and time.

Try to shop locally if you can to avoid incentivizing costly supply chains. If you’re in the US and use SNAP benefits, keep in mind that you can use them to shop for fresh produce at many farmers markets.

Also, buy organic when you can. If you are in a position financially where you can afford to spend more, you can “vote with your dollars” (or euros or pounds or rupees) to make the system fairer and more accessible to everyone. But if you can’t afford the organic price premium, then aim for non-GMO produce items and wash them thoroughly to reduce your pesticide exposure as much as possible.

If you have to choose which fruits and veggies to buy organic, check out the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean 15. Choose organic members of the Dirty Dozen club, and don’t sweat nonorganic Clean 15 items.

Frozen fruits and vegetables can sometimes be more affordable than fresh ones, and they contain abundant nutrition.

And reducing your consumption of animal products can not only help feed the world’s population because we aren’t cycling our crops through animals (a process that wastes at least 9 out of every 10 calories, depending on the crop and the animal eating it), but it can also lead to reductions in costly greenhouse gas emissions, too. Plus, beans tend to be a lot less costly than beef (to animals, the environment, and your wallet, too).

Food Pricing Is Complex, But Healthy Eating Shouldn’t Be

The recent surge in food prices has highlighted the intricate web of factors influencing the cost of our food. From labor shortages and technology costs to climate change and war, the forces at play are vast and interconnected.

But there are ways to navigate these challenging times. By adopting conscious strategies, we can mitigate the impact of rising food prices on our wallets and well-being. Through awareness and mindful decision-making, we can not only do right for our health, but we can also contribute to a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable food system.

Tell us in the comments:

• What foods that you buy frequently have gone up the most in price recently?
• Have you made any changes or substitutions because of food price inflation?
• Which cost-saving strategies could you try?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Ilija Erceg

Read Next:

• A Guide to Going Plant-Based: What to Eat, Benefits, and How to Succeed
• 7 Healthy Recipes for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget

The post The Price of Food: What’s Making Food So Expensive & What You Can Do About It appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act is intended to protect animals from cruelty. However, it specifically excludes “farm animals used for food, fiber, or production purposes.” Unlike dogs, cats, and hamsters, the law treats farm animals as unprotected commodities. The fact that they are, like all animals (including humans), capable of a broad spectrum of emotions, including affection for other beings, is considered essentially irrelevant.

But just outside Los Angeles, there exists an oasis of compassion and hope for farm animals. Founded by Ellie Laks in 1999, The Gentle Barn stands as a resolute response to the way society tends to treat animals in the modern industrialized food system.

The Gentle Barn is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of abused and neglected animals, especially farm animals. The organization is based in Santa Clarita, California, and they have two additional locations in Nashville, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri.

In addition to giving animals a safe and loving home, The Gentle Barn offers educational programs and therapy to help children and adults heal from trauma. Individuals can participate in cow therapy, horse therapy, or barnyard therapy (with pigs, sheep, and other smaller farm animals). And The Gentle Barn also offers private tours for groups of up to 30 people, as well as field trips for schools.

Open to the public every Sunday, The Gentle Barn welcomes nearly 750,000 visitors per year.

We sat down with founder Ellie Laks to find out what makes The Gentle Barn such a draw for so many, and how they’re working towards a more healthy, ethical, and sustainable world for all (farm animals included!).

How The Gentle Barn Got Started

FRN: Could you tell me a little bit about how The Gentle Barn got started and what kind of work you do here?

Ellie Laks: The Gentle Barn was a dream of mine since I was seven. I loved animals and noticed that the people around me didn’t see them the same way that I did. And so I kept saying, “When I grow up, I’m going to have a big place full of animals, and I’m going to show the world how beautiful they are. And all the hurting people of the world can come and heal with us.”

So I procrastinated for a really long time because I had no idea how to do it. And then, 25 years ago, I lived in a little house with a half-acre backyard, and I discovered a petting zoo I’d never seen before. And to make a long story short, the animals were suffering terribly. I tried to leave, and blocking the exit was a very old goat who looked me in the eyes, stopped me in my tracks, and asked me for help.

So they wouldn’t let me have her. I stayed there for 12 days. Finally, they let me have her; and I brought her home, fixed her, and realized how rewarding that was. I went back for more animals. And then, one day, I looked out my little picture window to a backyard that was full of animals and said, “Holy crap. I just started my dream.”

We’re now home to horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, llamas, emus, and dogs. And we’ve specifically taken animals that have nowhere else to go because they’re too old, too sick, too lame, or too scared. They’re just not adoptable. We bring them in and take them through a very extensive recovery program.

And then once they’re happy and healthy, if we can find them a home and family of their own, we do. If not, then they stay here for the rest of their lives. And then, when they’re ready, we partner with them to heal people with the same stories of trauma, and connect to the love and magic of animals.

Rescuing Animals from the Jaws of Death

FRN: Do you rescue specifically from factory farms? What kind of state are they in when you get them?

Ellie Laks: Yeah, absolutely. So one of the brilliant things that my partner and cofounder of The Gentle Barn, Jay, does, is he strikes up really good relationships with owners of slaughterhouses, stockyards, and auction houses. And so when they have a downed animal that they can’t produce into a profit, or when they have an animal born on the kill floor, instead of doing away with it, they call us and give us an opportunity to save them.

So Jay has gone around the country going into the darkest places on this earth, pulling animals out of the jaws of death, bringing them home to me to heal. He’s rescued cows from veal crates, every kind of animal from the slaughterhouse, gone into auction houses and been able to prevent the slaughter trucks from buying those animals.

When they come in, they’re all very sick, and they’re all very scared — that’s a given. They’ve seen the worst of humanity. They know what was about to happen to them, and they’re in shock. And so we have to go to great lengths to really show them that people can be kind and the world can be good.

Sometimes we can prove that to them in a few months. Sometimes it takes years. And still other times, the only time I touch or embrace these animals is on their deathbeds. And I can finally show them love. We’ve rescued so many animals in that way.

John Lewis the Cow

Ellie Laks: My favorite story is about the cow I got to raise in my house. He was born inside the slaughterhouse. And we have an arrangement with the owner of the slaughterhouse that when someone’s born there, he’ll allow us to have the baby and the mom because the chance of a baby’s survival without the mom is very bleak.

But in this scenario, there was a logistical reason and a health reason why they wouldn’t let us have the mom. And even though she was on death’s door, they processed her anyway, which really should tell people who they’re eating.

There is no difference between any of the species other than our perspective of them.

Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn

So he was left orphaned and extremely sick with pneumonia at a week old. And we brought him into The Gentle Barn and brought him into our healing center, where we started the recovery process with great vet care, medication — the whole nine yards.

And we realized that it was so hot outside that we couldn’t lower his temperature in order to save his life. And so Jay and I looked at each other and said, “We got to bring him in the house into the air conditioning.”

So we brought him into the house. I was with him 24/7 for the first six months until he was finally cleared to start interacting with the other cows and having playdates with them.

And then, at nine months old, I came to pick him up after a playdate, and he said, “No, I don’t want to go. I want to stay with the cows.” So he moved in with the cows, and I cried all the way back up to the house.

I think the reason this is my favorite story is, number one, I had a cow in my house. I’m the luckiest person in the world.

Number two, it’s really easy to go, “Oh, well, but it’s a cow; it’s not a dog.” Or, “It’s a pig, not a cat.” And there are all these boxes that people like to put animals in: These are animals worthy of love, affection, and protection. These are animals that we eat; these are animals that we wear. These are wild animals that we don’t understand and that are dangerous. We have all these boxes, and it’s just not true.

And so what I love about the time I got to spend with John Lewis [the cow] in our house is it really once and for all proved there is no difference between any of the species other than our perspective of them. We’re judging them as different, so they show up differently.

But the minute you see a cow like a dog, he’s a dog. John Lewis, to this day… He’s now three years old. I still give him a bottle of warm water and some chlorella algae superfood in the morning to boost his immune system. And I sing him his morning songs. And I kiss him all over, and we spend time together.

But he comes to me when I call his name. He walks on a leash like a dog. We’ve even taken him to hiking trails. He slept on a dog bed. He had toys. It really broke those barriers once and for all. And so I love sharing John Lewis and his story with people — because if we could just erase those lines and just accept that we’re all the same, we just look different, what a world this could be.

The Recovery Process at The Gentle Barn

FRN: Wow. So what do some of the recovery processes look like? Is it the same for every animal?

Ellie Laks: More or less. The general protocol is that animals come in and do a 30-day quarantine with us, during which time we’re making sure that they’re not sick, so they don’t bring in a disease to our existing family. But we’re also reading to them, meditating with them, singing to them, playing musical instruments for them, coming and going so that they can get used to us and start to trust us.

At the same time, we’re collecting fecal samples, making sure they don’t have parasites, and putting nutritional supplements in their water to boost their immune systems.

And most of the time, for the first time in their lives, they have a soft bed; they have shelter; they have fresh food, clean water, kind humans; and they start recovering physically and emotionally — slowly.

When their quarantine is over in 30 days, the next step is to introduce them to other animals of their kind. And with some animals like horses, pigs, chickens, and goats, the process is very slow because the animals’ first instinct is to reject newcomers. But slowly they get used to each other, and they become family.

With cows, that process is very quick. Because we can put a new cow in anywhere, anytime, at any of our locations, and the other cows are like, “Oh, hi. Come on in.”

But once they’re acclimated to other animals of their kind, then we need to see what is left over. So they might still be sick or lame or old. They might still have trust issues with people. And so we continue their recovery, their rehabilitation, and their treatments until they don’t need it anymore. Some animals that come in need ongoing care for the rest of their lives.

Adopting Out Animals

FRN: So the ones that are adopted out, where do they go? Do they go to other sanctuaries or individual people, or what does that look like?

Ellie Laks: Yeah. Every once in a while there’ll be somebody who has a ranch or a farm or a giant backyard, and they’ll invite a farm animal to live with them. And we’ve adopted out turkeys, chickens, goats, sheep, horses, and dogs. The only animal that we’ve never adopted out is a cow. I’ve never had a person say, “Can I please have a cow?” Which is weird because I think everyone should have a cow. They’re the most misunderstood and the most magical animal.

[The animals] all have healing for us. They all have life lessons for us. Like practicing confidence and leadership skills with a horse is unparalleled. Practicing empathy and compassion with smaller animals that we’re cradling in our arms is unparalleled.

But I think, as a tribe, cows are everything that we’re supposed to be. They’re matriarchal; they’re vegan. They meditate every single day. Family and connection is the most important thing. So they really lift each other up and support each other. They celebrate life. They celebrate death. They face their challenges head-on, and they’re 100% inclusive.

They’re a beautiful community, and they’re very, very gentle on Mother Earth. They harm no one. They’re that feminine, beautiful, nurturing energy. They’re everything that we will be one day. I have to hope.

Saving Buddha the Cow

FRN: Yeah. How did you discover that the cows were able to give that to you, and how did the cow therapy evolve?

Ellie Laks: So when I started The Gentle Barn, I found out that there was a miniature cow breeding program up in Washington State. I called the guy, and he explained, “Oh, miniature cows are easy to raise and easy to kill, and you can have household food for a year or take their milk.”

So half of me was sorry I asked. But then he started talking about how gentle and kind they are. And he had a beautiful cow, and his grandkids raised her, and she was so sweet. But, unfortunately, she couldn’t get pregnant and earn her keep, so she was going to slaughter.

By the time I had hung up with him, I knew that this cow was coming home to me. So I asked him, “Can I have her?” He was like, “Well, you’re going to have to pay what I would get for her.” And I was like, “Hold off on her slaughter. Give me time.”

And this was very early on at The Gentle Barn, where I really didn’t know how to raise money. So I literally put my son on my hip, my year-old son, and I went door-to-door to my neighbors. And I told them what was happening and how I wanted to save her, and asked if they would chip in. And I thought for sure they were going to slam the door in my face, but they didn’t. And they wrote checks. And I raised the money to save her.

FRN: That’s amazing.

Ellie Laks: I know. It’s crazy. And I knew she [Buddha] was special right off the bat; because that very first open-to-the-public Sunday, she immersed herself right into the center of a big crowd of people, lay down, and invited them to hug her, brush her, and pet her. And I watched with my jaw dropped.

The Evolution of Cow Hug Therapy

Ellie Laks: So then my ritual, then and still now, is every single night before I go to bed, I go out to the barnyard. I make sure all the chickens and turkeys are safely on their roosts. I tuck the pigs in with blankets. I give treats to the goats, sheep, horses, and cows. And I make sure everyone’s safe and feeling good before I go to bed.

So on this particular night, I think it was the day after that Sunday, I went out to do my barnyard check. And I said goodnight to everybody. And everybody was in the barn, all roosted and stuff. And I was walking back through the yard, back to the house. She was lying down in the yard, the last animal that I went to say goodnight to. And I was going to pat her on the head and tell her that I love her, but something made me stop. There was something about the way she shifted her body. She was like, “Sit with me.”

So I sat down at her shoulder; I leaned against her body because she’s giant and cuddly and fuzzy. And the next thing she did changed my life. She wrapped her neck around me and held me, and she didn’t let go.

And I was so astounded by her love of me, by her nurturing of me, by that gesture of kindness and connection, that I started weeping into her shoulder. It’s one of those things where you don’t know you’re stressed out, but then all of a sudden you realize how stressed out you are.

And so those nightly hugs became a must, and she would help me wash away the day. She would help me have strength and hope for the next day. She would help me get out of my head and my to-do list and be more centered and grounded.

And early on in those hugs, I remember thinking, “I have got to find a way to give the world these hugs.” So part of the original design was that we would rescue animals and then partner with them when they’re ready to heal hurting people.

So I opened the phone book, and I started calling probation camps, drug and alcohol rehab centers, domestic violence shelters, foster agencies, homeless shelters, war veteran centers, and said, “Look, I know that you have people who are hurting. I know that some of those people are not responding to traditional therapy. Bring them to me.” And they did.

And we would always start with Buddha by putting their faces down on her side and closing their eyes and just breathing in and out and feeling her energy — and she would crack them wide open.

They came cold, defensive, and hardened by life, and she melted them into little kids. And she helped them become vulnerable. And it’s only in vulnerability that you can heal. And then they would go back to their therapy sessions; and all of a sudden they’re talking, and they’re relating, and they’re healing. And during her lifetime, Buddha gave out 300,000 hugs.

She taught me everything I know. She taught me to meditate. She taught me to be grounded and centered. She taught me what these animals are capable of — the healing that they’re capable of. She showed me how to connect these hurting humans with these hurting animals, and I owe her everything.

And so she is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy, and she’s the reason why we do Cow Hug Therapy for people now.

Becoming Vegan

FRN: Wow. So our site mostly deals with plant-based eating, nutrition, and health. So I was just curious — because plant-based eating is becoming more popular and more mainstream — have you seen any change in the support of what you do or the number of visitors because people are more interested in where their food comes from, or the impact of factory farming on animals, or just plant-based eating in general?

Ellie Laks: Yes. I have a lot to say about that.

I became a vegetarian when I was 11. I met a chicken. I realized that was chicken and rice. And I was done.

Volunteers were coming to check The Gentle Barn out, and somebody said, “Are you vegan?” And I said, “No, I’m American.” And he said, “No, I mean, do you eat animals?” And I was like, “Oh, no. I went vegetarian when I was 11.” He said, “Yeah, but what about dairy and eggs?” And I said, “Well, it doesn’t hurt anybody.” He told me the truth. I went vegan on the spot. That was 24 years ago. I’ve been vegan ever since.

I became a vegetarian when I was 11. I met a chicken. I realized that was chicken and rice. And I was done.

Ellie Laks, Founder of The Gentle Barn

But it’s funny because, in the beginning of The Gentle Barn, I didn’t really know the word vegan, which is so silly to think of now. The word vegan was not mainstream, and the word vegan was almost a dirty word. And so we grappled with how we present it. How do we talk about it? How do we make sure that we’re not threatening to people? Because The Gentle Barn is not just gentle to animals. It’s gentle to people.

So we wanted people to come in and look these animals in the eyes, hug them, hold them, cuddle with them, hear their stories of resilience, and realize that we’re just basically all the same. But we didn’t want to offend anybody. We want it to be a gentle experience. So we were like, “God, can we even say the word vegan without upsetting people?”

Now, 24 years later, vegan is mainstream. Do you even realize how many vegan options there are at Disneyland? All stores, all major chains, most fast-food restaurants… You can go anywhere. Nowadays, small town, big town, it doesn’t matter. You literally can go anywhere and say, “What’s vegan on your menu?” And the waiter will have some modicum of awareness of how to guide you. It’s incredible.

Plus, 24 years ago, when I opened The Gentle Barn, plant-based eaters were 0.5% of the population. We are now at 7%. Huge progress.

Facing Grief as an Animal Sanctuary

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FRN: Have you faced any challenges or obstacles with your rescue efforts?

Ellie Laks: Huge. Nobody does anything good unless you have a lot of challenges. So I started The Gentle Barn, like I told you, in my little half-acre backyard using my first husband’s paychecks. My first husband was not amused and soon left.

In came Jay as a volunteer, and later we fell in love and joined forces. But during those early years, moving from that half-acre to where we are now and growing into a national organization, there were a lot of financial challenges.

The other challenge for a sanctuary is dealing with the level of loss. Obviously, humans tend to have a longer lifespan than animals. So those of us who love animals tend to have to say goodbye at some point. At The Gentle Barn, with 200 animals — and over the last 24 years, we’ve rescued thousands — we have loved so many, and we have said goodbye more times than I could possibly calculate.

And so there was a time early on in The Gentle Barn when I was so brought down to the ground with my grief that I said, “I made a mistake. I can’t do this. I’m not strong enough. This is going to destroy me.” And I had to figure out how to stay with it and how to survive and have me not go down with the ship.

And so I had to really examine compassion fatigue, grief, and loss. And that’s a very large part of what I talk about in my [next] book, Cow Hug Therapy, about what the animals taught me about death, how they grieve, and how life and love are eternal.

And so that process from grief to gratitude, I had to work out.

How You Can Support The Gentle Barn

FRN: I think when I first heard about you guys, you were doing a fundraiser. I am just curious: Besides the visits and the fundraising, how else can people support you?

Ellie Laks: There is so much more that goes into taking care of farm animals other than hay, water, and shelter. There’s preparing for fire season every year and having the trailers and the trucks be able to evacuate. In this changing climate, we’re much hotter than we used to be: How do we keep them cool? We’re much colder than we used to be: How do we keep them warm?

I think the first thing that I would say in answer to your question is there are so many people who love animals, but very few of us can open our own sanctuaries. We need people to partner with us. We need people to fund our endeavors and to become our partners so that we’re rescuing animals together. Because they can’t do it without us, but we can’t do it without them.

The other thing that I would invite people to do is to follow us on social media. We’re on all social media platforms: The Gentle Barn on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter/X. See these beautiful videos and stories of the animals and their recovery and what they teach us, and learn about being connected to animals. It’s beautiful.

And if you live close enough, find a Gentle Barn either in St. Louis, Nashville, or Los Angeles; and come and visit and hug a cow, hold a chicken, cuddle a turkey, and give a pig a tummy rub. And look in the eyes of these magical animals, and realize that we’re here to protect them, defend them, love them, and listen to them.

And then the last thing that I want to mention is the biggest way you can help is by adopting a plant-based diet.

Every single person who goes plant-based saves 200 animals a year. So in effect, by going vegan, they are opening a sanctuary; because they’re saving 200 animals just with their knife and fork. Modeling that for others, being part of the solution, being part of gentleness and nonviolence.

—–

Ellie Laks is the founder of The Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and rehabilitates unwanted animals and heals people with the same stories of abuse and neglect. She invented her own “Gentle Healing” method that allows old, sick, injured, and terrified animals to fully recover. She is the creator of Cow Hug Therapy and has hosted hundreds of thousands of people who have come to The Gentle Barn seeking healing and hope.

Ellie is a powerful speaker, celebrated animal welfare advocate, humane educator, animal communicator, and the author of My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal and Children Learn to Hope and the upcoming Cow Hug Therapy: How the Animals at The Gentle Barn Taught Me about Life, Death, and Everything in Between.

Tell us in the comments:

• Has an animal ever taught you something about life or yourself?
• Were you aware of The Gentle Barn before reading this interview?
• What other animal sanctuaries or animal welfare organizations should we know about?

Read Next:

• Unhealthy Conditions for Farm Animals are — No Surprise — Bad for Humans, Too
• What You Eat Can Impact Climate Change! See 9 Foods That Harm the Planet and 11 Foods That Can Help Save It

The post Changing Lives Through Compassion: The Gentle Barn’s Extraordinary Mission for Animals and Humans appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But that doesn’t mean the concept is new, nor does it apply solely to humans. People around the world have also known that some plants, when grown together, perform better than when on their own. They can grow faster and bigger, taste better, and require less care and fewer external inputs.

That’s not how the vast majority of crops are grown these days. Large-scale commercial agriculture relies on a method called monocropping, in which huge fields contain a single species year after year.

It makes sense from an industrial perspective. By having only one crop, everything can be standardized, from sowing to watering to weeding to applying biocides to harvesting. Theoretically, monocropping provides bigger yields with fewer costs.

In practice, it turns out that monocropping is something of an environmental disaster. Its downsides include increased global food insecurity, more reliance on potentially carcinogenic biocides, and harmful climate impacts.

While replacing monocropping as an agricultural system will take time and require large-scale changes in attitudes and knowledge, you can contribute to a more earth-friendly and effective form of growing crops if you have access to a garden of just about any size.

And like the ’86 Mets, your garden crops can exceed expectations and come out of the ground as champions if you allow them to support each other. A simple way to begin is known as companion planting.

In this article, we’ll explore which plants grow well together, and why. You’ll see how plants with very different qualities and requirements can do some of the work usually performed by the gardener — including weeding and chasing away predators. And you’ll discover some natural ways to deter pests without depending on toxic pesticides.

So let’s find out how companion planting works, what the benefits are, and which edible plants work well together for a flourishing and nourishing harvest. Whether you’re a novice gardener with a few potted plants or someone looking to create a vibrant backyard vegetable garden, companion planting has something to offer.

A Brief History of Companion Planting

Growing crops together for their — and our — mutual benefit is not a new idea. Although many gardeners and small-scale farmers are just now discovering the benefits, for thousands of years, companion planting has been integral to the well-being of many Indigenous peoples.

The benefits have been material, in terms of more abundant and nutritious harvests, and spiritual, in terms of a philosophy of life that nurtures community. In one of the best-known examples of companion planting, many Indigenous groups in North and Central America sow corn, beans, and squash together.

The Haudenosaunee Confederation (you might know them as the Iroquois) of upstate New York and the Cherokee of the Southeastern US call them the three sisters, noting that like family members, the three crops share their unique gifts in ways that support each other.

While modern life often emphasizes individualism, Indigenous wisdom shows us that planting a diversity of crops together ensures a diversity of life — and nutrients. Diversity really is one of the cornerstones of healthy life. Having a variety of crops growing in a single bed or field acts as a safety net against diseases or pests that could decimate any single crop.

What Is Companion Planting?

Now that we’ve explored the philosophy of companion planting, it’s time to get practical.

Companion planting is the practice of growing two (or more) crops/plants near each other so that one or both benefit from a synergy. These can include fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even flowers. Some companion planting occurs simultaneously, such as the three sisters. Sometimes one crop is sown near the end of another crop’s growing season (a more advanced form of companion planting known as intercropping).

An example of intercropping is when peas are sown into existing spinach beds in the very early spring. The peas get a head start without ripping out the spinach, and as legumes, they add nitrogen to the soil. By midsummer, the bolted spinach stems support the growing pea vines. These types of efficiencies are frequently used in organic farming methods as they improve pest resistance and increase yield.

Companion planting isn’t just a Native American innovation; examples can be found all around the globe. Traditional European cultures also developed modes of companion planting whose use goes back to medieval times, if not earlier.

For example, French and English farmers still grow “potager” gardens consisting of fruits and vegetables sown in an ornamental layout and protected by surrounding rows of herbs and flowers. These potager beds were so named because they contained everything needed for “potage,” a healthy soup eaten at the start of the daily meal.

Benefits of Companion Planting

So what exactly are the benefits of companion planting? Why might you want different crops to share space in your garden? Here are a few of the biggest ones.

Pest Control

Since synthetic pesticides are such an integral part of modern agriculture, it’s easy to forget that they’ve only been in widespread use since the end of World War II. Before that, farmers had to rely on companion planting, among other natural methods, to control pests.

Plants use a variety of strategies to protect themselves from predators. One is to produce compounds that the critters who might munch on them find yucky tasting or toxic. And different plants produce scents and tastes to deter specific pests. So combining multiple crops in a small area can create “broad-spectrum” deterrence that benefits all of them.

You can “hide” certain crops next to other ones that have powerful scents. Herbs like rosemary and flowers such as marigold can perfume the air and camouflage crops such as white cabbage that might otherwise end up as a tasty treat for some very hungry caterpillars.

You can also engineer the process in reverse, planting crops that attract beneficial insects that eat the bugs that would otherwise love to eat your crops. Some of these good predators pull double duty as plant pollinators, which can increase the yields of some fruits and vegetables.

It’s not just teeny critters that can be deterred by companion plants. If you’ve ever grown corn in an area that’s home to raccoons and you don’t have military-grade fencing, you’ve probably experienced some vandalism. (Maybe you’ve even woken up to entire beds of stalks lying broken on the ground, the almost-ripe ears nibbled and left to rot — a situation that can try the compassion of the most committed vegan!) In a three sisters’ bed, the prickly squash leaves deter the raccoons from climbing and destroying the corn stalks.

Essentially, more plant diversity in an area equals less pest damage.

Mutual Support

Companion plants can offer structural support to each other. Taller plants serve as living trellises, offering support for climbing plants that need something to climb. In the three sisters, corn serves as a trellis for the beans. But also, beans can provide stability for the corn, which has very shallow roots. (It reminds me of a Mitch Hedberg standup routine: “My belt holds my pants up, but the belt loops hold my belt up. I don’t really know what’s happening down there. Who is the real hero?”)

There are many other structural pairings that can work. Okra can hold up cucumbers and cherry tomato bushes, and sunflowers can provide scaffolding for baby pumpkins and small summer squashes.

Planting taller and shorter crops together can extend the growing season of the smaller plants by giving them some shade and relief from the heat of late summer. This can keep them from bolting or wilting.

Soil Health and Nutrition

All living things require nutrients, which get cycled from soil to plants to animals and back to soil in a continuous loop. When you grow different plants near each other, you can accelerate and expand that nutrient cycling.

For example, some deep-rooted plants like comfrey and dandelion pull nutrients from lower layers of soil — nutrients that are out of reach of short-rooted crops like lettuce. Other nutrient accumulators include chives, parsley, and daikon radish.

Comfrey is especially useful as a “mulch crop,” meaning you can just cut off its thick green leaves and lay them down over the soil, where they not only discourage weeds and maintain soil moisture but deliver their nutrients to the topsoil as they decompose.

Another classic companion planting benefit involves nitrogen. This element is a bit of a paradox when it comes to gardening: Even though the air is about 80% nitrogen, it can be in short supply in the soil. And nitrogen is not a gardening negotiable; plants require it in order to photosynthesize and grow.

Fortunately for the plants (and for all life on earth that depends on them — no nitrogen, no protein), some species of plants have developed the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use, a trick known as nitrogen fixation.

The vast majority of nitrogen-fixers are legumes, which include peas and beans, greens like alfalfa and clover, and peanuts. And technically, to give credit where credit is due, the legumes themselves don’t turn the nitrogen you breathe into the nitrogen plants use to grow; they partner with certain types of bacteria that grow on their root nodules who have the knack.

Including nitrogen fixers in your garden can benefit neighboring crops that require high nitrogen levels. This can reduce or even eliminate the need for chemical fertilizers that can damage the environment and make your soil less fertile and more dependent on chemicals over time.

Another way companion planting can improve soil health is by combining deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plants in the same bed, a strategy that can enhance soil structure. If your soil is compacted or has lumps of clay, for example, plant roots can muscle through and aerate the soil. And when those plants die, their roots decompose and add nourishing organic matter to improve soil tilth and fertility.

Also, having a diversity of plants in a single bed fosters a highly diverse soil microbiome. Each plant attracts its own unique microbes. And those microbes promote nutrient cycling, breaking down organic matter into nutrients the plants can absorb and use. Mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plant roots, helping the plants gather nutrients from a greater surface area and convert those nutrients into a usable form in exchange for carbohydrates.

And planting crops close together can protect the surface of the soil from erosion caused by wind and water.

Flavor Enhancement

If you’ve ever hung around someone who talked in a very distinctive way or had a catchphrase they repeated a lot, you may have found yourself mimicking them without meaning to. Plants are the same way — their flavors can affect each other.

Scientists have recently discovered that plants talk to each other, sharing intel on resources and potential threats so that they can make informed decisions on where to put their energy. One of the main channels of such communications is the exudates (compounds secreted by the roots) that can impact the growth and flavor of neighboring plants.

For example, when aromatic herbs are planted near certain vegetables, they can infuse their neighbors with a hint of their distinctive flavors. Basil improves the taste of tomatoes. Dill goes with potatoes not just in salad, but in the garden as well. And marjoram is a good friend to eggplant.

Sometimes the influence is one-way, but some plant combinations have a synergistic effect on each other’s biochemical processes, leading to enhanced flavor profiles all around.

Weed Control

I remember when I realized for the first time that nobody weeds the forest, and yet it’s not covered with weeds. That’s because every inch (or centimeter, in my country of birth, Canada) of ground is already covered with something.

The reason the beds of annual gardens are such weed magnets is that they’re very unnatural. The act of tilling renders the soil unprotected from the many seeds that can blow in on the wind, drop out of the backsides of birds, or lay dormant in the ground until that gap opens up and oxygen floods in.

When companion planting involves cover crops or green mulch, it can prevent those seeds from taking root or from receiving enough sunlight to start growing. Cover crops can compete directly with weeds, both while they’re growing and after they’ve finished producing.

And when companion plants allow for denser planting, there are fewer nutrients and less sunlight available for the unwanted plants we call weeds. And some companion plants secrete chemicals that inhibit the germination of weed seeds, but not the seeds of the companion.

Common Fruits and Vegetables and the Companion Plants That Benefit Them

Things to Keep in Mind Before Trying Companion Planting

Start with flowers as companions. Growing flowers near your crops can help attract the insects that will pollinate fruit and veggie plants. They can also repel bugs and other critters that would love nothing more than the opportunity to eat your harvest before you do.

Marigolds, nasturtiums, and sunflowers are common flowers included in vegetable gardens because they work well with a variety of plants. And nasturtium leaves and flowers are edible (sweet and redolent of black pepper, if you ask me), as are sunflower seeds.

In terms of spacing, plant the companions as close together as possible without interfering with the growth of either plant. Think about how much root space they require, and whether they’ll start competing for sunlight. With some combos, you may need to split the difference between their spacings in order to optimize the benefit to both plants.

Always go for variety. A diversity of plant species will attract pollinators and beneficial insects as well as prevent disease and fungus from wiping out crops of the same family. A 2018 study of urban rice fields in Shanghai found that adding border plantings and companions to the rice reduced the need for pesticides while increasing both yields and profits.

Finally, think like a matchmaker and look for signs of compatibility when assigning plants to beds. Choose companion plants that are compatible in terms of growth habits, water and sunlight requirements, and overall nutrient and soil needs.

It’s not always a jungle out there, but while some plants thrive together, others will compete for resources.

And for extra credit, plan your garden layout to include plants with staggered planting and harvesting times. This ensures a continuous supply of fresh produce throughout the growing season, as well as minimizing empty spaces that pests or weeds might exploit, or that might be prone to soil erosion.

Recipes Using Companion Plants

Get ready to have some tasty and nourishing fun with your companion planting harvest. While the culinary options are endless, we created a few delicious recipes to help those creative juices flow when it comes to figuring out what to do with the fruits and vegetables that grow best together. What makes these recipes (and companion planting itself) even more special is that each plant companion enhances the flavor of the other — making each dish even more appealing and delicious!

1. Veggie Scrap Bouillon

Have you found that when you grow alliums (onions, garlic, leeks, chives) they just keep coming? Well, if you have a surplus of these aromatic plants, a great way to use them is with our Veggie Scrap Bouillon. This easy-to-make recipe requires just a handful of ingredients and a food processor to transform vegetable scraps into a whole-food veggie paste. Plus, this recipe is companion-planting friendly, so feel free to swap out some of the ingredients for any other veggies you’d like to use in a wholesome vegetable broth!

2. Strawberry Spinach Salad

We love few things more together than the sweet and earthy pairing of spinach and strawberries in a fresh garden salad. Vibrant and fresh green leafy spinach and bright and juicy red strawberries are the perfect way to show off your garden harvest. When you toss them together with crunchy pecans and umami red onion, it makes a wholesome plant-pals dish!

3. Watermelon Radish and Cucumber Carpaccio

Cucumber and radish are a hydrating, calming, and nourishing duo that is a delight to plant together. Not only do they make great growing partners, but they become tasty best friends in this recipe, too! This dish is vibrant, refreshing, and nourishing and is perfect to serve as a flavorful appetizer or light side after a fun day of gardening!

4. Summer Squash, Lima Bean, and Corn Medley

Summer Squash, Lima Bean, and Corn Medley is an outstanding vibrant, fresh, and colorful dish to enjoy the flavors of summer. What makes this dish so special is the balance of flavors and sweetness thanks, in part, to these three crops. Beans, corn, and squash are a natural pairing, which is why they also make wonderful planting companions in your garden.

5. Grilled Mediterranean Eggplant “Steaks”

Eggplant, tomatoes, and parsley make a tasty trio in this mouthwatering Grilled Mediterranean Eggplant “Steaks” recipe. Not only are they stellar in this recipe, they are best buds in the garden, too! Eggplant, tomatoes, parsley, and a few other crops grow well together, so if you are curious about the benefits of companion planting, give these wholesome plants a try!

Plants Need Companions, Too!

By choosing plants that naturally support one another, you not only cultivate a beautiful garden but also nurture an ecosystem of mutual benefit among plants. From deterring pests and enhancing flavors to nurturing soil health and creating mutual support, you can create a gardening world full of connections.

From ancient traditions to modern organic farms, this practice has woven itself into the fabric of sustainable gardening, offering a natural approach to cultivating the vibrant, harmonious garden of your dreams. Let us take inspiration from proven Indigenous practices like companion planting, and emulate the natural harmony that exists in the natural world in our own gardens.

Tell us in the comments:

• Have you tried companion planting in a garden?

• Which species did you pair?

• What companion crops are you inspired to try together in your next garden?

Featured Image: iStock.com/andreswd

Read Next:

• Starting a Food Garden: How Growing Your Own Vegetables Can Ease Food Supply Anxiety & Support Health

The post Companion Planting: Your Guide to Knowing What Plants Grow Well Together appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

If so, you might be a plant-based eater. Or (are you sitting down right now?) you might instead adhere to quite the opposite: a carnivore diet.

Carnivore diets — and yes, there are several — have surged in popularity in the last few years. Starting on the far fringe of nutrition and wellness, the carnivore movement has burst more into the mainstream through books by doctors, publicity on podcasts, and testimonials from popular wellness influencers and online personalities.

While low-carb diets are nothing new (Atkins, South Beach, and keto are all examples), carnivore diets take this trend to a whole new level. Instead of just low-carb, many of them are “zero-carb,” promoting the exclusive consumption of animal-derived foods while shunning most (or all) plants.

Carnivore diet advocates claim that eating nothing but animals is the optimal way for humans to eat. They believe that by doing so, you can achieve your ideal weight, grow big muscles, alleviate autoimmune disease, cure brain fog, and improve your digestion. And if the diet seems extremely limiting, don’t worry; advocates believe you can still get every nutrient you need from animal products alone.

So in this article, let’s explore if there is any scientific basis for these carnivore claims. And while we’re at it, we’ll also look at the diet’s environmental impact. Rather than fan the flames of this particular culture war, let’s separate fact from fiction to make well-informed decisions about our nutritional paths.

What Is a Carnivore Diet?

A carnivore diet means getting the vast majority (or all) of your calories from animal products. A typical carnivore menu includes red meat, game meat, fish, poultry, and organ meat. Some versions also include dairy and eggs, or small amounts of low-starch vegetables like avocados and cucumbers, while others do not. The diets are either extremely low-carb or often no-carb, which means, by definition, excluding all or most plant-based foods.

Carnivore diets are similar to certain forms of keto (ketogenic) and Paleo (Paleolithic) diets, which are often meat-heavy and plant-poor, but carnivore dieters go an extra step. Instead of meat being the centerpiece of every meal, it’s basically the only piece. This puts eaters into ketosis, the body’s “emergency state” that allows it to convert stored fat (and, in extreme cases, protein) into ketone bodies that can be used for fuel when the body’s preferred fuel, carbohydrates, isn’t available.

But for die-hard carnivores, avoiding plants isn’t just about achieving ketosis. There’s also an avoidance of plants because of “antinutrients,” a refrain also seen with Dr. Steven Gundry’s warnings against lectins.

Proponents of carnivore diets make the case that animal products are easier to digest than plants. Asking followers to “[T]hink about it from a plants [sic] point of view,” Dr. Paul Saladino claims that since plants can’t run away or fight back, they create their own pesticides to deter over-predation. And so animals like us experience compromised health because those compounds mess with our digestion, preventing us from absorbing some nutrients and causing intestinal and immune distress.

But in reality, many animals do eat plants (and thrive off them). And many of the antinutrients in plants have profound health benefits and are mostly eliminated anyway during cooking.

We’ll see in a bit if the facts support or contradict this dietary approach. First, though, let’s go deeper into the weeds — or the organs, if we’re relying on flesh-based metaphors here — to explore the prominent subtypes of carnivore diet you’re likely to encounter.

Carnivore Diet Subtypes

The Carnivore Diet

The “standard issue” Carnivore Diet was popularized by Shawn Baker, a former orthopedic surgeon and diet influencer. Baker had his medical license revoked in 2017 by the New Mexico Medical Board for ethical violations and “incompetence to practice as a licensee.” (To some of his fans this only proves that Baker is a truth-teller fighting a corrupt system.)

Baker’s version of the diet allows the consumption of only meat, fish, and other animal products like eggs and certain dairy products.

The Ancestral Diet

The Ancestral Diet is similar to the Paleo diet but prioritizes meat over all other foods. In a nod to reality, it includes seasonal fruits and vegetables in small amounts. It also allows some dairy and fermented foods. Ancestral Diet adherents characterize it as more than just a diet; they see it as a comprehensive philosophy of living that includes a return to nature.

Pros of the Ancestral Diet include avoidance of processed foods and inclusion, although limited, of some plant-based foods.

The Lion Diet

The Lion Diet is where carnivore meets elimination diets. Those on a Lion Diet limit themselves to beef, salt, and water. It got a lot of press when Mikhaila Peterson, daughter of best-selling Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, promoted it as a cure for depression, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle weakness, night sweats, asthma, insomnia, PTSD… and a whole lot more. Jordan Peterson adopted the diet as well, and promoted it on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and his own popular YouTube channel.

The Nose-to-Tail Diet

The Nose-to-Tail Diet has been popularized by Dr. Paul Saladino and Brian Johnson, an online influencer known as the “Liver King” due to his propensity to consume raw liver on the regular. The muscle-bound Johnson has nothing but scorn for most modern men, whom he accuses of being submissive, sub-primal, and weak. They have been brainwashed to eat vegetables rather than dominate, kill, and eat other species, he argues, and so lead mediocre and unsatisfying lives.

Theories of human development aside, this diet consists of eating all parts of the animal, including organ meats, connective tissue, and bone marrow (essentially nose-to-tail of an animal), as well as some fermented plant foods.

The Plant-Based Backlash

When you listen to the rhetoric of some of the carnivore movement’s most enthusiastic proponents, you might get the idea that, in addition to any health benefit or scientific claim, there’s also a significant element of backlash to plant-based diets.

Traditionally, meat-eating has been associated with masculinity and machismo (although films like The Game Changers are starting to challenge that association), so the rise of plant-based eating has triggered a “culture war” response that goes far beyond nutrition. There’s a lot of name-calling and invitations to settle differences through MMA cage matches, for example.

I haven’t personally been invited into the octagon by a carnivore enthusiast to duke it out, but I do have a number of friends who adopted a carnivore diet approach and initially experienced some of the promised benefits. Their inflammation lessened, and most lost weight — at first.

None of them stuck with it long-term, because they found it — and I’m quoting them all here — “gross.” But still, their stories left me with questions. How could they possibly benefit, even for a short time, from a diet so diametrically opposed to the plant-based diet that most science shows is the healthiest for humans? Isn’t too much meat bad for everything from heart disease to type 2 diabetes to obesity?

Let’s dive in to explore the health claims of carnivore diets, and what the research really says about eating this way.

Health Claims of Carnivore Diets

Carnivore advocates claim a broad array of health benefits. I don’t have the space here to examine every single claim, so I’ll focus on the most common ones: weight loss, brain health, reduced inflammation and remission of autoimmune disease, and improved digestion.

Spoiler alert: The scientific evidence supporting these claims is — and I’m being extremely charitable here — limited and inconclusive. There are no long-term, large-scale clinical trials that specifically examine the effects of carnivore diets on any of these aspects of health. Instead, there are a lot of anecdotes, a few online surveys, and small studies of limited scope and duration.

Carnivore Diets and Weight Loss

Currently, no studies have been conducted that looked at weight loss with carnivore diets. However, the theory that low-carb diets are supposed to lead to weight loss is known as the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model (CIM) of obesity.

Proponents assert that eating carbs triggers a release of insulin, which, according to this model, leads to hunger and overeating, and ultimately, fat storage and excess weight.

One study did show that low-carb diets high in animal foods can lead to weight loss. But, the diet did include some plant foods. The bigger issue, though, was its severe calorie restriction. The study’s average low-carb dieter took in fewer than 1,500 calories per day — an amount that all but guarantees weight loss in most people, regardless of the foods consumed.

A clinical trial published in the prestigious journal Nature Medicine in 2021 tested a low-fat, minimally processed, plant-based diet against a low-carb, minimally processed, animal-based diet.

Participants could eat as much of their assigned diet as they wanted — no limits other than personal preference and satiety. And the results directly contradicted the predictions of the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model. Those eating the low-fat diet consumed almost 700 fewer calories per day than the low-carb eaters. “Despite the large differences in calorie intake,” the researchers reported that “participants (expressed) no differences in hunger, enjoyment of meals, or fullness between the two diets. Participants lost weight on both diets, but only the low-fat diet led to a significant loss of body fat.”

Indeed, other studies have shown that the most weight-loss-friendly foods are, in fact, plants. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition even concluded that each additional year of adopting a vegan diet decreases the risk of obesity by 7%.

Meanwhile, increased fat intake and high-fat diets (looking at you here, carnivore diets) actually have a strong association with increased body weight and risk of overweight and obesity.

Carnivore Diet and Brain Health

Proponents of carnivore diets often describe better cognitive function and improved mental clarity. But, as of this writing, no scientific studies have been conducted to investigate these claims.

The only evidence I could find was a survey of people who belonged to carnivore groups on social media. Of course, a survey is inherently lacking objectivity in some pretty big ways. For one thing, only people who had been on the diet for at least six months were invited to take the survey. It stands to reason that if someone had a worsening of symptoms after, say, two months — they would probably stop the diet. And, for another, the group of people “surveyed” were themselves members of identity groups that subscribe to the ideology of the diet enough to belong to a group of fellow adherents.

This seems kind of like asking a group of fish if they enjoy swimming; you’re unlikely to get an unbiased opinion.

Nevertheless, in the context of this less-than-objective methodology, many of the survey respondents reported high levels of satisfaction and improvements in overall health and well-being, including cognitive and psychiatric symptoms, which they attributed to their diet.

There are many possible reasons for these alleged improvements. Of course, the carnivore diet could have been helpful, at least in the short run, for this particular collection of people. Or it may be a case of the placebo effect, which can, at least in the short run, lead to dramatic benefits for a great many people.

But mental gains can also be plausibly explained by what carnivore dieters have eliminated: substances like alcohol, refined sugars, and processed foods. It’s not hard to imagine many people feeling better after giving those up.

Diet is one of the key lifestyle factors that can be modified to significantly reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. But it’s plant-based diets that contain key nutrients like polyphenols and fiber that protect against the insulin resistance that can lead to Alzheimer’s.

There’s also solid evidence that plant-based foods can boost mood. Plus, the more saturated fat (remember that for most people the vast majority of the saturated fat in their diet comes from animal products) that people consume, the higher their risk of developing neurodegenerative disorders. Mono- and polyunsaturated plant fats, on the other hand, reduce that risk.

If there’s one food that you can think of as a brain superfood, it’s actually leafy greens — although greens are not allowed on a strict carnivore diet. However, in one study, those who ate the most greens were the proud owners of brains that were functionally 11 years younger than those who ate the fewest.

Other brain protectors include berries — eating blueberries and strawberries delayed cognitive decline by two and a half years in one study. Some interpretations of the carnivore diets do allow fruit — ostensibly because plants “want” us to eat their fruit to spread their seeds.

Carnivore Diets, Inflammation, and Autoimmune Conditions

In the same somewhat dubious survey discussed above, some respondents wrote that adopting a carnivore diet led to improvements in various inflammatory conditions. Out of hundreds of survey respondents with prior autoimmune conditions, 10% claimed complete resolution, and another 14% reported improvement.

Mikhaila Peterson also claims she healed her autoimmune issues through the “Lion Diet” and referenced those survey results in her TEDx talk as corroborating evidence. (TEDx refused to publish her talk, explaining that it failed to adhere to their content guidelines and lacked nuance, offering a purely anecdotal experience and no actual scientific evidence.)

A core mechanism of autoimmune disease is a malfunctioning immune system. While we don’t yet understand the causes and initial triggers of many autoimmune conditions, we know that lifestyle choices, particularly related to food, can play a key role in managing and, in some cases, even reversing many of these diseases.

But it’s plant-based diets that have been proven to help with inflammation and autoimmune disease. Meat and high-fat, animal protein-rich diets on the other hand, especially red meat, have consistently been associated with more inflammation.

So how do we reconcile the science with the experience of Mikhaila Peterson and other carnivore diet adherents? It’s possible that a body in an inflamed state could find certain compounds in plants triggering, and that, in some cases, taking a break could provide relief.

But this is not a great long-term solution. Rather than live in a metaphorical “food bubble” in which nothing challenges the chronically inflamed body, the goal should be to bring down inflammation so that eating plants — which offer myriad powerful health benefits — doesn’t cause symptoms. Traditional elimination diets can allow for a more methodical and less draconian approach.

Carnivore Diets and Digestion

A study that is objectively even less rigorous than the social media study already mentioned asked a couple hundred carnivore dieters about their “beliefs and experiences.” Here as well, dieters claimed improvements in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and Crohn’s disease.

But again, the vast majority of objective research points to carnivorous dietary patterns contributing to a greater likelihood of IBD, not remission from it.

Advocates of carnivore diets claim that plant foods are high in toxins and harmful compounds like antinutrients, those nasty compounds plants produce to discourage us from eating them.

And it’s true that when isolated from the foods that contain them, antinutrients may lead to some unwanted effects. But when consumed as part of a varied whole foods diet, they participate in diverse and complex interactions with vitamins, minerals, and the gut microbiome, and can actually contribute to significant health benefits.

Another explanation for why some people experience improved digestion during the initial phase of a carnivore diet is the complete absence of fiber. However, if someone was already consuming low amounts of fiber — and only 6% of the US population gets the recommended amount — they likely lacked the microbial diversity required to adequately digest that fiber.

Fiber increases microbial diversity and gut health; studies show those consuming the most fermented and fiber-rich plant foods had a more diverse gut microbiome — and a stronger immune system, with decreased inflammatory markers — compared to those who consumed less.

Meat, of course, contains zero fiber, and therefore a meat-only diet is not a recipe for long-term health. On the contrary, one meta-analysis study found every 10 grams of fiber consumed per day cuts mortality risk by 10%.

Carnivore Diet Risks and Side Effects

We’ve looked at the purported benefits of carnivore diets. But what about the risks? Is there the possibility of unwanted and serious side effects?

In fact, there are many anecdotal reports of unpleasant and sometimes dangerous side effects with extremely low-carb or zero-carb diets. These include diarrhea, constipation, weight gain, muscle cramps, hair loss or thinning, insomnia, dry skin, itchiness, heart rate changes, brittle fingernails, and menstrual irregularity.

Bowel irregularity, whether diarrhea or constipation, is typically caused by a lack of dietary fiber. But many of the other symptoms are attributable to nutritional deficiencies and imbalances that can occur in any extreme diet that lacks diversity. The carnivore diet, in particular, is missing not just fiber but also antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and prebiotics — all of which are essential for good health.

Without vitamin C from fruits, vegetables, or supplements, carnivore dieters are actually at risk for scurvy, putting them in the company of 17th-century British sailors. And vitamin C and other antioxidants are important for combating free radicals in the body. How serious is that? The buildup of free radicals, or “oxidative stress,” is a leading cause of deterioration and disease, including memory loss, autoimmune disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer.

Most dietitians, even those who don’t advocate for plant-based diets, consider carnivore diets dangerous for humans. Animal protein is associated with heart disease and poor markers of metabolic health such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Red and processed meats are considered carcinogenic, with particular contributions to colorectal cancer. And as we saw earlier, high animal product consumption is also associated with Alzheimer’s, inflammation, and autoimmune diseases.

Meat also promotes the growth of unfavorable bacteria that leads to the production of TMAO, which inflames the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels) and further promotes heart disease.

And high-meat diets can deliver worrisome quantities of heme iron, which has prooxidant effects that promote cardiovascular disease.

Eating plant foods, on the other hand, has consistently contributed to a reduction in chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer while promoting longevity.

All in all, relying almost solely on animal-derived foods goes against most medical and nutrition advice which is that eating more whole plant foods and less meat, eggs, and dairy is actually the healthiest way to eat.

Carnivore Diets’ Environmental Impacts

When we evaluate the health of a diet, it makes sense to look at how it impacts not just the individuals following it, but the planet as a whole. And eating mostly meat has serious implications for the environment.

Adopting a meat-free, and especially beef-free, diet is one of the most powerful things an individual can do to help fight climate change. That’s because animal agriculture is like a protein factory in reverse, cycling amino acids through animals instead of sourcing them directly from plants.

Shifting from animal to plant foods can also significantly decrease the amount of land required for agriculture, which in turn can lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Animal agriculture is a leading cause of deforestation, especially in the Amazon rainforest — one of the most biodiverse regions in the world. Forests are being cut down not just to provide grazing land for cattle, but also to create fields to grow crops that get turned into animal feed. And grass-fed meat is not much better either, as it can use even more land per pound of food produced.

Additionally, most cattle feed in the industrialized world is bioengineered (aka GMO), which contributes to a number of environmental and health problems globally.

At the risk of stating the obvious, eating nothing but animal products is not great for the animals either. More demand for meat means more animals slaughtered to meet that demand. And the overwhelming majority of that meat is produced in factory farms.

Animals so confined are given huge quantities of antibiotics to fatten them up and to keep them alive — drugs that are contributing to the alarming rise in antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

In short, what’s bad for the animals also ends up being bad for us.

Carnivore Diets Are Not Healthy — for People or the Planet

The carnivore diet’s alleged benefits have sparked fierce debate in the wellness world. But the scientific basis for these claims remains limited and inconclusive at best. While some individuals report success alleviating autoimmune conditions and experiencing weight loss through total elimination of carbohydrates, and of course I wish these people nothing but the best of health, there has so far not been a single comprehensive study suggesting that the results are replicable or sustainable.

Given what we do know about nutrition, it seems likely that you can achieve similar or better results using moderate caloric restriction, or with an elimination diet. And both of these methods are likely going to be far more healthful than eating nothing but meat and other animal products.

There are also concerns about potential nutritional deficiencies, chronic disease impact, and environmental ethics of meat-centric diets. From a global perspective, these diets magnify the environmental harms associated with meat production. And by eliminating plant foods, carnivore diet followers are missing out on powerful dietary compounds proven to increase longevity and improve health outcomes.

As researchers continue to investigate the impact of diet on our well-being, it’s evident that incorporating a wide array of nutrient sources, not limiting them, holds the key to promoting both individual health and global sustainability.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you know anyone who’s adopted a carnivore diet?
• What do you think of the carnivore diet?
• How much do environmental concerns influence what you eat?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Luke Chan

Read Next:

• What’s All Wrong About Annals Of Internal Medicine’s Red and Processed Meat Advice

The post The Carnivore Diet: What the Research Really Says About its Impact on People and the Planet appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Even some restaurants serve bone broth now. Believe it or not, there’s a bone broth to-go chain in New York City. A quick Google search will show that bone broth products are now marketed for dogs and cats as well.

But what’s the truth about bone broth? Is it the miraculous tonic it’s touted to be? And are there any bone broth side effects or other concerns to consider?

What Is Bone Broth?

First things first. Bone broth is not the same as regular chicken broth, beef broth, or other animal broth. It’s actually closer to a stock. Bone broth is made by boiling the roasted bones, and sometimes connective tissue, of animals for a prolonged period of time. It’s often made in a slow cooker or other “set it and forget it” appliances. The long cooking time is mainly what separates it from regular types of broth.

The cooking time of bone broth — ranging from eight to over 24 hours — is intended to draw vitamins, minerals, and collagen out of the bones and into the broth. The latter is why these types of broths and stocks have a more gelatinous consistency than a typical broth.

Acids like apple cider vinegar, red wine, or tomato paste are also sometimes added to break down the beef bones (or pig, turkey, or fish bones) and extract nutrients. The liquid is then strained, the solid parts discarded, and the remaining broth seasoned. Often vegetables, such as carrots, onions, and celery, are also included.

The broth is typically sold in liquid form, but some packaged brands have also dehydrated it into a powder for “bone broth on-the-go.”

Why Is Bone Broth So Popular?

The concept of bone broth isn’t new. Many cultures, including our Stone Age ancestors, made broths from animal bones thousands of years ago. But its current popularity is linked in no small part to extensive marketing efforts as well as to promotion from health influencers.

Bone broth advocates say it can relieve joint pain and osteoarthritis, detoxify the liver, aid in wound healing, slow the aging of skin, support digestive health, balance hormones, increase energy, strengthen bones, improve quality of sleep, alleviate symptoms from certain autoimmune conditions, and even boost immune function.

As a result, bone broth is also now providing (not insignificant) profits to celebrities, food businesses, and health gurus who are cashing in on the craze. There’s even a Bone Broth Diet created by Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, a health influencer and naturopathic doctor.

Retail sales of bone broth products increased from $17.54 million in 2017 to $68.78 million in 2023. And according to a market research study, the global bone broth market is expected to continue rising for the foreseeable future.

So, What Does the Research Say About Potential Bone Broth Health Benefits?

Interest in bone broth continues to increase because of the long list of benefits it’s said to provide. But what does the science actually say? Does it measure up to the health claims?

Claim #1: Bone Broth is a Nutritional Gold Mine

Bone broth nutrition is one of its biggest selling points. Allegedly, this type of broth is a low-calorie, high-protein food that provides significant minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium.

The earliest study to mention bone broth is from 1937, which looked at the nutritional value of both animal-based and vegetable broths. The researchers concluded that while neither was a very good source of nutrition, the broths found to provide the highest mineral content were the ones that contained the most vegetables.

Far more recently, in 2021, a study in the journal Medicina analyzed bone broth and found that it was not an especially good source of essential minerals, especially in comparison to recommended daily intakes.

While marketers tout animal broths for their mineral content, it’s the vegetables generally used in the cooking process — not the bones — that may actually be providing many of these helpful nutrients.

An average cup of bone broth contains 0–19 mg of calcium and 6–9 grams of protein. That may be all well and good, but this protein content is not terribly impressive when compared to some other sources of these nutrients.

• 1 cup cooked collard greens = 268 mg calcium
• 1 cup navy beans (boiled) = 126 mg calcium
• 1 bunch cooked broccoli raab = 515 mg calcium
• 1 cup baked beans = 14 grams protein
• 1 cup cooked quinoa = 8 grams protein
• 3 Tbsp of hemp seeds = 10 grams protein

Bone broth also doesn’t include the fiber that comes along with whole, plant-based sources of protein.

So yes, bone broth does provide some calcium, protein, and other nutrients. But so do many, many other whole foods.

A cup of cooked collards contains at least ten times as much calcium as a cup of bone broth. And a cup of baked beans contains nearly twice as much protein. But in fact, most Americans may be getting too much protein (at least from animal sources), anyway.

Claim #2: Bone Broth Will Strengthen Bones, Relieve Achy Joints, and Keep Skin Youthful

Collagen is the main protein in your body. It protects your organs, joints, and tendons; holds together bones and muscles; and maintains the lining of your gut. Your body makes its own collagen, but as you age, you won’t make quite as much of it.

Bone broth is high in collagen, and many people believe this is one of its major selling points.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence that eating collagen, whether in broth or otherwise, is directly helpful to your body. Many experts agree that because your body doesn’t absorb collagen in its whole form, the idea that eating collagen helps your body increase collagen levels just isn’t true. Your body breaks collagen down into amino acids. So, in the end, it’s just another form of protein.

You’ve probably seen collagen supplements sold for skin, nail, and hair health. Some research suggests that collagen supplements may potentially help to reduce visible signs of aging, relieve joint pain, and prevent bone loss. But the collagen in supplements is hydrolyzed, or broken down to make it more usable for the body. The collagen in bone broth is not hydrolyzed and does not have the same effects on the body.

If you want to help your body build collagen, the best way is to eat a diet rich in leafy green vegetables because plants offer rich sources of the phytonutrients your body needs to make collagen.

These phytonutrients in plants include:

• The vitamin C found in citrus fruits, dark leafy greens, bell peppers, kiwi, berries, and broccoli. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can help protect your skin, inside and out.

• The vitamin E found in sunflower seeds, almonds, wheat germ, spinach, and broccoli. Vitamin E works with vitamin C to promote collagen synthesis.

• The vitamin A found in carrots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, dark leafy greens, cantaloupe, and apricots. Vitamin A helps regulate antioxidant responses that can affect your skin’s ability to fight free radicals.

• The amino acids glycine, proline, and lysine — found, among other places, in dark leafy green vegetables, soy, nuts, seeds, and legumes. These amino acids play an important role in collagen formation.

• The sulfur-containing foods, such as garlic, onion, and members of the cabbage family, may also promote collagen production.

The bottom line is bone broth does contain collagen, but it doesn’t necessarily support collagen formation. But vegetables and other plant foods can be powerful allies in keeping your skin young, your bones strong, and your joints healthy.

For more on collagen and how to increase your body’s production of it, see our article here.

Claim #3: Bone Broth Is Good for Your Immune System

At some point in your life, you might have eaten a bowl of chicken soup when you were sick — and it might have even helped you feel better.

And in fact, a 2000 study in the journal Chest found that chicken soup could prevent white blood cells from migrating — thus preventing the worsening of upper respiratory infection symptoms.

But the researchers conjectured that the vegetables in chicken soup — not the chicken alone — might offer helpful effects when it comes to battling infections.

Would vegetable soup have been just as effective? Or more effective? We don’t know. But it seems clear that the vegetables, at a minimum, played an important part.

Warm beverages, in general, may be helpful when battling a cold because they provide hydration and help regulate body temperature. But there’s no evidence that bone broth has unique immunity superpowers. And to date, I’m not aware of any published studies about bone broth and viral illness in peer-reviewed medical journals.

Claim #4: Bone Broth Is Good for Gut Health

Bone broth is said to be good for digestion and potentially therapeutic for leaky gut syndrome — a condition in which substances can leak from your intestines into other tissue, causing inflammation.

There is a lot of gelatin in bone broth. And some research done on rats (our view on the use of animals in medical research is here) indicates that gelatin could bind water in the digestive tract and protect the lining of the intestines. There’s also some rodent research that found that the amino acids in bone broth could have anti-inflammatory effects, which might help with gut conditions like ulcerative colitis. But while both of these studies show potential in rats, it doesn’t mean bone broth can do the same for humans.

We have a very different intestinal lining than rats. It’s possible that it could help. But at this point, all we have is a theory.

What’s not a theory, because it’s been well documented, is that you can support your gut health with a variety of fiber-rich plant foods. Plant-based foods, including fermented foods, help to maintain a healthy gut microbiome by providing prebiotics, probiotics, and the lesser-known postbiotics.

For more ways to support digestive health with food, see this article.

Claim #5: Bone Broth Can Help You Lose Weight

Mark Wahlberg and other celebrities have touted bone broth as a means to lose weight. When getting in shape for the movie Spenser Confidential, Wahlberg told Entertainment Tonight he ate “just bone broth and then steamed vegetables after the first three days and then a little bit of protein at night, and that was it.”

While he did end up losing weight, it’s likely because he was engaging in intermittent fasting and a reduction in calories rather than anything in the bone broth directly contributing to his weight loss. Intermittent fasting may help fat-burning hormones in the body work more efficiently. But bone broth is not a magical weight loss pill.

Sure, you may also lose weight if you’re replacing your daily drink of soda with bone broth. Soda averages 150 calories per can, while one eight-ounce cup of bone broth averages 29 calories. But then again, you could also just drink tea or water, which deliver essentially zero calories.

And if you’re looking for a low-calorie way to get some protein, you could also just opt to add protein powder to water or vegetable broth.

But if you want to lose weight long-term, a fiber-rich and nutrient-dense plant-based diet is probably the healthiest and most sustainable way to go.

For more on what works best for weight loss, see our article here.

Claim #6: Bone Broth Can Detoxify Your Liver

Proponents of bone broth like to assert that it contains the amino acid glycine, which aids in detoxification processes in your body. There are a few studies that suggest glycine treatments can benefit nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in either humans or rats, but none look at the impact of bone broth specifically on human livers.

Since glycine is a conditionally essential amino acid that can be synthesized from other amino acids like choline and hydroxyproline, and your liver detoxifies itself, it seems unlikely that bone broth would have much effect on liver detoxification processes. The best way to protect your liver is to avoid weight gain, steer clear of excessive alcohol consumption, and eat a diet that’s high in the wide array of phytonutrients found in whole plant foods.

It’s also helpful to steer clear of toxic heavy metals in the first place. And that brings us to the potential downsides and side effects of bone broth.

Problems with Bone Broth

Aside from the questionable health benefits of bone breath, there are also some specific downsides to consider.

Lead in Bone Broth

One of the most widely discussed downsides to consuming bone broth is the potential for lead exposure.

Lead can have adverse effects on nearly every organ system in the body. Symptoms of chronic lead exposure range from memory loss and constipation to impotence and depression. And the data suggests that there is no such thing as a “safe” level of exposure to lead.

Lead can build up in body fat and attach itself irreversibly to neurons. It’s especially dangerous for children, increasing the risk of behavioral problems, hyperactivity, impaired growth and hearing, anemia, and lower IQ, even at low levels.

Now, here’s the thing: Lead and other heavy metals build up in the bones. And that’s not just true of human bones.

Boiling animal bones for a long period of time turns out to be a great way to leach lead out of them. And that’s true even if the animal bones come from organically fed animals.

In a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypotheses, researchers looked at broth made from chicken bones and found that the broth had lead concentrations that were up to a tenfold increase compared to the water before the bones were added to it. The samples were made from organic, free-range chickens.

Today, many health enthusiasts are drinking bone broth by the case, hoping to detoxify their livers of heavy metals. Sadly, they could actually be doing the reverse, inadvertently exposing themselves to dangerous levels of lead and possibly other heavy metals.

Bone Broth Histamine Levels

Histamines are natural chemicals released by the immune system that play a key role in your body’s inflammatory response. While allergic reactions to food or external allergens can cause a release of histamines in the body, some foods are also naturally high in histamines.

Because bone broth cooks for a long time, it is one of those foods that contain high levels of histamine. While this may not prove to be a problem for most people, those who have histamine intolerance may react poorly to bone broth.

Symptoms of histamine intolerance include:

• Headaches
• Anxiety
• Gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, bloating, and diarrhea
• Nasal congestion and sneezing
• Asthma

Sodium in Bone Broth

While you may not encounter this as much with home-cooked bone broth, store-bought bone broth products are often very high in sodium — and can have a poor potassium-to-sodium ratio. The ideal ratio is around 2:1 in favor of potassium. But some bone broths may have a ratio of up to 10:1 in favor of sodium.

High sodium intake, especially when not balanced by even higher potassium intake, can cause or exacerbate a slew of health issues, including high blood pressure, kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes. And the sad truth is that most people eating a modern industrialized diet already get too much sodium and not enough potassium. People suffering from these health conditions or who take medications that contain high sodium levels may experience adverse health effects from commercial bone broths.

Ethical Concerns with Bone Broth

There’s also the ethical side of bone broth to consider.

Many, if not most, bone broth brands use the bones of animals raised in factory farms. These animals may have never seen the sun or a blade of grass in their lives — and were likely subject to a wholly inhumane death. They were also probably given routine doses of hormones and antibiotics — an alarming practice that is fueling the development of antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

Even if the animals sourced for their bones were raised organically or free-range, the fact is, the modern animal agriculture industry is something of an environmental disaster. The cattle industry, in particular, is a major drain on resources, responsible for deforestation in some of the most biodiverse areas on Earth, and emitting greenhouse gasses at rates higher than the three biggest gas companies on the planet.

Personally — those aren’t practices that I want to support. And they don’t create products that I want to take into my body, either.

What Are Some Healthy Alternatives to Bone Broth?

If you’re interested in trying the broth trend for yourself and you want some warm nourishment for your tummy but your favorite flavor isn’t “bone,” there are many other options.

Some people are creating vegetarian and vegan broths, using mixtures of seaweed, mushrooms, miso, and various vegetables instead of bones.

Plant-based broths offer a lot of flavor and nutrients. Mushrooms contain selenium, B vitamins, iron, and zinc. Seaweed contains iodine, which is an essential nutrient for healthy thyroid function. And fermented foods, like miso paste, or anti-inflammatory agents, like ginger or turmeric, are often added as well.

These three recipes for plant-based broths just might hit the spot, especially if you are looking for new and tasty ways to infuse rich flavor and nutrients into your dishes. Each of these recipes offers exciting flavor diversity by using customizable combinations of vegetables and herbs (we even have tips on how to make these recipes zero-waste!).

Plus, if you prepare these broth recipes in an InstantPot, the flavor of the broth becomes even more concentrated.

And, of course, no animals are harmed in the making of your homemade nutritious and delicious vegan broths!

1. Homemade Vegetable Bouillon

Homemade Vegetable Bouillon is where the real magic happens. Not only does it pack a punch of phytonutrients and fiber (something bone broth can only dream of), but it’s also a delightful source of calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, B6, and potassium. Seriously, this bouillon has got it all! This flavor-packed concoction takes the broth nutrition game to a whole new level.

2. Savory Mushroom Broth

Prepare to meet one of the superheroes of the vegetable world: mushrooms! These mighty powerhouses have earned their superfood title (just like the other veggies in this recipe). With their incredible antioxidant content, abundance of B vitamins (plus a dose of vitamin D if they soak up some sun while growing), and a treasure trove of minerals like selenium, potassium, and copper, mushrooms truly pack a nutritional punch.

But wait, there’s more! They even come equipped with two dietary fiber champions — beta-glucans and chitin — which work wonders for your gut health.

Now, imagine all these incredible nutrients infused into a heavenly Savory Mushroom Broth. It’s not just rich in flavor; it’s a broth that brings you a supercharged dose of health benefits. Get ready to sip on superfood goodness!

3. Umami Vegan Dashi

Traditionally, dashi is a seaweed stock bursting with savory, salty, and umami flavors. Drawing inspiration from this beloved Japanese classic, we’ve crafted an ultra-nourishing, plant-based version that’s brimming with minerals. Our secret ingredients? Green onions, shiitake mushrooms, and seaweed.

Let’s dive into the wonders of seaweed, particularly kombu. Not only is it a concentrated source of iodine, but it also delivers a healthy dose of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and other trace minerals. We’re not done yet! Kombu also boasts an enzyme called glutamic acid, which works wonders for digestion (especially for those with sensitive tummies!). Combine all these goodness-packed elements with miso paste, mushrooms, and green onions, and you’ve got yourself a delightful dashi that not only tantalizes your taste buds but also provides soothing support to your gut health and immune system.

It’s time to savor the nourishing embrace of this flavorful stock!

Bone Broth Is No Cure-All

The next time you hear bone broth touted as a magical cure-all, remember this: The science behind most of the claims about bone broth is murky at best. But the science behind the health benefits of vegetables is massive, coherent, and compelling.

Bone broth doesn’t appear to contain anything special that you can’t find in plant-based foods. And it’s not necessarily good for you. It may even have adverse effects on your health and the environment.

You’re likely better off choosing nutrient-dense, fiber-rich plant foods — whether eaten whole or in a broth.

Tell us in the comments:

• What do you think about bone broth?

• Have you made vegetable broths — and if so, what are your favorite kinds?

• Which of these vegan broth recipes are you excited to make?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Dmytro Chernykov

Read Next:

• Arsenic In Rice: How Concerned Should You Be?
• Is Grass-Fed Beef Good for Your Health & the Planet?

The post Is Bone Broth Good for You? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Look down. You may not see the soil beneath your feet as teeming with life, but it is.

Better scientific tools are helping us understand that dirt isn’t just dirt. Life in the soil includes microbes like bacteria and fungi, invertebrates such as earthworms and nematodes, plant roots, and even mammals like gophers and badgers who spend part of their time below ground.

It’s commonly said that a quarter of all the planet’s biodiversity lives in the soil, but that’s likely a vast understatement. Many species that reside there, particularly microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protists, aren’t yet known to science.

“Published literature has only just begun to unravel the complexity of soil biological systems,” a 2020 study by researchers from the University of Reading found. “We barely know what is there, let alone their breadth of functional roles, niche partitioning, and interaction between these organisms.”

But what scientists do know is that healthy and biodiverse soil communities support a wide variety of functions that sustain life on Earth. That includes nutrient cycling, food production, carbon storage, and water filtration.

What happens belowground supports life aboveground. And not surprisingly, if that underground biodiversity is threatened, so are the important functions that soil performs.

“When soil organisms begin to disappear, ecosystems will soon start to underperform, potentially hindering their vital functions for humankind,” wrote researchers in a 2020 Science study.

Threats to Soil Biodiversity

Land changes [like intensive agriculture] are right up there with climate change because what we’re doing is tearing up the soil. And that’s the habitat for all these species.

Diana H. Wall, Professor at Colorado State University

Unfortunately, there’s evidence that soil biodiversity is decreasing today — how badly is still a matter researchers are working to determine. By just one metric, studies found that 60–70% of soils in the European Union are now unhealthy.

The threats there — and across the world — are numerous.

The Reading University researchers narrowed them down to five main areas:

• Human exploitation, including intensive agriculture, pesticides, fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms.
• Land use changes like deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and soil sealing.
• Soil degradation from compaction, erosion, and loss of nutrients.
• Climate change, which influences temperature and moisture.
• The growing threat from plastic pollution.

“Land changes [like intensive agriculture] are right up there with climate change,” says Diana H. Wall, a biology professor at Colorado State University and director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability. “Because what we’re doing is tearing up the soil. And that’s the habitat for all these species.”

When we lose biodiversity in the soil, it leads to a decrease in the soil’s ability to withstand disturbances — that could cause a loss of important functions and even more biodiversity.

Knowledge Gaps

Much like new molecular tools have helped researchers understand the microbiome in people’s guts, scientists can now also learn much more about the tiny organisms living in the soil, says Wall. But while research about soil biodiversity is growing, there are still significant knowledge gaps.

A 2020 study on “blind spots” in global soil biodiversity and ecosystem function found that most research focused on a single sampling event and didn’t study how soil changed in the same area over time, which the authors say is “essential for assessing trends in key taxa and functions, and their vulnerability to global change.”

The research has also been geographically unbalanced, they found. Temperate areas, which include broad-leaved mixed forests and the Mediterranean, have received more study than many tropical areas, tundra, or flooded grasslands.

This is not a new problem: Another study revealed that we lack historical information on soil biodiversity that would make it possible to understand baselines on previous land cover and local drivers of biodiversity. Without understanding past conditions, it’s not clear how things are changing or why.

Knowledge gaps aren’t just limited to science, either. When it comes to policy, national and international bodies lack systematic ways to monitor and protect soil biodiversity.

“At the global scale, soil biodiversity is still a blind spot: Most parties of the Convention on Biodiversity neither protect soils nor their biodiversity explicitly,” found a study published in April in Biological Conservation.

Taking Action

Efforts to better study and protect soil biodiversity have begun to ramp up.

One is the Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (Soil BON), co-led by Wall, which is a coordinated global project to monitor soil biodiversity and ecosystem function to help inform policy.

Wall also leads the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, a volunteer scientific network of more than 4,000 researchers who are studying the vulnerability of belowground biodiversity. The group recently sent a letter to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity urging action to protect soil biodiversity.

“Knowledge of the importance of the vast diversity of fauna and flora that inhabit soil and sustain all life aboveground should be recognized and included in global policies for the protection, restoration, and promotion of biodiversity,” the group wrote.

Europe isn’t waiting for the UN to take action.

The Farm to Fork Strategy, part of the European Green New Deal, calls for better soil protection, including cutting pesticide use in half by 2030. The European Union also launched the Zero Pollution Action Plan for Air, Water, and Soil, which aims to improve soil quality. And the EU could push further action with a planned Soil Health Law in 2023.

And while soil health demands more big government efforts, there are a lot of changes at the local level and by industries that could help.

In urban areas, pavement that has sealed-off soil can be removed and replaced by vegetation. The construction of green roofs and gardens rich in plant diversity can aid soil biodiversity, too.

Farmers, Wall says, have also expressed increasing interest in soil regeneration and carbon sequestration. “There are definitely things that you can do to return the organic matter to the soil,” she says. “What we want is good cover for soil, so it doesn’t blow away or wash away. And we also want to make sure that we’re not just cutting vegetation down to bare ground.”

Pay attention to the life beneath your feet — it’s fragile.

Diana H. Wall

Society also needs to be mindful of the chemicals that we use in our homes, farms, and cities, she says: “Pollution in soil is very bad for the organisms that live in the soil, and it’s bad for any that may have a pupating cycle in the soil.”

Soil biodiversity can recover after industrial or agricultural sites are taken out of production, but it may happen slowly and require specialized restoration efforts. In those cases, “microbial transplants together with seeding of target plant species might help speed up these processes,” suggests a 2019 study coauthored by Wall. “Even small changes, which often come at little monetary cost, may increase soil biodiversity and ecosystem services.”

And an even smaller change is also important — getting people to notice and appreciate the role healthy soil plays in our lives and why it’s so vital we protect it.

“Something that we really ought to realize is that soil isn’t forever,” Wall says. “Soils are vulnerable, and we know that worldwide. Pay attention to the life beneath your feet — it’s fragile.”

—–

Tell us in the comments:

• Were you aware that soil is full of life?

• What threats to soil biodiversity are most concerning to you?

• How can you contribute to soil biodiversity in your own garden?

Featured Image: iStock.com/PhotographyFirm

Read Next:

• By Reconnecting With Soil, We Heal People — and the Planet

The post “Soil Isn’t Forever”: Why Biodiversity Also Needs Protection Below the Ground appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But alas, none of these is remotely real. As far as I can tell, papayas have been flying under the radar of popular culture for hundreds of years. The best I could come up with is the Nahuatl name for the fruit, chichihualtzapotl, which translates to “sweet fruit of the wet nurse.”

So in order to get you excited about papaya, I’m going to have to rely on its intrinsic value: its fabulous sweet taste, culinary versatility, and considerable nutritional benefits.

While less common in the US than its tropical cousins, mangoes, bananas, and pineapples, the papaya is nonetheless a global superstar. In fact, it’s the fourth most traded tropical fruit, after the three I just named.

The majority of the world’s papayas come from only ten countries, with India, Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Mexico leading the pack. The US produces only a tiny fraction of the world’s supply but is the largest papaya importer, getting most of them from Mexico.

In the places where they grow, papayas are both an important source of nutrition as well as a common ingredient in traditional medicine. So what are the health benefits of papayas? And are there any downsides to their consumption?

What Is Papaya?

The papaya is known botanically as Carica papaya, which is actually a mistake. It’s named after the fig tree, Ficus carica because early botanists saw enough resemblances between papaya and fig leaves to think they were closely related. You’ll have to excuse them. The papaya is a tricky plant in many ways. While it looks like a tree, it’s actually an herb. And its fruit, thought by many to be a melon, is botanically a berry.

Speaking of confusing names, papaya is called “pawpaw” in Australia but is different from the North American pawpaw (Asima triloba), which belongs to a completely different family.

The papaya is a tropical fruit whose skin ranges in color from pale green to safety yellow to sunset orange. And its flesh can be anywhere from red to orange to yellow to pink (and possibly some of the more obscure Crayola colors, including Mango Tango, Atomic Tangerine, and the decidedly un-vegan Macaroni and Cheese).

Most scholars of papayology (yes, I made that up; and no, I’m not thinking of copyrighting it) believe the plant to have originated somewhere around southern Mexico or eastern Central America. By the time Spanish conquistadors arrived, the fruit had spread throughout Central and South America. The Spanish took papaya seeds with them to other tropical regions, including the Caribbean (remember that swashbuckling blockbuster, “Papayas of the Caribbean”?) and southeast Asia, where the plants flourished and soon found their way into local cuisines.

Types of Papaya

There are two main types of papaya fruit: Mexican and Hawaiian. Mexican papaya is by far the more common one, shaped like a semi-deflated American football and reaching up to 15 inches in length. Most papayas imported into the US are this kind. And with the exception of the Big Island of Hawaii, it’s the variety grown in most US states with tropical or semitropical climates. The most common Mexican papaya cultivar is called Maradol, which originally comes from Cuba.

Hawaiian papayas are smaller and often sweeter than Mexican varieties, with thicker skin. The best-known cultivar is Solo, which actually originated in Barbados and made its way to Hawaii. One concern with Hawaiian papayas is that the majority of them — roughly 82% — are now bioengineered (aka GMO). We’ll talk more about this in a bit.

A third variety of papaya is Thai Green, which is meant to be eaten before ripening and turning yellow. While you can technically eat any unripe papaya at its green stage, this particular variety, used both raw and cooked in Thai recipes, is elongated (kind of like a hefty burpless cucumber) with a thin, smooth, firm, and slightly waxy skin.

[Find out how to choose, store, and use different types of papaya, and get some great papaya recipes.]

Papaya Nutrition

The first thing you’ll notice when you pick up a papaya at the grocery store is it’s pretty heavy for its size. That’s because, by weight, the papaya is 88% water. It’s a very hydrating food — almost up there with the watermelon’s 92% (and papaya doesn’t even advertise “water” in its name).

Papaya is also a good source of minerals like potassium and magnesium, and vitamins such as A, C, and folate (B9).

Papaya is high in antioxidants like lycopene and carotenoids. And these phytonutrients appear to be more bioavailable in papaya than in many other sources, including tomatoes and carrots.

Additionally, papaya is low in fat and protein, but it does provide a modest amount of fiber — roughly 2.5 grams per cup of fruit.

What Is Papaya Good For?

A 2022 review of papaya by an international team of scientists called the plant a “quasi-drug,” thanks to its broad range of pharmaceutical properties. The authors note that the plant’s fruit, seeds, and leaves have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. Let’s survey some of papaya’s most examined and important health benefits.

Papaya and Digestion

Papaya contains a substance called papain, a protease enzyme (which doesn’t mean it’s an expert at making fun of people, but rather that it breaks down proteins).

A 2022 study explored the effect of papain on the health of intestinal tissue taken from humans and mice. (Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.) And the researchers found that papain changed the composition of gut bacteria for the better, growing the populations of beneficial strains and reducing the concentrations of harmful ones. It also increased the activity of a digestive enzyme produced by the pancreas and thickened the linings of intestinal walls.

A 2021 study also looked at how the fiber from unripe and ripe papayas affects the bacteria in the human gut that produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), which are beneficial for both gut and overall health. Both types of fiber increased the growth of beneficial Clostridium and Bacteroides bacteria species and increased SCFA production.

Papaya Cancer Benefits

The chemical makeup of papaya suggests that the fruit may possess anticancer properties. A 2014 study tested this hypothesis by examining what ripe papaya extract did to two strains of human breast cancer — one hormone-dependent, and one non-hormone-dependent. Researchers found that the papaya extract was both antioxidant and antiproliferative (meaning it inhibited the growth of the cancers in vitro), and was able to induce cell death in both cancer lines.

The 2021 review article mentioned in the previous section also notes that the antioxidant activity of papaya could help fight skin cancer and other types of cancer by preventing damage to cells that might otherwise become cancerous.

Papayas and Metabolic Syndrome

A 2019 review article out of Brazil reported that the nutrients in papaya have positive effects on the cardiovascular system, protecting it from disease and damage caused by free radicals. The fruit has also shown potential for the treatment of diabetes and the reduction of cholesterol levels, which may improve metabolic syndrome.

Papaya pulp, seeds, and leaves have antioxidant, antihypertensive (blood pressure lowering), hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering), and hypolipidemic (cholesterol-lowering) properties — all useful in preventing and treating obesity and related metabolic disorders.

A 2023 study examined the effects on human cells of beneficial polyphenols in both ripe and unripe papaya pulp and seeds. Whether ripe or unripe, the researchers found that papaya helped cells to take in glucose, and reduced triglyceride levels.

Papaya Eye Benefits

Some studies have shown that the carotenoid lycopene can protect retinal cells of the eye from oxidative stress and inflammation, reducing cataract formation and slowing the development of diabetes-induced retinopathy. And papaya turns out to be one of the top sources of lycopene.

Papaya also contains a modest amount of the phytonutrients lutein and zeaxanthin, which can protect eyes from age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.

[Find out more on how to eat for healthy eyes.]

Papaya and Inflammation

Chronic inflammation is at the root of just about every disease, so eating anti-inflammatory foods is one of the keystones of a healthy lifestyle. Papayas also fit the bill here, thanks to their high levels of antioxidants and phytonutrients.

There are many antioxidants in papaya, including caffeic acid, myricetin, rutin, quercetin, alpha-tocopherol, papain, benzyl isothiocyanate (BiTC), and kaempferol. They help protect your body from the damage caused by oxidative stress.

Studies have shown that papaya extract can decrease free radicals in the body, inhibit the release of certain enzymes that accelerate inflammation, and mitigate some of the harmful effects of a high-fat diet.

A 2021 review article also suggests that extracts from papaya could be incorporated into drugs or supplements to help treat various diseases by countering the effects of harmful chemicals called reactive oxygen species (ROS). As a fan of whole food, I’m more partial to just eating papaya, so we don’t have to wait for the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to create expensive papaya pills in order to bring down oxidative stress and inflammation.

Papaya Downsides and Risks

Even with all that good news about papaya, life is not all unicorns and rainbows in papaya land. There are at least three issues to contend with when considering whether to incorporate papayas into your diet: bioengineering, allergic reactions, and food waste.

GMO Papayas

As mentioned earlier, most of the Hawaiian papayas you’ll find are genetically modified (or, put another way, bioengineered).

Hawaii produces mainly small-sized Solo-type papayas, which include Kapoho, Sunrise, SunUp, and Rainbow varieties. Kapoho and Sunrise are not bioengineered cultivars, while Rainbow and SunUp are. And unfortunately for fans of Mother Nature, more than three-quarters of all Hawaiian papayas are the bioengineered Rainbow type.

Bioengineered papayas came about because the Hawaiian papaya industry was threatened with collapse in the 1970s when the papaya ringspot virus began decimating crops. This disease nearly wiped out entire papaya farms, so growers turned, understandably, to bioengineering to create papayas resistant to the virus.

China also produces a type of GMO papaya called Huanong No. 1, which came about in 2006. But its resistance started breaking down about six years later, as researchers discovered transgenic varieties infected with the virus despite their genetic modifications.

Although there’s currently no evidence to suggest these papayas are unsafe for consumption, or that they contribute to food allergies, some people still worry that there’s just not enough research to feel confident eating them. If you want to avoid GMO papayas, go for the Kapoho or Sunrise Hawaiian papayas, or try one of the far more prevalent Mexican or Thai varieties.

Papayas grown organically are always non-GMO, with the added advantage of reducing exposure to pesticides, which is good for consumers, farmworkers, and the environment. If you can’t access organic papayas, you can still reduce your pesticide exposure by choosing Mexican varieties, which are not only non-GMO but are also on the Environmental Working Group’s Clean Fifteen list.

Papaya Allergy

Papayas are among the fruits most likely to trigger allergy symptoms in susceptible people. They may cause oral allergy syndrome due to polygalacturonase, a protein enzyme that is also a pollen allergen found in cedar and cypress trees. These proteins can confuse the immune system in people with food or outdoor allergies, the most frequent reaction involving itching or swelling of the mouth, face, lips, tongue, and throat.

Because papaya pulp and peel contain latex, they can also trigger cross-reactions in people with latex allergies, leading to a condition called latex-fruit syndrome. People with this condition must avoid contact with both rubber latex and latex-containing foods of fruit or vegetable origin, or they may suffer hives, gastrointestinal symptoms, and in severe cases, anaphylaxis.

While these problems are rare, they are serious. So if you’re allergic to papaya, then, of course, you should probably stay away from them.

Papaya Food Waste Issues

Food waste is a big issue, especially in a world that overuses natural resources like clean water and has a global hunger problem. While a lot of the food waste occurs in our grocery stores, restaurants, and home kitchens, some crops are particularly susceptible in the fields. Hawaiian papayas, in particular, are a wasteful crop; fully one-third of Hawaiian papaya crop is discarded because it’s bruised or misshapen.

But there’s some good news on the horizon: Researchers are working to turn discarded papayas into biofuel by feeding them to a type of green algae to create energy. The hope is, this fuel may help make Hawaii energy independent eventually.

[Find out more about food waste and how to prevent it.]

Papaya in Perspective

Papaya is a delicious and nutritious tropical fruit that offers a range of health benefits — from aiding digestion and improving metabolic syndrome to promoting eye health and helping to prevent cancer.

With its high levels of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidant phytonutrients, papaya is an excellent addition to a healthy and balanced diet. As with any food, however, it’s important to be aware of the potential risks, especially to those with a known latex or pollen allergy.

For most people, though, adding papaya to meals and snacks can be a tasty way to boost health and wellness. And if you want to avoid GMO papaya varieties, stick to Mexican, Thai, or the Hawaiian Kapoho and Sunrise types.

Tell us in the comments:

• Have you eaten Mexican or Hawaiian papaya? If you’ve tried both, what’s your preference?

• Do you have any fruit, pollen, or latex allergies? What do you do to avoid triggering them?

• Do you try to avoid bioengineered crops?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Nungning20

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• Is Pineapple Good for You — and the Planet?
• Are Bananas Good for You?

The post What Are the Benefits (and Downsides) of Eating Papaya? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Once you make peace with its botanical oddities, however, the papaya turns out to be downright intriguing. Also known as “pawpaws,” papayas aren’t the same as the indigenous pawpaw plant that grows in the eastern US and Canada despite sharing a nickname. That’s an entirely different fruit species that actually tastes like a cross between a mango and a banana.

But like the indigenous pawpaw, tropical fruit fans may not be as familiar with the papaya in some places. However, globally, papayas are a much bigger deal than they are in the US. They’re actually the fourth most traded tropical fruit, after bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.

Compared to more common fruits like apples, pears, bananas, and mangoes, however, papayas can be big! You may have looked at one of the 15-inch-long Mexican varieties and wondered, “Where am I going to find enough people to help me eat that?”

Well, you can find inspiration for how to eat papaya from regions where the fruit is already a favorite such as Mexico, Brazil, Thailand, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, and the Caribbean islands — as well as in the US states of Florida and Hawaii.

But the “scoop” (sometimes I really amuse myself) on papaya is that you can prepare it in a number of exciting ways, including in salads, smoothies, desserts, and simply eating it with a spoon. So even though its large size might give you pause, it’s not that hard to consume an entire fruit (or two) by yourself or with a little help from family and friends.

In this article, we’ll show you the top tips for selecting and using papayas — and how to incorporate them into delicious recipes.

Why Eat Papaya?

If you ask me, it’s because they’re delicious and amazing. But if you’re looking for a nutritional reason, consider that papayas are a hydrating food that provides a number of helpful antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals that provide gut and eye health benefits, and that protects against metabolic syndrome and several cancers. What’s more, unripe papayas are the only source of papain, an enzyme that has significant digestive health benefits.

If you’re curious about the extent of papaya health benefits (as well as potential downsides and who may want to avoid them), check out our comprehensive article here.

When Is Papaya Season?

Like a lot of tropical fruits, papayas are in season year-round in many places.

If you have a green thumb and want to grow your own papaya trees (or, ahem, giant herbs), they grow and fruit best in areas where temperatures remain warm to hot (70–90°F; 21–32°C) and that have well-distributed rainfall throughout the year. These include tropical regions like parts of Mexico, where the fruit probably originated, and the lands where Portuguese and Dutch colonists planted seeds, including Africa and Southeast Asia.

In the US states of Florida, California, Texas, and Hawaii, papaya is primarily in season from May through September. But Hawaii has its own papaya varieties, which are smaller and have a slightly sweeter taste than the larger Mexican-originated varieties.

A Note About Hawaiian Papayas and GMOs

While you might gravitate to the Hawaiian papayas for their sweet taste and their convenient “single serving” size, you may think twice if you’re concerned about eating bioengineered foods. About 82% of all the Hawaiian papayas grown are bioengineered (GMO) varieties.

That might surprise you if you go by the Environmental Working Group’s ratings, which include papayas on their “Clean 15” list. But unlike many other GMO crops, Hawaiian papayas are engineered to be virus-resistant, not pest resistant. All the popular types of papaya have thick (and bitter) skins that aren’t generally eaten — meaning most pesticide residue doesn’t reach the flesh.

But pesticides aside, if you want to avoid GMO papayas for any reason, choose Kapoho or Sunrise Hawaiian papayas, or look for the larger “Mexican” papayas.

How to Pick a Papaya and Tell if it’s Ripe

Determining a papaya’s ripeness is somewhat of an art, although it’s not quite as mysterious as, say, an avocado’s.

If you want to avoid overripe papayas, look for dark spots and shriveled skin. You’ll also want to stay away from fruit with overly soft and mushy areas. Instead, the flesh should give a little, kind of like a perfectly ripe avocado.

Color is the best way to assess the ripeness of Mexican papayas, as they turn from green to yellow when they’re approaching readiness. The fruit has reached ripeness perfection when it’s 3⁄4 yellow, with a bit of green remaining on the stem end.

You can determine the ripeness of Hawaiian papayas by their skin texture. These papaya varieties have a smooth, semi-thick skin that softens slightly when ripe.

Whichever type of papaya you’re working with, once it’s ripe, don’t wait too long to eat it, because it can turn to mush and start to rot pretty quickly if you don’t seize the day.

If you’re in a hurry and need your papaya to ripen ASAP, you can speed up the process by placing it in a warm, dark place like a cupboard. Or try putting it in a paper bag with a fruit that releases ethylene gas, such as a banana or tomato. (I imagine they have very interesting conversations in those paper bags, sharing insights about humidity and pests and sunshine.)

How to Cut a Papaya

The easiest method to cut papaya is by slicing it the long way, in half, scooping out the seeds from each half, and then peeling the skin using either a paring knife or a dedicated peeler.

Be careful while peeling papaya, as once it’s peeled, it’s liable to fly out of your hand and rocket toward the sink, the floor, or even a kitchen window, depending on its trajectory and how hard you were gripping it at the time.

Once the fruit is peeled and deseeded, you can commence to cut it into whatever shape you fancy. Slices are fun when you just want to eat some papaya; smaller cubes will work for fruit salads.

Here’s a short video, complete with uplifting “You can do anything you set your mind to” music that shows you how to peel and cut papayas:

How to Store Papaya

At the risk of being too authoritative, I’m going to come out and say that the best way to store whole papayas is at room temperature on a kitchen counter. Unripe store-bought papayas can take anywhere from a day to a week to ripen. Once they’re at or near full ripeness, they can usually last a couple of days out of the fridge before they begin their journey toward becoming papaya compost. Hawaiian papayas tend to be more finicky than other varieties.

If you bring home a fruit that’s already mostly yellow, and, therefore, ripe, I’d recommend eating it within two to three days. If it’s past its prime, and starting to get soft or mushy in spots, you may want to bump “eat papaya” near the top of your to-do list (right after “peel papaya” and “remove seeds from papaya”).

You can prolong a papaya’s shelf life by storing it in the refrigerator or freezer. A whole papaya can live happily in the fridge for up to a week (I assume it’s happy; because the thought of a bored, frustrated, resentful tropical fruit muttering complaints in earshot of tofu and greens is not something I want to think about), and papaya cubes or slices can last a couple of days in the refrigerator, in an airtight container.

If you have a papaya and think to yourself, “I’m not ready to eat this now, but I bet I’ll be jonesing for it in a couple of months,” then it’s time to freeze it. Note that just-ripe papaya can last for three months in the freezer; very ripe papaya will not keep as long.

Before freezing, you’ll need to peel and deseed your papaya, cut it into the desired shapes, and then it’s best to flash freeze the pieces on a tray covered with parchment paper. Once the pieces are frozen, you can transfer the papaya to bags (I like reusable silicone bags best, although plastic works) or airtight glass containers. (If you just chop and freeze papaya pieces in bags or glass, the pieces will stick together and turn into one large papaya ice cube.)

How to Eat a Papaya

So far, we’ve looked only at papaya as a fruit. But in some parts of the world, the fruit is eaten green and unripe as a vegetable. Raw at this stage, it’s got a crisp, watery consistency like cucumber or jicama. Cooked, it resembles summer squash.

Eating green papaya as a vegetable is common in Southeast Asian countries like Thailand and the Philippines. For example, som tam is a popular papaya salad dish eaten throughout Thailand.

But once papaya flesh turns orange, it becomes sweet and almost melony, like a juicy ripe cantaloupe. The folks at Specialty Produce want me to remind you that the Hawaiian papaya is mild and sweet, its fruity taste accompanied by “delicate notes of peaches and melon.”

There are many delicious and simple ways to use ripe, raw papaya fruit, including straight away, perhaps with a squeeze of lemon or lime drizzled on top. You can also enjoy papaya juiced, in smoothies and smoothie bowls, as a bowl for a fruit salad, smoothie bowl, or acai bowl, blended into sauces and dressings, and in salsas and salads.

If you’re feeling adventurous, and have some time on your hands, you might try pickling papaya (“Pickled Papayas” might be what a globally curious Peter Piper picks) or turning it into jam. Here’s a recipe for pickled green papaya that’s admittedly quite high in sugar, just to give you an idea.

You can also dehydrate papaya into dried fruit, which both removes water and increases the concentration of sugar.

And papaya seeds are edible, too. When ground, they have a sharp flavor similar to black pepper. In fact, there’s a robust illegal trade in papaya seeds masquerading as the most expensive black pepper. This fraud is widespread enough that researchers from Brazil and Peru have developed tests to assess the purity of ground black pepper. One of these, hyperspectral imaging, sounds like something the Ghostbusters would use. (“Who you gonna call? Pepper Quality Control!” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, though.)

Papaya Recipes

Depending on where you are in the world and your familiarity with this warm-weather fruit, papaya may be a love-it or hate-it type of experience for you. But even if you’ve never found a way that you enjoyed papaya, it could be that you just didn’t have the right recipe. Because papaya is more versatile than you probably ever imagined. Used in both sweet and savory dishes, papaya is a marvelous fruit that is truly one of a kind!

1. Papaya Carrot Breakfast Muffins

Papaya lends a mellow melon-like flavor and soft silky texture to these muffins, making them moist yet hearty enough to power you through your morning. A nutrient-rich blend of quinoa, oats, and almonds makes up the protein-packed foundation for these muffins, with the sweet addition of papaya and carrots rounding out their antioxidant power. Topped with a sprinkle of shredded coconut, these muffins are energizing, nourishing, and a tasty way to start the day!

2. Citrusy Papaya Cauliflower Ceviche

Sweet papaya adds a delightful and colorful twist to an otherwise sour and zingy flavor experience. Although it’s not the only ingredient in this citrusy ceviche, papaya stands out for a couple of reasons. Thanks to its soft and fleshy texture, papaya adds an element of creaminess to the tender and crunchy veggies that creates a harmonious mouthfeel in every bite. Papaya also has a somewhat exotic flavor that is just sweet enough to enhance the tastes of sour and salty in ceviche. When combined with ripe mango, red onion, fresh jalapeños, and sweet tomatoes, this Citrusy Papaya Cauliflower Ceviche is a rainbow of flavor and nutrition!

3. Vegan Som Tam

Unlike ripe, orange flesh papaya, unripe green papaya has a neutral flavor and heartier texture, which makes it a great alternative to sweet papayas if you aren’t a fan. Vegan Som Tam is our version of the very popular Thai papaya salad. And it’s bursting with a robust sweet, savory, sour, and spicy flavor profile. Enjoy this many-textured, fruit-based salad any night of the week!

4. Caribbean Heat Papaya Sauce

This zesty sauce has just the right amount of heat to complement the mellow flavor of papaya and the pungent notes of garlic and ginger. As the ingredients simmer together, the flavor of papaya intensifies to create a sweet, savory, and saucy delight. If you are a papaya fanatic, Caribbean Heat Papaya Sauce is a must-try! Pour it on tacos, burritos, and even pizza to instantly spice up your meals.

5. Creamy Turmeric Papaya Pineapple Popsicles

Creamy Turmeric Papaya Pineapple Popsicles are the perfect treat to beat the summer heat! Refreshing, creamy, and full of tropical flavor, papaya and pineapple are a match made in heaven. Bursting with natural sweetness and plenty of vitamin C, these wholesome popsicles are a wonderful way to enjoy papayas with all those you love.

Enjoy Papaya However You Choose!

Papaya is a delicious tropical fruit (well, technically a gigantic herb) that can be eaten like a fruit or vegetable, depending on its ripeness. Now that you can tell when a papaya is ripe, as well as how to store them and prepare them for eating, feel free to try out a bunch of ways to enjoy papayas (including their seeds!). And remember, you don’t need a recipe to enjoy papaya — it’s an amazingly delicious fruit all on its own.

Tell us in the comments:

• Are you a papaya fan? If so, do you remember the first time you tasted one?

• Have you eaten green papaya, either raw, cooked, or pickled? What did you think?

• How will you enjoy your next papaya? Plain, or in a recipe?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Coppy

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• Are Mangoes Good for You — and the Planet?

The post Discover the Top Tips for Selecting and Using Papayas in Recipes appeared first on Food Revolution Network.