What has happened to Vegetables
Have our Veggies become Worthless?
Are Today's Vegetables Worthless?
Fruits and Vegetables are Now Weenies!
In 1936, a group of doctors sounded an alarm to the US Senate. It was a dire warning that the mineral content of the soil was eroding. Vegetables were losing their power and people were at risk. Congress did nothing and today we're feeling the effects.
Just look at the loss of vitamins and minerals in fruits and vegetables today compared to 1975.
* Apples: vitamin A is down 41%
* Sweet peppers: vitamin C is down 31%
* Watercress: iron is down 88%
* Broccoli: calcium and vitamin A are down 50%
* Cauliflower: vitamin C is down 45%; vitamin B1 is down 48%; and vitamin B2 is down 47%
* Collards greens: vitamin A is down 45%; potassium is down 60%; and magnesium is down 85%
These are the USDA's own numbers. The vitamin and mineral content of our fruits and vegetables has dramatically plummeted
Notice that minerals like iron and magnesium have dropped by more than 80 percent. The principal causes of the nutrient decline are the degradation of the soil in which crops are grown; developing new high-yield varieties; agronomic factors associated with the commercialization of agriculture; the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides to boost food production; improvements in irrigation and the advent of affordable technologies; the introduction of genetically modified food; enhanced air and water pollution; global warming; thinning of the ozone layer; and elevated CO2 concentration.
Over the past 60–70 years, plant breeders and physiologists emphasized increasing crop yields through advanced plant genetics tools and intensifying agricultural production systems, and they highlighted the attention not given to maintaining nutritional quality, especially the micronutrient content in crops, which is also essential for the healthy life of the habitat. Modern varieties of fruits, vegetables, and food crops are less nutritious than historically lower potential varieties grown before 1960
Traditionally grown tomatoes, cucurbits, okra, and chili were extremely low-yielding, but contained higher nutrient density, distinct taste quality, and organoleptic properties and a significant difference in mineral content between cultivars has been observed in many horticultural crops including potato, tomato, cucurbits, raspberry, and broccoli.
Since the 1940s, crop yield and the per-capita availability of foods have been continuously increasing due to intensive farming techniques, artificial fertilization, pesticides, irrigation, growing high-yielding varieties, and other environmental means, whereas malnutrition tends to increase incessantly due to disrupting the fine balance of soil life and decreasing the nutritional density and quality of the food crops. At present, people are overfed but undernourished due to consuming nutrient-poor diets,
It is quite difficult to obtain an equal concentration of nutrition from the food that was enjoyed before the pre-green revolution era. Important commercial high-yielding fruits such as apples, oranges, mango, guava, banana, and vegetables such as tomato and potato have lost their nutritional density by up to 25–50% or more during the last 50 to 70 years due to environmental, genetic, and field soil dilution factors
The soil doesn't have minerals, there's no way for vegetables to absorb them. And that leads to the big question…
How Can We Get the Vitamins and Minerals We Need?
My two Cents:
Regardless of where you live, plan and plant your own Vegetables.
Part of your Planting Plan should include Natural Organic Compost
Even if your space is limited use containers, borrow a plot from a neighbor, or join a Community Garden.
If you do not have any space look for a Community Garden and get involved
But get out there and Grow
Chuck Bartok, Let’s Grow Crazy