Why Food Doesn’t Taste Like It Used To 🥕🍅🫐
Rediscovering the Nourishment We’ve Lost
Regenerative Roots 🌱 Part Three
“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The Lost Art of Eating
It’s remarkable to realize how we eat, how generations before us ate, is an accumulation of knowledge gathered over millennia through trial and error. Across cultures, ancestral food systems were remarkably sophisticated. They knew what was edible or toxic and also understood how foods could heal, sustain and work synergistically to support wellbeing.
Today, in many ways, we live in a golden age of food. Supermarkets are plush with produce from every corner of the globe. Fusion cuisines have created new flavors, blending culinary traditions in ways that can be vibrant, delicious and culturally meaningful, reminding us that food is a language that evolves, adapts and tells new stories. Technology has made food cheaper and produce more visually appealing. But our perfectly shaped tomatoes and shiny red apples are often bland imitations of their former selves.
In Part One of Regenerative Roots, we explored how the richness of living soil mirrors the richness of our gut, and how greater microbial diversity in the soil translates to higher concentrations of phytochemicals and antioxidants in food, which are critical to boosting immune function and metabolic health.
The Science of Flavor
Microbial vitality gives us an additional gift; the compounds that protect and heal are also what give food its flavor. Microbes living in symbiosis with plant roots help unlock minerals and trace elements in the soil, influencing the plant’s internal chemistry. This includes the production of secondary metabolites: compounds like flavonoids, terpenes, esters and polyphenols. These aren’t essential for plant survival but they’re critical for defense, protection and communication.[1] And they’re what give food its aroma, vibrancy and distinctive taste. Bitterness, sweetness, and acidity are all shaped by these molecules. When soils are alive, plants become more expressive chemically, sensorily and nutritionally.[2] Volatile esters, for instance, attract pollinators and are responsible for the fruity and floral flavors we associate with ripeness. A tomato or strawberry picked too early or grown in biologically impoverished soil contains significantly fewer esters.[3]
In the modern era, fruits and vegetables have been bred for shelf life and appearance. When agriculture shifted its focus to yield, uniformity and speed, these flavor compounds were often lost. If we focus solely on macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats, proteins), as nutrition labels often encourage us to, modern agriculture may seem to meet all our nutritional needs. But it’s in the loss of trace minerals, secondary metabolites and micronutrients that the flaws of our contemporary food systems become most apparent.
We might assume that choosing organic translates to more nutritious, flavorful food. And opting for produce grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers reduces our exposure to toxins. But this often comes with a higher price tag so going organic isn’t realistic for most. Even when we do stretch our budgets for it, the nutritional payoff isn’t guaranteed. Many large-scale organic farms rely on monocultures and tillage, practices that disrupt the complex web of microbes and minerals plants need to thrive. That’s why you can slice into an organic tomato and still be underwhelmed. When soil lacks diversity, the chemistry of flavor simply doesn’t happen. So while organic is generally cleaner, it doesn’t always translate to more nourishment or flavor.
The Supplement Industry Fills the Vacuum
As modern farming practices prioritized speed, uniformity and yield at the expense of nutrient density, the multivitamin emerged as a cultural fixture, an attempt to patch over what industrial systems had stripped away from our food. Yet supplements often lack the synergy of whole foods, where nutrients are paired with fibers, enzymes, and cofactors that assist in their absorption and utilization.
Worse still, concentrated doses of isolated nutrients can sometimes do more harm than good. Many years ago, I discovered that omega-3 fish oil, commonly taken to improve heart health, really helps me cope with the seasonal blues (my sensitivity to diminished daylight). But I was surprised to learn recently that for people with otherwise healthy hearts, these supplements can increase the risk of atrial fibrillation[4]. 😱 The good news is combining omega-3 with vitamin K2 appears to mitigate this risk.[5] Even so, that’s the nuance of real wholesome food; it comes bundled with built-in regulators.
Holistic Healing: Food As Medicine
How did entire civilizations thrive without fish oil capsules, protein powders and multivitamins lining their kitchen cabinets? Why didn’t everyone just keel over from nutritional deficiencies?
I recall a conversation with my late father, who, like so many in his generation, embraced the modern health narratives of the 20th century. He swapped butter for margarine, convinced it was the healthier choice, only to later discover the dangers of trans fats. In his later years, he would reflect on how the everyday meals he grew up eating in India (wholegrains, various pulses, fermented foods like yoghurt and achaar, seasonal vegetables, natural fats) were now being “discovered” as the cornerstones of a healthy diet.
Nearly every ancestral healing system recognized that what we eat directly shapes our well-being. In Ayurveda, this understanding is rooted in the concept of rasa, the six tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Each flavor plays a distinct energetic and digestive role, and balancing them helps ensure that food is properly digested, nutrients absorbed and the buildup of toxins are cleared. This coordinated approach prevents disease and supports vitality.
Just as Ayurveda emphasizes the central role food plays in our wellness, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views ingredients as a means to harmonize the body’s internal energies. Foods are classified by both their thermal nature (warming, cooling, neutral) and their taste (sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, salty). Each is believed to influence specific organs and energetic functions in the body. Beyond flavor and nourishment, foods were combined to support the flow of qi, the vital life force, and to maintain the delicate balance between opposing forces in the body, known as yin and yang.
In today’s world, highly processed foods and toxins may not make us sick overnight. But they chip away at our health, and over time often necessitate pharmaceuticals that sometimes come with side effects. While the power of modern medicine is undeniable, the goal of traditional healing systems wasn’t to treat disease in isolation. They sought to cultivate resilience from within, allowing the body to resist harmful influences and heal itself.
Food Alchemy: Nutritional Synergies Across Cultures
As cuisines around the world were reshaped to fit the convenience and pace of modern life, many of the food synergies and preparation methods that supported digestion, satisfaction and vitality began to fade. It’s no wonder that even when we think we’re eating clean, we can still feel sluggish, bloated and unsatisfied. The wisdom of pairing certain foods, fermenting and sprouting went beyond culinary art. Without these practices, our bodies absorb fewer nutrients and we have more cravings, leading to the grazing that so often characterizes modern eating.
Traditional cuisines reveal a profound understanding of how certain foods, when combined, unlock greater nutrition and flavor than the sum of their parts. These culinary synergies reflect centuries of observation, experimentation and cultural wisdom.
Fermentation was a powerful method traditional cultures used to enhance nutritional synergies, transforming foods through microbial action to unlock both health and flavor. It allowed communities to preserve seasonal harvests, but also to make everyday staples like milk, pulses and vegetables more digestible and nutritious. Foods like yogurt, wine, cheese, achaar, miso, injera, kanji and kimchi enhanced digestibility, unlocked nutrients and added layers of flavor to meals.
Beyond fermentation, other culinary strategies that optimize dishes for nutrition include:
Nixtamalized Corn: Soaking maize in lime water softens kernels for tortillas while enhancing the bioavailability of essential nutrients, minerals and amino acids. It also reduces mycotoxins making traditional tortillas safer and more nourishing. [6]
Grains + Legumes = Complete Protein: Individually, grains and legumes lack one or more essential amino acids. But together, they complement each other, forming a complete protein. This synergy supported countless traditional plant-based diets around the world.
Spice Synergies: Certain spice combinations enhance bioavailability, support digestion and amplify anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. For instance, turmeric’s curcumin is poorly absorbed on its own but when paired with black pepper, piperine slows its breakdown in the liver, boosting the body’s absorption. [7]
Fat + Fat-Soluble Nutrients: Vitamins A, D, E, and K need fat to be absorbed. Combining vegetables rich in these nutrients with healthy fats enhances nutrient uptake. It seems intuitive now, but fat was heavily stigmatized in the not-so-distant past. In traditional cooking, this pairing was second nature.
Vitamin C + Iron-Rich Plants: Eating iron-rich vegetables with citrus helps the body absorb more plant-based iron. Across traditional cuisines, greens were paired with lemon, tomato or vinegar, creating delicious dishes that delivered the kind of vitality Popeye would approve of. 💪
Sour Elements + Carb-Rich Meals: Whether through fermenting staples like sourdough and dosa or pairing meals with tangy sides, traditional cuisines harnessed acidity to boost nutrition and help regulate blood sugar. The souring process breaks down antinutrients like phytic acid, improving mineral bioavailability in grains, legumes and root vegetables.
Wine + Cheese = Less Stress: A classic pairing with protective chemistry at work. Wine’s polyphenols help counteract some of the harmful effects that saturated fats can have on arteries by reducing oxidative stress, while cheese’s fat and salt mellow wine’s tannins, a harmonious blend of flavor and function.
These time-tested pairings illustrate how flavor and nutrition were deeply entwined in ancestral kitchens. I imagine this is what La Rochefoucauld was thinking when he spoke about the art of eating intelligently. 🧀🍷🌾
A note on food anti-synergies: Matcha is everywhere these days: in lattes, pastries, ice cream. When I learned that the casein in dairy hinders the absorption of matcha’s beneficial catechins, I was inspired to try it the traditional Japanese way.[8] While not quite as indulgent, it’s a gentle reminder to those enjoying matcha and other fun blends for their health: fusion can be sweet but the nutrients just might be canceling each other out. 👀
In Defense of Carbs: Why Ancient Grains Never Made Us Fat
Carbohydrates are often demonized, blamed for everything from weight gain to chronic fatigue. But the carbs our ancestors ate didn’t spark modern metabolic crises. I was captivated by Dr. Daphne Miller’s stories of the cold spots[9] she describes in her book The Jungle Effect. In Copper Canyon, Mexico, for instance, she found indigenous groups thriving on traditional, carb-rich meals, whilst exhibiting remarkably low rates of diabetes and obesity. She contrasted this with Pacific Island communities that saw a sharp rise in metabolic disease after replacing their native staples with Western-style refined carbs.
So, are carbs themselves to blame? In studying indigenous food systems, Miller observed how synergistic pairings and preparation methods support metabolic health. She also underscores the protective benefits of native carbohydrates including:
Slow-digestion: stabilizes blood sugar and prevents insulin spikes.
Fiber-rich and nutrient-dense: promotes satiety and retains minerals and vitamins largely stripped away during refinement.
Free of industrial fats: contains plant oils that support healthy lipid metabolism.
Naturally antidiabetic: certain plants improve cellular insulin sensitivity.
Some fad diets warn against consuming legumes and grains because of their anti-nutrients.[10] If you’re eating a healthy diet of wholegrains, lentils and greens, but still feel fatigued, these compounds might be to blame. But don’t let that scare you off! Traditional techniques like soaking, fermenting, sprouting and of course, cooking, help neutralize their energy zapping effects while unlocking more nourishment. I used to think prolonged soaking was a waste of time, but now I see the wisdom behind it. 🍛
It seems the trouble isn’t with carbs themselves, but with how we prepare them, and the broader shift from slow-release, nutrient-dense staples to rapidly absorbed ones. Refinement strips grains of their fiber and micronutrients, leaving behind quick-burning starches that contribute to many of the chronic issues we see today. At the same time, grain diversity has sharply declined across the globe[11]. In India, nutritious staples like millets and sorghum were edged out by polished white rice and refined wheat. It's a similar story across parts of Africa where ancient grains have been displaced by industrial-scale monocultures of maize.
Changemakers: Savoring Nourishment
The good news is a revival to bring back these forgotten staples is underway. Agro-visionairies (farmers, chefs, scientists, seed stewards, agritechies) who understand the ecological and nutritional limits of our modern industrial food systems, are helping to reconnect us with produce that begins in living soil and ends in deeper nourishment, flavor and cultural meaning.
Across continents, heritage grains like millet, farro, teff, freekeh, quinoa and amaranth are making a comeback, fueled in part by growing support from global organizations and governments committed to advancing sustainable agriculture.[12] Celebrated for their nutrient density, many of these ancient crops are also drought-resistant and well-suited to low-input farming practices. In the kitchen, they’re very versatile with distinct textures and flavors - from nutty undertones to smoky earthiness. These grains are sparking a wave of culinary curiosity, inspiring Michelin-starred chefs and home cooks alike. 👩🏻🍳
Taste, of course, begins in the fields. In the 1990s, when industrial agriculture was considered the gold standard of food production, regenerative pioneer Gabe Brown broke with convention. He began transforming his degraded farmland in North Dakota into carbon-rich soil using regenerative practices that were largely dismissed by his peers back then as impractical and naïve. But over time, he restored the land’s natural fertility by reviving the soil’s biological life, nurturing healthier plants and the entire food web connected to it. Various scientific assessments have shown regenerative practices consistently produced crops, livestock and dairy richer in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals, [13] outcomes directly tied to soil health.[14]
Building on this understanding, Dan Kittredge is a holistic-minded innovator working to shift the incentives in our food system from quantity to quality. His research shows that the nutrient content in common foods like carrots and spinach can vary dramatically depending on how and where they’re grown. By measuring concentrations of polyphenols, antioxidants and minerals, his team have found striking disparities within the same crop.[15] To address this, Kittredge is developing a handheld tool that uses light spectrometry to assess a food’s nutritional quality in real time. This device has incredible potential to empower consumers, shift supply chains and reward farmers for growing nutrient-rich crops. If flavor and nutrition become visible and verifiable, it could revolutionize how food is valued in the marketplace.
This kind of work signals the possibility of a food system grounded in taste, ecological vitality and human health. And as modern science continues to affirm what ancestral traditions have long understood, the wave of regenerative farmers, sustainable food producers and culinary artists is poised to grow and flourish.
Eating Intelligently
Dietary diversity shapes our microbiome from infancy to old age. We now know that introducing a wide variety of wholesome foods early in life can improve immune tolerance and reduce the risk of developing allergic diseases.[16] And even in adulthood, meaningful dietary changes can slow, or in some cases, reverse the progression of chronic illnesses.[17]
Scientists are also trying to fill the nutritional void. CRISPR[18] is now being used to edit genes linked to sweetness and phytonutrients in tomatoes, offering a shortcut to flavor and nutrition. But can gene edits replicate the complexity of living soil that gives food its sensory and therapeutic power? While humans have shaped crop traits for millennia, today’s technological interventions tend to happen on a scale that overlooks the holistic intelligence of ecological systems. When we try to fix one part, we can unintentionally disrupt another, Mother Nature’s way of reminding us that she’s the ultimate engineer, and one we still have a lot to learn from. 🌬️🐝
Heirloom tomatoes offer a taste of her time-nurtured sweetness, but unlike their mass-produced counterparts, these gems are sold at prices out of reach for most of us. In Part Four of Regenerative Roots, I’ll be returning to my policy roots to examine the forces that shape what we eat today, and how regenerative practices backed by smart policy and natural capital can help shift incentives to build a more resilient, health-centered food system aligned with the public interest.
For now, there’s still plenty within reach. We don’t have to trade nourishment and flavor for convenience and health. Though we might not have the time our ancestors did to spend in the kitchen, here on The Earth Dispatch, I’ll continue sharing food wisdom paired with recipes that may help bring healing traditions back into everyday life. 🍋🌍❤️🩹
All photos by me.
Endnotes
[1] Pang, Z. (2021). Linking plant secondary metabolites and plant microbiomes: A review. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, Article 646369.
[2] Sundarrajan, R. V. et al. (2024). Chapter 20: The influence of soil microorganisms on fruit quality and flavor. In Recent advancements in pomology.
[3] L, Y. (2021). Cultivation conditions change aroma volatiles of strawberry fruit. Horticulturae, 7(4), 81.
[4] Lagerweij, G. R., et al. (2023). Association between regular use of omega-3 fatty acid supplements and risk of incident atrial fibrillation in a population-based cohort study. BMJ Medicine, 3(1), e000451 See also: Time Magazine (2024, May). Why fish oil supplements can be dangerous for the heart. https://time.com/6980756/omega-3-fish-oil-heart-health/
[5] Vitamin K₂ activates proteins (like osteocalcin) that guide calcium into bones and away from arteries, helping prevent arterial calcification.
[6] Miller, Daphne. (2008). The Jungle Effect: Healthiest Diets from Around the World, Why They Work and How to Bring Them Home. Scribner. Miller explores several of the food synergies listed here in her book.
[7] Salamon, M. (2024) "Nutritional Power Couples," Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/nutritional-power-couples
[8] Traditionally, matcha is prepared with hot water using a bamboo whisk and no other ingredients, preserving its health-giving properties and allowing its grassy, umami notes to shine without dilution.
[9] Cold spots are regions of the world with unusually low rates of chronic diseases. Miller visits cold spots where diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and depression are nearly non-existent.
[10] Anti-nutrients are naturally occurring compounds (phytic acid, lectins, oxalates) that can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb nutrients. They do this by binding to essential minerals and proteins or by blocking digestive enzymes needed to break down food.
[11] This traces back to the Green Revolution of the mid-20th century, which introduced high-yield wheat and rice varieties and expanded chemical inputs. In spite of improving food production, it also triggered a decline in traditional crop systems, significantly reducing agro-biodiversity, especially the variety of heritage grains across Asia and Africa. https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/back-to-the-future-green-revolution
[12] This revival has been supported by initiatives like the U.N. FAO’s declaration of 2023 as the International Year of Millets; India’s National Food Security Mission-Nutri Cereals; and ICRISAT’s Smart Food campaign.
[13] Van Vliet, S., et al. (2021). Health‑Promoting Phytonutrients Are Higher in Grass‑Fed Meat and Milk. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4, Article 555426
[14] Montgomery, D. R., et al. (2022). Soil Health and Nutrient Density: Preliminary Comparison of Regenerative and Conventional Farming. PeerJ, 10, e12848.
[15] Analysis from the 2019 Bionutrient Institute Report documenting wide nutrient variability across six crops: carrots, spinach, kale, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and grapes. https://bionutrient.net/site/bionutrient-institute/report-2019
[16] Roduit, Caroline, et al. (2014) “Increased Food Diversity in the First Year of Life Is Inversely Associated with Allergic Diseases.” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, vol. 133, no., pp. 1056–64. See also: McMahan, Ian. “Babies Fed a Diverse Diet Had Fewer Food Allergies, Study Reports.” The Washington Post, March 3, 2025.
[17] Harvard Health Publishing. (2018). A healthy lifestyle can prevent diabetes (and even reverse it.) Harvard Medical School. See also: Alyafei, A., & Daley, S. F. (2025). The role of dietary lifestyle modification in chronic disease prevention and management. StatPearls.
[18] CRISPR is a gene editing technology used to alter DNA in living organisms. It’s being used to boost sugar content in tomatoes, though these varieties aren’t yet on the market. The only CRISPR-edited tomato currently available is in Japan and was developed to raise GABA levels.
food doesn’t taste like it used to because it isn’t food anymore..