What do onions, beets, tomatoes, and kale have in common? According to Veggie Smarts: A Doctor and Farmer Grows and Savors Eight Families of Vegetables, they’re all part of an edible botanical puzzle that holds the key to how we eat—and why we should eat better.
Written by Dr. Michael T. Compton, a public health physician turned organic farmer, Veggie Smarts is a joyful, nerdy, and nourishing exploration of the eight families of vegetables that make up most of our plant-based plates: Brassicas, Alliums, Legumes, Chenopods, Aster Greens, Umbellifers, Cucurbits, and Nightshades.
Part nutrition guide, part farm memoir, and part scientific curiosity cabinet, Veggie Smarts is already a #1 New Release in Vegetarian Diets on Amazon. Dr. Compton pairs his medical expertise with the dirt-under-his-fingernails perspective of a small-scale organic farmer in New York’s scenic Hudson Valley, where he traded in city life for a field full of carrots, tomatoes, and possibility.
“Eight on my plate” is Compton’s mantra—an invitation to explore the incredible variety, nutrition, and stories rooted in these eight plant families. From why onions make us cry to how beets can turn your pee pink, he breaks down food facts with humor and heart, while offering a deeper look at the land’s agricultural history and his own journey reclaiming old farmland.
“Vegetables are more than side dishes,” says Compton. “They’re science, sustenance, and soul. This book is about learning to love them more—and maybe even growing a few yourself.”
With vivid farm life anecdotes, bite-sized botanical facts, and a deeply personal voice, Veggie Smarts is a timely and tasty read for gardeners, food lovers, health seekers, and anyone curious about where their vegetables come from—and how to enjoy them more fully.
I had a chance to learn more in this interview.
Most people know they should eat veggies, but why is it important for people to be well-educated about vegetables? There are so many veggies—like 100 or more—but most of us tend to eat only a few of them. If we get to know all of our vegetables better, we might be more likely to give more of them a try! Diversity is key for a healthful diet, so the more different vegetables we eat, the more fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients we get. This is good for our health!
What are some things that people might be surprised to learn about vegetables? Nearly all of our vegetables come from just 8 families of flowering plants, from among more than 400 family of flowering plants. Eating across those 8 families of vegetables is the healthiest way to eat. We should all know those 8 families, just like we know the differences and similarities between cheese and yogurt, and between bread and pasta. What are those 8 families? Read Veggie Smarts to find out!
What inspired your deep interest in veggies? I needed to get smart about veggies for two reasons. First, in learning a lot about nutrition and health, I learned about fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients (plant-based compounds that are good for health promotion and disease prevention because they are anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory). So, learning about all of our veggies was important. Second, as a farmer, I needed to understand how all the vegetables I grow on the farm are situated within 8 plant families. That helps me understand their flowers, seed germination, pest problems, and growth patterns.
How can families encourage even picky eaters to be more adventurous about veggies? Go to the farmers market (together) and find a vegetable that you’ve never eaten before! Then go online and find a great sounding, simple recipe, and give it a try (together)! Do that a few times and you will probably find some new veggies that you really love eating! Do you like broccoli? Try kohlrabi. Do you like onions? Try leeks. Do you like spinach? Try Swiss chard. Do you like carrots? Try parsnips. There are so many great vegetables out there, across 8 families. No need to count calories. Count families!
Dr. Michael T. Compton is board-certified in psychiatry, preventive medicine, and lifestyle medicine—a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, and a Member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. As a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, he has a deep understanding of what makes people feel secure, content, and happy; he also happens to have expertise in healthy lifestyle behaviors and nutrition. Having grown up on a dairy-farm-turned-beef-farm in rural southwestern Virginia, embracing a whole-foods, plant-predominant eating pattern might not have been in his genes. But creating a garden with his two green thumbs from Granny definitely was. Attending college at Mary Washington, medical school at the University of Virginia, and specialty training in psychiatry and preventive medicine at Emory University took this proverbial boy off the farm, but as all who know the old saying might suspect, the farm had not been taken out of him. In a mid-life burst of productivity, he built a compact, organic-certified vegetable farm and got smart about growing and savoring vegetables.
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