An article in the Guardian caught our eye with the alarming headline ‘Vegetables are Losing Their Nutrients’. It begins with the findings in a 2004 University of Texas study showing dramatic declines in the nutrient content of 43 foods, mostly vegetables, between the mid and late 20th century: green beans have seen a nearly 50% drop in calcium, while asparagus has lost almost half its Vitamin A content.
The article cites climate change as a culprit and looks into possible solutions on a global scale, but doesn’t delve into the other major factors contributing to this serious emergency. But we know that many other studies have demonstrated that organically-grown food crops provide significantly more nutrition than their conventionally grown and industrially-farmed counterparts. And the very best way we can make sure our vegetables, fruits and herbs are full of nutritional goodness is to grow them ourselves.
We have been working on this issue for decades, and we have the soil products, organic fertilizers and other important beneficial amendments to build your soil in order to make your food as healthy and nutritious as possible. So much of nutrient availability depends on our unseen partners in the soil microbiome, so we use and sell compost tea and mycorrhizae to support and build their populations. When we grow our vegetable gardens, the plants are taking nutrients out of the soil that will hopefully go into our bellies. We need to replenish those minerals and raw materials for the beneficial soil life to be able to provide us with nutrient-dense food again and again. We are proud that we have been pioneers in this endeavor and have over 30 years of experience that inform the expert advice we can give you, the cutting-edge classes we offer, and the superior products we sell.
Read the full article at the Guardian.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15637215/The University of Texas study can be found here.