By now we know that the color of our food is usually indicative of the nutrient value of said food. A nice orange carrot for example, contains large amounts of the nutrient carotene. Modern food production methods have hybridized most of our food plants for faster production and larger yields with little to no regard for taste and nutrient value.
Color comparison between a store bought strawberry, a soil grown organic strawberry, and an aquaponically grown sister strawberry plant.
Here you can see a comparison of strawberries. I purchased a container of strawberries from the local market, and while they were large, fresh, and reasonably delicious, there was just something missing in their flavor. I have grown my own strawberries for many years and have no shortage of runners and established plants. At the beginning of this growing season, I removed a nice established runner from my organic strawberry bed and placed it into the aquaponics system. When the June-bearing strawberries were ready this year, I decided to do a comparison of the berries.
Looking at the above photo, you can see that while a store bought strawberry is larger than the organic and aquaponic strawberry, there is no comparison on depth of color (and flavor). Being sister plants, you can see that the organic and aquaponic strawberry are quite similar, however, the aquaponic strawberry is considerably more red than the other two. The flavor was exponentially better from left to right with the organic strawberry being a factor of 10 better than the store-bought, and the aquaponic strawberry being yet another factor better than the organic.
While I am willing to admit that the flavor of any given strawberry can change from one to the next, I feel this comparison is representative of an overall sampling of multiple berries from all the test categories. While I would love to know the actual nutrient values of these strawberries, I lack the scientific equipment to measure them. For now, I know what is in my food, what is not on my food, and where it is produced, and the piece of mind that comes with that is very satisfying. Personal aquaponic food production is practical, convenient, healthy, and inexpensive. Personal food production on any level just makes good sense.