ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Nutrient Dense Food: Dan Kittredge in conversation with Morag Gamble
“We should be growing for the microbiome — in the soil and in our own bodies.” – Dan Kittredge
In this Sense-Making in a Changing World conversation, I speak with Dan Kittredge, regenerative farmer and founder of the Bionutrient Food Association, whose decades-long work on nutrient density is quietly revolutionising the way we think about food quality, farming and health.
Dan is driven by a deceptively simple question: what makes food truly nourishing?
It’s not the label — not “organic” or “local” or “sustainable.” It’s the vitality within the food itself, the result of relationships between seed, soil, sunlight, microbes and minerals.
“Carrot has four times as much sulfur as that one, or eight times as much phosphorus as that one. That would be the range.”
These differences, Dan explains, aren’t abstract data points. They show up in human health — in childhood stunting, chronic disease, our immune resilience, even our taste preferences. When we are under-nourished at a cellular level, our bodies crave more, creating a culture of over-consumption and depletion.
Why this conversation matters
I found this discussion deeply grounding and provocative.
Dan doesn’t simply diagnose the problem — he’s offering a pathway forward that feels practical, hopeful and community-based. He’s not waiting for industry to change. He’s inviting us to start paying attention, experimenting and re-localising food knowledge.
“If we had 100,000 people each giving five dollars a month, we could pull this off in short order,” he says. “There’s a bunch of really cool people all in it with our heart. Together, we win.”
Dan’s idea is that we can see food quality — literally — by measuring how light interacts with it. His research at the Bionutrient Institute is developing simple handheld tools that could one day allow anyone to scan a tomato or a carrot and instantly see its nutrient density score. Imagine making shopping choices guided by vitality rather than marketing.
“We’re building a shared language for quality — not another certification system, but something that helps everyone make informed, life-honouring choices.”
This conversation left me reflecting on how easily we separate things that are inherently connected — soil life from human life, farming from health, yield from nourishment.
Dan’s work re-threads these relationships in a way that feels both scientifically rigorous and spiritually resonant.
Key ideas from this episode
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Quality over yield. True success in farming and gardening isn’t about tonnes per hectare, but the vitality of what we grow and eat.
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Soil microbes matter. The diversity and abundance of microbial life in soil directly shape the nutrient profile of food.
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Hydroponics ≠ life. Food grown in sterile systems may look perfect but lacks the subtle minerals and microbial relationships that feed our own microbiome.
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Seed integrity. The genetic potential of seed — and how it’s been bred — determines how well plants can partner with soil life.
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Nutrient density is measurable. Using light (spectroscopy), we can now begin to see food quality and make it visible to everyone.
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A community-driven revolution. The next food movement isn’t corporate — it’s mycelial, grounded in small contributions and open collaboration.
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Growing for the microbiome. Regeneration means cultivating health at every level — soil, plant, human, and planet — as one living continuum.
Listening to Dan reminds us that growing food is about participating in the living intelligence of soil.
When we grow for the microbiome, we start to see ourselves not as managers of land, but as part of the same web of nourishment.
I think of this as a quiet revolution — one that begins in gardens, on farms, in kitchens and classrooms. It’s a shift from extraction to relationship, from feeding the economy to feeding life.
Find out more about Dan Kittredge’s work here:
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ABOUT THE PODCAST
The Sense-Making in a Changing World podcast is an initiative of the Permaculture Education Institute hosted by Morag Gamble. It is broadcast from a solar powered studio in the midst of a permaculture ecovillage food forest on beautiful Jinibar and Gubbi Gubbi country.
We explore ‘what now’ – what thinking do we need to navigate a positive and regenerative way forward; what does a thriving one-planet way of life look like; and where should we putting our energy.
ABOUT THE PERMACULTURE EDUCATION INSTITUTE
Morag Gamble, founder of the Permaculture Education Institute, is an award-winning permaculture teacher, humanitarian, writer, film-maker and designer who has led programs for 3 decades in over 22 countries. She is an international leader of the permaculture movement for change.
Through the Permaculture Education Institute, Morag works with people on six continents, teaching permaculture design and skills, how to be a permaculture teacher and community leader, and how to create a regenerative permaculture livelihood.
You can start our course today.
Visit our website to find out more.
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