Confused about sugar – but some valuable advice on the way

The pace of life is fast and that is a modern phenomenon. It is this that has pervaded everything we do. Mobiles make to accessible at all times; emails create instant access; food manufacturers provide food on the go; transport links make it possible to travel further, faster and more frequently. All these come at a price.
Decisions you make need thought, need time. Our politicians are pressured continuously by media to respond to each and every problem as it arises. What do we end up with, but invariably with knee jerk reactions which are shallow and not well thought through, or overly bureaucratic and draconian.

At the Food Matters Live event there were two presentations given on juice. Juice is currently under scrutiny from different agendas. There are those who are pushing teeth management products who suggest that juice attacks tooth enamel – therefore it is bad.
There is the current drive to lower fat, sugar and salt which clearly is well founded in an attempt to reverse trends of obesity, diabetes and cardio vascular disease, but all sugar is not always a problem.
Juice has natural sugar in it. Diet and nutrition is complex. Sugars bound in fibre within fruit are a composite package, not a simple nutrient that threatens us when it is in excess.
It is clear that food manufacturers have to be responsible in product design to conform with the need to improve the health of the national diet, but similarly responses need to be well thought out.

In my last blog I mentioned the Norden Scandanavian group of countries have created a nutrition plan. The statement that they see their food as being “just food” is I think pertinent to where food manufacturers should be heading.
I have heard of a response to reducing sugar in juice to result in the removal of natural sugar and replacement with artificial sweetners. In my view this is nothing but complete madness. Taste is always said to be the most important issue when designing a food product, but as political and industry focuses on health should natural nutritional value not come before taste.
I believe in the values created by farming organically but not slavishly. I see the nutritional value provided by natural ingredients as having the best potential to interact with the human body to deliver a balanced diet. Start chopping it up and removing naturally occurring nutrients and you mess with the capacity to deliver an optimum outcome in terms of the body utilising the nutrients available.
Maybe this is a very unscientific statement, but I am not convinced that we understand the full complexity of how nutrients work together; the levels and reasons for bioavailability in the body; the efficiency of absorption under different states of health. There are so many variables.
That is why I see it as essential that one tries to grow food commodities, focusing on nurturing their nutritional strengths. The components that create the unique strengths in a food commodity need taking through the processing system in as complete a state as possible so the consumer benefits from those naturally occurring nutrient.
As is understandable, this is a farmer’s view. There are many multi national companies undertaking R&D on the delivery of healthy food incorporating targeted ingredients created as a result of extensive trials. The validity of this work is underwritten by the question – how do we feed a growing population in the world?
Again my blog has wandered away from sea buckthorn but I consider these deviations to be valid as sea buckthorn is a food. It is more than just a food, as its nutrient content gives it a potential to act as a supplement as well as a food. It also needs to be relevant for the market place – a market place which is changing to become conscious of the health of its customers.

All the plants in the plantation are now dormant. the current job at the moment is digging out broad leaved weeds that are close to plants. The ground conditions being so soft makes this operation easy. Being soft it also means that the plants are susceptible to wind damage. Whereas last year I was using 18/20 lb 4ft bamboo canes to provide added support, those plants that need support will have a 25mm square wood post. It is a problem with clay soil that, when soft it provides little support for the main stem.

Winter management also requires pruning of young plants. I have looked at manuals and there are a number of ways of pruning. I also see wide variation in the growth habits of different varieties. I decided last year that I needed advice on this, so at the euroworks conference in Finland I asked a highly respected agronomist, Kirsten Jensen, whether she would come to England to show me how to sort this pruning problem out.
Discussions at the conference also raised the subject of the suitability of varieties. Devereux farm already has 24 different female varieties. The German varieties are now maturing having been planted in 2009. Their yield is growing but not stable yet – last year the best tree gave a yield of over 12kg, others however only 4kg.
The Latvian plants look healthy and strong, but some have thorns that need respecting.
The Siberian varieties will be producing their first crop this year, but it is unclear as to what the impact will be of transferring them from an environment with a prolonged very cold winter to a winter where temperatures only occasionally dip below freezing.
Suggestion in Finland where that varieties from other Russian states might be more suited to our very temperate climate.
So as a result Kirsten has agreed to come to the farm in mid February.
There is now a plan brewing to turn the visit into an event. There is growing interest in sea buckthorn in the UK, so I am planning to hold an event to explore and discuss the development of UK sea buckthorn. This would cover some of the topics raised at Euroworks, such as harvesting, pests and diseases; a practical walk around the plantation with Kirsten to look at pruning and plant management issues; the opportunities and challenges of developing the market.
The date will probably be around the weekend of February 14/15 2015. Any one interested should contact me on my email – cottonmist.eagle@virgin.net.