Isn’t this at least easy to fix? Required amounts of dietary minerals are minuscule: 50 mg iron, 15 mg zinc and less than 2 mg of the other transition metals and P. Presumably fertilizer could include trace amounts of these elements without substantial cost increases? (Ca/K/Mg are already in fertilizer.)
Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
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Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
Presumably, using natural fertilizers would make a difference, as you'd expect a wider range of minerals than in straight haber-process fertilizer. I don't know if natural fertilizers are always a requirement for organic food, though.
If this is actually a problem, I'd much rather someone figure out which minerals need to go into the fertilizer mix (plus some downstream monitoring) than to assume that putting poop on the vegetables makes them wholesome.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#43The link got that actual paper is much better than a sentence or two on LinkedIn. The paper’s title isn’t as catchy to put in nicely. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163803/ From my link: >It is important to note that the USDA mineral content of vegetables and fruits has not been updated since 2000, and perhaps even longer, given that the data for 1992 was not able to be definitively confirmed for this…
If organic food actually had a noticeably higher mineral count than nonorganic, I would start eating it. But I don’t see why organic food would actually have more minerals. Organic doesn’t mean healthier it just means that it uses different kinds of pesticides, to my knowledge
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10531600/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7905466/
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
If organic food actually had a noticeably higher mineral count than nonorganic, I would start eating it. But I don’t see why organic food would actually have more minerals. Organic doesn’t mean healthier it just means that it uses different kinds of pesticides, to my knowledge
https://www.ams.usda.gov/publications/content/introduction-o... >Soil Fertility: Crops more easily resist disease, survive drought, and tolerate insects when grown in good soil. Organic crop producers build soil quality by adding compost, animal manures, or green manures. As soil organisms break down these inputs, they convert nutrients into forms plants can absorb and create humus that sustains soil quality. Organic…
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#45These are normalized mass rates, ie grams per gram of plant mass. However, the mass yield per acre of cabbage has radically increased over that time period. Is it possible that a cabbage plant is capable of absorbing an absolute amount of minerals, and this is simply being diluted by ever-larger cabbages?
Consequently, if humans eat according the amount of minerals in the food, the increase in carbohydrates could also explain the increase in obesity.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't forget meat has absolutely tons of essential nutrients and vitamins, some of which can't be found in fruits and vegetables.
I wouldn't doubt that meat suffers from similar nutrient deficiencies. After all, livestock are fed from the same supply chain.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#47Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#48Read The Omnivore's Dilemma. Do it now.
not sure why this would get downvoted
Those answers may be obvious to someone who's already read the book. To people not familiar with the book it's a cryptic imperative.
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#49The link got that actual paper is much better than a sentence or two on LinkedIn. The paper’s title isn’t as catchy to put in nicely. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6163803/ From my link: >It is important to note that the USDA mineral content of vegetables and fruits has not been updated since 2000, and perhaps even longer, given that the data for 1992 was not able to be definitively confirmed for this…
Re: Estimates that mineral levels in vegetables have dropped by up to 90% since 1914
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
If this is actually a problem, I'd much rather someone figure out which minerals need to go into the fertilizer mix (plus some downstream monitoring) than to assume that putting poop on the vegetables makes them wholesome.
Ten thousand years of agriculture is an assumption?