Re: ok, fine, I eat COMPOSTED, RECYCLED manure

"My original argument was that Grz's statement that bugs won't touch his dehydrating produce is not necessarily a sign of quality."

I disagree with your above statement based upon Brix readings and my observations... however my current understandings are subject to change.

"It reflects storage conditions(lack of humidity). A root cellar is best(lack of light), to extend the keeping. And it also reflects the fact that the transit time from the farm to his house is MUCH shorter than the average. Hence the perception that it dries, or rots, more slowly.""

I agree with this statement of yours... my high brix food is almost always from local sources OR just a state or country away and I do live in a dry climate; however I live with an evaporative cooler and humidity inside can get rather high along with indoor temperatures moving into the 80's.

That said, I have had low brix produce, even apples rot within a few days to a week, whereas high brix apples I have been able to store for as long as 5 months. I probably could have stored them longer, but I ate them :-)

The above observation does illustrate to me, a difference that takes "transit" time into account. However, who is to know where, how, and with what produce is treated with during ANY transit, not to mention, storage conditions all of which may effect the end product negatively.

A refractometer user understands that produce need not be local, nor organic to be high brix. As FF stated earlier "organic" is just a start by eliminating most negative pesticide and herbicide use and residue.

Given a choice, would a low brix organic, or a high brix conventional be best for one to eat? With a thorough washing, I would say the high brix conventional in most cases. It would however depend upon the individual produce farming practices. For instance most conventional strawberries are highly sprayed with herbicides and pesticides while avacados are not.

Through the course of the years citrus season, I probably had a hundred or more (100 to 150) pounds of high brix citrus in my house at any one time... at times unrefrigerated, sitting on the floor for weeks (3 - 4) due in part to lack of refrigerated storage space... no fruit flies, bugs nothing. This year, I lost about half a dozen to any kind of rot. They did not have outward sign but did get soft and each one of them had damage through the skin to the fruit from harvesting.

I bought some low brix citrus from the store and sat them on the counter just to watch... inside of a week they began to rot and attract fruit flies; same storage conditions.

You do illustrate some important points... everything rots, rot or decay attracts bugs. You are absolutely right, THIS IS NOT A BAD THING IN THE GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. It is the way things are meant to be, the circle of life. But why do we want to speed it up as happens with everything else these days?

This should be an observation that we take home to the bank... I do not want to rot, so I will eat food that naturally resists rot for as long as possible.

Life begets life... live food, live organism... death begets death, rotting food, rotting, dieing organism...

I believe it is important to learn/know the difference for a healthy long life, and it is why I believe in brix. Tweet