Industrial Farming Lowers Food’s Nutritional Value

Filed Under: Green Politics, Susatainable Living on June 5, 2009

Industrial farming methods lower food’s nutritional value. Seems like a no-brainer. Right? Ya, well, tell that to the big agra lobbyists who’re pushing to make it illegal for you to grow your own food, let alone go to a farmer’s market and buy fresh, local, wholesome foods.

Anyway, some new studies and information have been done that further highlight this issue. New plant breeds, commonly in use on larger farming operations, are giving higher yields but with less nutritional value per pound. Makes sense, right. If the food grows faster, it won’t have as much time to absorb nutrients or convert sunlight into some nutrients.

Dr. Donald R. Davis, who recently retired from the University of Texas, compiled data that suggests several things. The data itself is hard to refute, on its face, and the conclusions are fairly obvious.

Protein in wheat and barley dropped by 30-50% between 1938 and 1990.
Corn varieties have steadily declined in protein, oil, and 3 amino acids since 1920.
Six base minerals have delined by 22-30% in 14 wheat varieties grown over the past 100 years.
USDA nutrient data shows that calcium contents in broccoli dropped from 12.9mg/gram to 4.4mg/g from 1950 to 2003.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. For a great writeup on more of this information, visit Mother Earth News and their article on this subject in the June/July issue from this year.