by Mike Critelli,
Our recent blogs have focused on food and beverage additives and preservatives and their role in creating and enhancing cravings, as well as economic, merchandising, social, and psychological causes of nutritional decisions.
An increasing number of Americans understand this, but most do not realize that the first line of attack for improving healthy nutrition starts at the farm or the pasture. The healthiness of produce, meat, dairy products, and grains is heavily influenced by:
Labels Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Many Americans believe that buying “organic,” “farm-raised,” “antibiotic-free,” or other food products will give them a ticket to better nutrition. These designations, although helpful, are wildly incomplete in how they affect the nutritional value of what we eat.
Organic standards focus more on process and inputs than outcomes. The soil could be depleted or only marginally fertile, as long as synthetic inputs aren't used. There is no requirement to test the final crop for levels of calcium, magnesium, zinc, or other nutrients.
While some organic produce may be more nutritious, this varies widely depending on soil quality, plant variety, and harvesting practices. Truly nutrient-rich foods come from mineralized, biologically active, and carefully managed soils, which may or may not be certified organic.
Building a Soil-to-Table Chain
A vital part of our mission with our browser-based product will be to use available and emerging databases to do as thorough a job as possible to identify foods that start their lives in the most nutritious soil conditions.
As time goes on, these databases will be linked in a soil-to-table chain that helps us all understand where we can make the best decisions on what we eat and drink.
A Case in Point: Pitney Bowes
At Pitney Bowes, we were fortunate to be able to acquire locally grown produce for our company-operating dining facilities.
What pleasantly surprised us is that posting information at the entrance to our cafeterias and on our cafeteria tables about the healthy sources of the fruits and vegetables we made available to employees changed their purchasing and food consumption habits for the better.
Change Takes Time, but It’s Possible
There is no single solution to the poor nutritional habits we have accumulated over the last several decades. Moreover, the multiple solutions we pursue will take significant time to take hold.
But it can be done. In the 1950s and 1960s, almost half the adult population were habitual tobacco users, predominantly cigarettes. Today, that percentage has dropped to a little over 11%.
That drop did not happen overnight, and it took a broad range of actions to occur. At Pitney Bowes, we made all of our buildings tobacco-free in 1990 and expanded that to the entirety of our company-owned or leased properties a decade later. This was one of many actions that were part of a multi-prong public health strategy.
Our Next Step
Through our browser-based product, we will put one more building block into place to change the trajectory of health in America for the better. But this is only the beginning. Empowering individuals with deeper knowledge about how their food is grown—not just where—is critical to shifting lifelong health outcomes. By tracing the nutrient quality of foods back to their roots in soil, we’re opening a new frontier in consumer health awareness.
As we continue to evolve this platform, we’re not just building a tool. We’re building a bridge—linking farmers, researchers, and everyday consumers in a shared mission to make healthier choices more transparent and accessible.