both the Weston a Price society and Acres USA promote the use of brix meters to measure the quality of plants. Acres USA experiments have shown that plants with high brix readings do not attract bugs and will grow storng and healthy with no need of pesticides. however, plants with low brix readings send out a signal to insects and will either be gobbled up or will require pesticides to grow. brix measures dissolved solids and sugars, both of which indicate high nutrient levels.

Acres USA is one of the oldest organic farming promoting organizations in america. they have been working for decades to teach farmers how to grow high quality, nutrient dense food with no pesticides. they have quite a bit of experience and research under their belt.

the refractometer is a simple lo tech way of measuring high quality produce, they dont give you the amounts of vitamin A or C or what have you. but they certainly have their place and can be indispensable to someone who knows how to use one.


http://www.westonaprice.org/farming/nutrient-dense.html



http://www.westonaprice.org/farming/parity.html



http://www.acresusa.com/magazines/magazine.htm



http://www.crossroads.ws/brixbook/BBook.htm