“Farmer Lee Jones is a sort of agricultural Willy Wonka, growing the most rarefied produce for the country’s top restaurants . . . [and now he has] started selling boxes of produce previously destined for Michelin-starred kitchens direct to home cooks.” (Wall Street Journal, May 23, 2020)

“Functional foods” is a buzzword for a concept that has a long history. This term is being used for foods that can have a positive effect on a person’s health—meaning one that goes beyond simply providing him or her with basic nutrition. In other words, functional foods would be ones that help to promote good health while helping to prevent disease.

If Bob Jones, Jr. and his farm team at The Chef’s Garden could receive one belated holiday gift, it’s that people would sit down and watch a fascinating series of short videos created by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA): the Science of Soil Health Video Series. To help, this post will contain overviews from the first five of them, along with insights from our farm team.

First, let us say that we’re thrilled to see how regenerative agriculture is showing up as a key food-related trend for 2020 and beyond in many places around the internet. For example, Whole Foods Market is listing this as the number one food trend in 2020, and they encourage people to support companies with regenerative practices.

At The Chef’s Garden, we’re growing vegetables slowly and gently in full accord with nature—and, yes. We recognize that this philosophy goes against much of today’s lightning fast speed of living.

The phrase of “products with purpose” is finding its way into more news stories, more discussions within a company—including at The Chef’s Garden and the Culinary Vegetable Institute—and into more conversations with customers.