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The Bionutrient Food Association is the world’s leading organization working on the topic of nutrient density. Established in 2010 with a mission to “Increase quality in the food supply”, we coined the term “bionutrient” to refer to those nutrients in food that are present in high levels in crops grown well, and in low levels in crops grown poorly.
Your tastebuds know the difference between a tomato picked ripe off the vine, and one off of a supermarket shelf in January. That difference in taste and smell is also one of nutritional variation {cite?}, and there is no way of knowing with a label like Organic or Non GMO what the nutritive level in a food is.
We believe that food labels are useful but they are not the full story. Taste, color and flavor tell a deeper story of a food’s value and our mission is to provide a crucial component to this, which is data.
We believe people want to eat nutritious food, and we believe in making that possible.
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We believe that crops grown in harmony with nature are more flavorful and more nutritious.
We believe nutrient quality in our food correlates to health outcomes, to food as medicine, healing you and healing your family.
We believe that nutrient quality correlates to the health of the soil it is grown in. And as such, also to the soil’s capacity to heal our ecosystems, and to sequester carbon.
By understanding and working in concert with the underlying biological systems, cultivating healthy soils in a relationship that is regenerative rather than extractive, we can begin eliminating the need for toxic pesticides and herbicides, and fertilizers that damage our soils and pollute our waterways. We can build vibrant soils that are resilient, that better hold nutrients and water, both in dry times and in extreme rainfall events.
It all begins in the soil.
Mineral rich and teeming with a microbial underworld , a living soil is necessary for a plant to thrive and reach its full potential. To grow healthy and replete with the necessary minerals and micronutrients, to have the immuno-strength and vitality to ward off disease and pest pressure. Rich in the bionutrients that help you thrive, that your body needs to prevent and reverse disease, and live your best life.
We believe we can begin to heal ourselves and heal the planet, simply by eating better food.
For ten years, we have been building a grassroots movement through word of mouth, first in the Northeast US with our outreach and educational efforts. Now, awareness about the deeply interconnectedness of soil, crop, human, and planetary health has blossomed and caught fire across the country and around the world, as people everywhere understand our food is not what it could be, our agricultural system has been co-opted by interests driven by profits rather than quality, and both our communities and our planet are suffering as a result.
We understand there are numerous approaches and perspectives on food, farming, and beyond, but we believe we can all gather around the call for greater nutritional quality in our food. Isn’t this something we should want for all our families? It is our goal to set forth this high ground, around which the larger food movement can coalesce.
If this makes sense to you, we invite you explore the rest of this site, and join us in whatever manner you can and inspires you.
The Bionutrient Food Association
- has fostered an international network of self-organized and decentralized local chapters;
- presents a comprehensive course “Principles of Biological Systems” for growers of all scales helping understand how nature evolved to work and how we can work with her;
- Hosts an annual Soil & Nutrition Conference bringing together the diverse topics of agronomy, nutrition, consciousness, and ecological and cultural revitalization; (flesh out)
- is leading a global collaboration to correlate environmental conditions and management practices to soil health, plant health, and crop nutrient density;
- has built the world’s first consumer spectrometer, so that non-invasive testing of food quality can be done at the point of purchase. With a flash of light, the Bionutrient Meter is revolutionizing consumer access to nutrition data.