Will Local Eating Cause Scurvy?
JUNE 7, 2007--Q: My friend and I were talking about trying a 100-mile diet. We are concerned about nutrition and getting adequate vitamin C year round, particularly in the winter (citrus fruits don't grow in Calgary even during our mildest seasons). Suggestions?
Barbara in Calgary
A: While I felt extremely healthy on the 100-Mile Diet, with the nutrients of summer surging through my veins, I admit I felt a glimmer of doubt come winter. "Do you think I'm getting scurvy?" I asked James.
Vitamins were not even discovered until the 20th century, and the Oxford Companion to Food opines that it was their absence, in the form of scurvy, that first triggered the revelation of what they were. They note that it is processed foods, introduced in the 19th century onward, which brought on a rash of vitamin-deficiency diseases such as pellagra and beriberi.
The full story of vitamins has "not yet been fully explored," the Oxford companion continues. Our instincts tell us that there will studies in the future showing the powerful nutritional values of local over long-distance foods.
However, we had already looked into what is known of the vitamin C story, and I should have known better than to worry just because Florida was off my map: many fruits and vegetables have as much vitamin C as oranges, grapefruits, or lemons. No, we didn't have citrus in Vancouver either, but asparagus, cranberries, cabbages and especially potatoes (hello winter vegetables!) are all significant sources. Other non-summer greens containing vitamin C are Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale, spinach, and turnip greens, and cauliflower. Many can be blanched and frozen.
Speaking of cauliflower . . . just four years ago, an orange cauliflower was introduced to the public by a Cornell University plant breeder, and has found its way into gourmet restaurants and farmers markets in New York State particularly. The cauliflower, which is high in vitamin A, was discovered in Canada's Bradford Marsh in 1970. The mutant didn't taste that great but its looks were undeniable, and both the University of British Columbia and a research facility in England tried to see what made it tick. It made its way to Cornell in 1981, where Michael Dickson waited for the perfect flavour to emerge. Who needs GM foods when Mother Nature brings forth such amazing things? -ADS
