CONVENTIONAL AGRICULTURE

Growing of crops in conventional agriculture

Conventional agricultural plants grow crops on huge monocultural fields. These areas without bushes lead to soil erosion and drying-out so fields must often be artificially irrigated and chemically treated against moulds formed due to irrigation. Plants are genetically modified, which is controversial by itself. The fields are so extensive that natural predators like foxes or kestrels and buzzards keep away from them making it necessary to fight mice, voles and other pests by chemical means again. The continuous soil stress by one group of crops planted out each year on the same field requires supply of nutrients in an artificial, chemical way. Spraying destroys the environment and leaves a dangerous chemical trace in food we eat.

How can we recognise a conventional agriculture crop in taste?

A crop that is genetically modified for fast growth and that has artificially been irrigated and chemically treated does not have to have its roots deep enough for drawing water and nutrients and has therefore not absorbed the taste of soil. It has also grown too quickly so the so-called physiological maturity is at a low level and its taste is rather flat. A good example can include chardonnay from big wineries in Australia, South America or Africa. Genetically modified grape with a huge yield per bush that is artificially irrigated and exposed to extreme sun is ready to be harvested just in a few months and if wine is produced out of its grapes in a friendly European manner the resulting wine taste would also be flat. A distinct technological treatment therefore has to hide the physiological immaturity of grapes by for example dipping sawdust in cider so the final wine reputedly tastes like barrique.

Crops processing by food industry

Raw products from conventional agriculture are processed industrially, again using chemical means, i.e. additive substances or, even worse, hormones. By this, they become even more dangerous to health.

 

ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY AGRICULTURE

Environment-friendly growing of crops

Environment-friendly growing of crops is based on considerate planting of crops in the landscape: vineyards with grapes are followed by olive groves, wheat fields, groves of almonds or fruit groves, forest crops and there are stocks grazing on small meadows and beehives. Each of these small biotopes is separated by bushes naturally preventing wind and water soil erosion in the landscape. Deep roots of trees in the bushes form a barrier for drainage of ground water so individual small fields are able to maintain a healthy water reserve and do not even have to be artificially irrigated or chemically sprayed against water mould. There are wild birds sitting on trees in bushes while foxes and martens are hidden below, keeping the populations of animal pests at a natural level. The whole landscape is smoothly balanced; it naturally restores nutrients and water reserves. Original European crops not genetically modified are only grown.

How can a bio crop taste be recognised?

A crop growing slowly, without any artificial irrigation and chemical means, with deep roots, gets well adapted to its environment and with high physiological maturity when harvested, i.e. the right ratio of proteins, starch and vegetable oils picked up on by minerals from soil during the period of slow growth and at the time the plant was drawing ground water reserves. The resulting food taste is very intensive. Let's take a look again at the chardonnay type, from the French area of Chablis this time. Physiologically ripe grapes after fine wine production give beautiful wine with a perfect balance of an original seabed and refreshing acid taste.

Traditional crops processing

Processing must be as quick as possible so that there are no moulds proliferating within the crop, which is why they need to be processed in a few hours of time post harvest. The second important factor includes very fine thermal treatment. Crops like fruit must not be exposed to direct boiling at 100°, failing which they would lose their taste. Grapes must not be pressed forcibly under pressure but just through gentle wine juice flow-off. Olive and other oils are only pressed by virgin dry-pressing. The traditional processing method, however, does not only include crop conservation but its harvesting, too. Strawberry jam can serve as an illustration. 100 kg of strawberries harvested at one time, both ripe and unripe, pectin and sugar for more sweetness are needed in conventional agriculture and we get 160 kg of jam. On the other hand, high-quality jam is made as follows: manual harvest and only ripe, red strawberries are picked every day. They are then gradually processed in small amounts with just a minimum use of pectin and absolutely no sugar. So only 60 kg of jam is made out of 100 kg of fruit and the jam must be made the whole summer through depending on the time strawberries ripen.

Let's now all think about the ratio of quality and understanding what bio is. We can take for example the olive oil. High-quality oil is made by very fine manual dry-pressing so one olive tree produces e.g. just 5 litres of top-quality oil. If olives were thermal-pressed the oil would not be of such a quality but the amount would be at a double level. At this point it is necessary to consider the line between a bio approach and uncompromised quality. Either we are going to eat olive oil of low quality and we will be happy to have processed everything given to us by nature or we are going to take a pleasure in perfect oil but we will regret to have processed just a small part of all the products. What is the solution?

Fortunately, our Company has succeeded in combining both of them: we cooperate for example with a family-run bio farm in Tuscany where olives are grown and sheep raised. They produce excellent olive oil from first virgin dry-pressing and fantastic sheep cheese. We have widened our cooperation and agreed that they were going to press the already used olives once again using heat for our purposes and overcook low-quality milk from lactation months and process everything into bio cosmetics from olive oil and sheep milk that we have called Pecora nera.

Here in the Czech Republic we proceed similarly and buy e.g. herbs from fallows of our bio farms and we sew aromatic pillows from them or mix them into cosmetics. Cones from forest bushes or cut-off wine branches during summer green trimming are used for making of Advent wreaths. Actually, we pay bio farms for their secondary, waste products and we are very proud of that!