Live data from Hacker News

Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

nationalgeographic.com

51–60 of 173 posts

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#51
post #50

Not to mention more sugar. I have read zoos have started having to source fruit not raised for human consumption has the sugar levels are now getting too high. In some cases 30% more sugar content if I tember correct.

I believe it. Some of these new apple varieties are delicious. But that's probably because they're bred to be sweeter, and presumably less healthy. Still better than eating processed junk food, but not as healthy as their less-tasty predecessors!

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#53
post #50

Not to mention more sugar. I have read zoos have started having to source fruit not raised for human consumption has the sugar levels are now getting too high. In some cases 30% more sugar content if I tember correct.

No post body was provided.

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#54
post #50

Not to mention more sugar. I have read zoos have started having to source fruit not raised for human consumption has the sugar levels are now getting too high. In some cases 30% more sugar content if I tember correct.

I believe it. Some of these new apple varieties are delicious. But that's probably because they're bred to be sweeter, and presumably less healthy. Still better than eating processed junk food, but not as healthy as their less-tasty predecessors!

My kids can't stand them. Too sweet even for them.

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#55
I think the latest research was showing that soil and mycorrhizae networks are very critical to the nutritional content of various plants. The sad thing is that same study (need to find it again) showed that applying conventional fertilizer actively reduced mycorrhizae and biological diversity in the soil. The scary thing is there's not much awareness of this in mainstream media. The only thing I've seen in mainstream media about this soil problem was from a hermit Indian guru type on a spotify podcast.

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#56

This article mentions that regenerative agriculture as the solution. There is a lot of concern now about the potential for a global food shortage at the end of this year because of rising fertilizer prices (leading to less planting). Regenerative agriculture can help solve this as well by focusing on restoring the biome of the soil, thereby harnessing nitrogen from the air and minerals from the soil.

Why are fertilizer prices rising? Could it be that fertilizer is the same stuff as gunpowder?

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#57
This is the conclusion of the paper [1] that this article is based upon: "We suggest that any real declines are generally most easily explained by changes in cultivated varieties between 1950 and 1999, in which there may be trade-offs between yield and nutrient content."

What National Geographic says scientists say, "Scientists say that the root of the problem lies in modern agricultural processes that increase crop yields but disturb soil health. These include irrigation, fertilization, and harvesting methods that also disrupt essential interactions between plants and soil fungi, which reduces absorption of nutrients from the soil. These issues are occurring against the backdrop of climate change and rising levels of carbon dioxide, which are also lowering the nutrient contents of fruits, vegetables, and grains."

Modern media in a nutshell.

[1] - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15637215/

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#58

This article mentions that regenerative agriculture as the solution. There is a lot of concern now about the potential for a global food shortage at the end of this year because of rising fertilizer prices (leading to less planting). Regenerative agriculture can help solve this as well by focusing on restoring the biome of the soil, thereby harnessing nitrogen from the air and minerals from the soil.

Why are fertilizer prices rising? Could it be that fertilizer is the same stuff as gunpowder?

> Why are fertilizer prices rising?

Supply chain issues, logistics problems, and high demand lead to rising prices which lead the largest exporter of phosphate fertilizer, China, to halt exports to protect domestic supply. Russia is the biggest exporter of potassium fertilizer.

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#59
post #26

They are also more abundant than they used to be and that's a valid tradeoff to consider. Would it be worth it to only have access to seasonal produce local to your region for that produce testing better? Make do with pickles and potatoes instead of fresh fruit and vegetables in late fall through early spring? If not, shelf life, productivity and greenhouse feasibility are relevant metrics in addition to taste and vi…

If my food isn't nutritious I either wither away or am forced to eat more food, which comes with more calories. So, no: it seems like it is better to make do with seasonal foods than to live in a world where I can technically experience a tomato but... is it really a tomato if it just tastes like a tomato but otherwise confers none of the value of a tomato? (If you are saying the alternative is NO food, then sure; bu…

> If my food isn't nutritious I either wither away or am forced to eat more food

Less nutrition doesn’t mean no nutrition. The vegetables are still plenty nutritious.

Re: Fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they used to be

#60

This article mentions that regenerative agriculture as the solution. There is a lot of concern now about the potential for a global food shortage at the end of this year because of rising fertilizer prices (leading to less planting). Regenerative agriculture can help solve this as well by focusing on restoring the biome of the soil, thereby harnessing nitrogen from the air and minerals from the soil.

Why are fertilizer prices rising? Could it be that fertilizer is the same stuff as gunpowder?

Fertilizer prices are rising in part because ammonia production is a rather energy intensive process and the price of natural gas used to produce ammonia is way up due to war time shortages. Ammonia, of course, is the primary source material for nitrogen based fertilizers.
Post reply on HN