How UCFarms handles scientific information.

Reference data, not UCFarms measurements

Every nutrient amount on this site is a reference value from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s FoodData Central. Each crop is matched to one USDA food record (for example, “Spinach, raw”), and the amounts shown are for 100 grams of that raw, edible reference food. They describe the food in general. They are not measurements of produce grown by UCFarms, and the site never presents them that way.

When UCFarms crops are tested for nutrients, those results will be stored in a separate collection, labeled as UCFarms measurements, and shown beside the USDA figures rather than mixed into them. That collection is empty today. Independent microbial screening, described on Production Standards, checks for harmful bacteria; it does not measure nutrients, and no result of one kind is ever used to imply the other.

One record per crop, kept whole

A crop’s profile takes its amounts from a single USDA record, never from several records stitched together. For the crops with a profile, the full USDA record is saved on this site with its download checksum, the exact analyte and unit used for each nutrient, and the reason that record was chosen. A value the USDA reports as zero is shown as zero and says why; a value the USDA does not report is left missing, never turned into zero.

Reference pages for each crop, with the exact record, are on the Atlas sources page.

Vitamins, minerals, fiber and functional compounds

Each nutrient in the Atlas is classified explicitly as an essential vitamin, an essential mineral, fiber, or a functional compound such as a carotenoid. The groups are shown separately. Functional compounds have no Daily Value and are never mixed into vitamin or mineral totals.

Percent of Daily Value

Where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration publishes a Daily Value (adults and children aged four and over), the site works out the percentage at the moment the page is shown, from the reference amount and the FDA value, and never caps it. A few nutrients need their measurement form matched first: folate is reported by the USDA as total food folate and its Daily Value is in dietary folate equivalents, so the site uses the USDA’s own folate equivalent for the same record; vitamin A is taken as retinol activity equivalents directly from the record, without adding its carotenoids a second time.

How nutrients connect to body systems

The links between a nutrient and a body system are educational. Each one points to a published source and uses careful language: a nutrient supports, contributes to, or plays a role in a process. The Atlas does not say that any food or nutrient cures, treats, or prevents a condition, and it is not personal medical advice. The nutrition and biological information on this site is provided for educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice.

What is deliberately not shown

• No nutrient density score or ranking. No crop is called more nutritious than another.
• No lab results, batch records or certifications, because none exist yet.
• No estimates to fill a gap. A crop without a verified reference shows an honest in progress note instead.

Still being prepared

7 of the 15 crops on the Farm page have a verified reference profile (7 saved USDA records). The following crops do not yet have one. Each needs a reference that matches the crop as UCFarms will grow it; for the microgreens and specialty crops that means a study of the same species at the same growth stage, not a record for the mature vegetable, and no substitution is made without saying so.

• Lettuce
• Broccoli Microgreens
• Radish Microgreens
• Pea Shoots
• Lion’s Mane
• King Oyster
• Lemon Balm
• Mint

This page is updated whenever a profile is added, a measurement collection is opened, or the way a figure is calculated changes.