millie says pick the ugly fruit

it’s really hard; genuinely very truly hard to pick the ugly fruit. drawn to beauty, perfection, cleanliness equaling godliness, socialized to choose snow white’s apple despite her fateful punishment for vanity. let’s say walt disney was a pioneer in biodynamic nutrition and snow white is a story about the rewards reaped for growing up in a harsh world exposed to the elements. good ol’ walt may have also recognized that in the world of fruits and veggies there is more than one reason to decide upon damaged goods. fruits and vegetables that are smaller, dinged, tortured during their growth are more potent nutritionally compared to the pristine but empty beauty queens perched on the main shelf. why why why would a cultivated blueberry grown in the apt climate of the san joaquin valley, california be less nutritious than its cousin growing wild on the northern hills of timmins ontario? because antioxidants are condensed under harsh conditions. the more the blueberry, apple, lettuce leaf had to strive for its own survival, the more equipped it has become to survive subsequently allowing its eater to survive in digesting it. smaller fruits do not have fewer nutrients, no, they have more concentrated in that small ugly body that’s struggled to make it that far. organic fruits and vegetables have more nutrients because they have not had the luxury of being fed pest control or being GMOd to survive the shortest growing season, they’ve had to make it on their own. if there’s one berry that manages to grow in the marshes off baffin bay it’s wealthier in nutrition than a bushel-full grown in pesticide valley, mexico. snow white fell short of learning her lesson: if she had had chosen the apple with the worm in it she would have kept her beauty and gained survival of the fittest as opposed to needing rescue. so mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all, afterall?

xox dr millie lytle nd