Extraordinary Beets = Extraordinary Soil

Beets are one of the vegetables that really draws its character from the farm.  You can taste when they are grown in rich, organic soil.  They’re sweeter, more colorful, and healthier for you too.  Recent research published in the British Journal of Nutrition shows that organic produce has significantly more antioxidants and less toxic, heavy metals than conventional produce.  What’s significantly?  Up to 70% more antioxidants!  The food industry has made a great effort during the last 50 years to turn vegetables into commodities, where a beet is equal to any other beet, anywhere in the country.  They tried to make price the only variable.  Our approach is completely different.  The food system we are building acknowledges that vegetables are grown with a huge range in flavors and nutrients.  That is why we focus on buying extraordinary beets, from organic family farms, and telling you exactly where they come from.

The soil gives flavor and nutrients to the beets, and organic methods give back to the soil.  We believe that organic soil has the power to change the earth, and the atmosphere. Soil is a bustling, living place.  In a tablespoon of organic soil, there are more organisms than humans on earth.  They work in concert to process all of the energy that plants pull in from the sun.  Healthy, no-till soil can actually be a permanent carbon sink.  That is a big change from the conventional agriculture industry that creates about 9% of National greenhouse gas emissions.  Natural Capital Solutions, one of the world’s most prominent voices in sustainability, has written and spoken extensively about soil in their Climate Action Plan.  They say that mass adoption of organic, no-till practices could absorb 20% of National emissions every year into the permanent carbon sink of rich soil.

We know that farms will not turn organic unless eaters send a strong signal that they want organic foods.  We’re proud to do our part and make organic a little more accessible in many grocery stores.  Because of our eaters’ enthusiastic support, we have helped farms expand, and turn non-organic land into organic fields, full of life.  Our decision to use only organic ingredients builds resilient soils over time, combats climate change, and is definitely more delicious.

How do you help this movement? Shopping directly from organic farmers is a great start.  Start a conversation to get to know their practices, and ask them if they practice no-till farming.  Tell the chefs at your favorite restaurants and the buyers at your grocery store that you want local and organic.  They don’t hear that feedback from their customers enough!  And, you can find our organic, simply beets at grocery stores across the West.  Find one here.