also not very surprising

[solarbird]

Modern vegetables not as nutritious as those grown 50 years ago - unless you're talking about organically-grown, in which case they're as healthful as they were then. In short, fast-growth post-Green-Revolution fruits and vegs aren't as good for you. Still better than not eating them! But not as good.

Comments

[quen-elf.livejournal.com]

Mmm. I don't know, I think it is a little surprising actually. There's always been quite a bit of snake-oil in the promotion of organic food; for example, people have concentrated on the danger of actually eating pesticide residue, which is unlikely to be a problem at least with most things, and smacks of scaremongering. I buy organic, but I've always done so on the premise that it's better for the environment (and in the case of food grown in countries without adequate regulation to ensure worker safety, for farmers too - I do know that in many areas of agriculture, very many thousands of farmers die each year due to pesticides), not for me.

Previously I'd heard that there was no particular evidence organic food was any healthier - but, again, it's possible that this was based on the pesticide stuff rather than the vitamins and such. So I hope this one's true. :)

[solarbird]

Mmm. I don't know, I think it is a little surprising actually
Not to me. But not because of the pesticide issue, which I consider to be completely separate, but because post-Green-Revolution farming depletes secondary plant nutrient sources in the soil; they just aren't part of the fertiliser schedule, because they aren't vital to getting the crop, so they don't get replenished.