The Decline of Nutrition in Fruits and Veggies

A new report in the Journal HortScience says fruits and veggies taste worse and contain fewer nutrients than they did generations ago. The University of Texas, Austin, researchers found the average supermarket vegetable has from 5- to 40-percent less mineral content (magnesium, iron, calcium and zinc) than veggies grown 50 years ago.

They were quick to note the cross-generational comparison has its limitations, mostly due to methods used to collect historical data. However, in reasoning why veggies today may be less nutritionally potent, the researchers looked at the dilution effect, whereby bigger produce often contains more "dry matter" rather than more nutrients, and selective breeding may favor one micro or macronutrient to the detriment of other essential nutrients in a particular vegetable. The industrialization of farming, including chemicals and pesticides, is also blamed for the modern quick harvesting that can rob the produce of the chance to absorb more nutrients.

This report gives more support to the argument for organic and sustainable farming. In the same issue of HortScience, there is an article entitled, "The Impacts of Yield on Nutritional Quality: Lessons from Organic Farming." 

Also check these previous articles out for more evidence of organic produce's nutrient prowess: