The Wonder of Vegetables (Part 2 of 3 Wonder articles)

What’s your favourite dinner? Meat, two veg and potatoes was the standard answer of many of my Irish friends. Coming from Germany I was baffled that potatoes were considered a special food category, but what did I know about the obsession of Irish people with potatoes. That was 25 years ago, when nearly all my neighbours grew potatoes and cabbage and some parsnips and carrots.

Has anything changed?

Well vegetables have become more prominent in the Irish diet. They certainly have moved to the centre of the culinary stage in recent years. Many more people – not just vegetarians – now see vegetables as the heart of the meal and meat sometimes as an accompaniment.

The obsession has moved on from potatoes to broccoli, a vegetable that has become synonyms with anticarcinogenic. “Raw broccoli contains almost as much calcium as whole milk and is linked to lowering the risk of cancer.” (1. Whole foods companion, Dianne Onstad)

Working at The Organic Centre for almost 10 years I have witnessed the growing interest in gardening and growing vegetables organically. Home grown vegetables are valued more highly now not only for their flavor but also for their nutritional value as part of a healthy diet contained in the well known slogan “Eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day!”

At the same time more and more new vegetables have appeared on the market. No restaurant with any sort of reputation without oriental vegetables on the menu. Thank you Joy Larkcom! “Two qualities of these vegetables immediately impressed me. First they can be grown fast and intensively…Second, many are highly nutritious,…They seemed tailor-made for our overcrowded, health conscious times.”(Oriental Vegetables, first published 1991).

Many vegetables (and fruits) are nutritional powerhouses, rich in vitamins A and C, betacarotene and fiber. Research shows that eating these powerhouse fruits and vegetables reduces the risk of chronic diseases. Antioxidants are compounds that defend our body against cell damage caused by various free radicals. Diets rich in vitamins C and beta-carotene are strong protectors against heart disease, cancer and almost all other diseases. Antioxidants are best taken from the natural diet rather than in the form of supplements.

Understanding the complex chemical nature of our food is a very recent science and with laboratory techniques developed in the 20th century the importance of Vitamins and Minerals could be highlighted in addition to carbohydrates, proteins and fats. However the greater the knowledge it also clarifies how little we know. Point in case is the new research into micro-nutrients and their power in our metabolism.

Even if we all accept now that a healthy diet should include at least five fruit and vegetable servings to keep fit, which fruits and which vegetables should we eat?

I think preference should always be given toward those that are freshest and in season. Research has shown that the tastiest and most nutritious vegetables are those consumed immediately after harvesting. The longer vegetables are exposed to air, heat and water, the less nutritious they will be.

This brings us back to the beauty of growing some of our food ourselves, which means we have the freshest produce available for the kitchen table. And we organic gardeners strongly believe (backed-up by numerous researches), that the nutrition of each vegetable is influenced by the soil and any fertilization it has received during its growth. Healthy nutritious soil will produce healthy nutritious vegetables and growing organically avoids herbicides and pesticides and artificial fertilizers!

And if you don’t grow your own at least buy them as locally as possible.

And remember the most nutritious vegetables are best eaten raw!

The darker the leaf the more Vitamins it contains.

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