No matter where you look

In 2022 WaL reported on a 2004 study by the University of Texas Austin’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry which found that 43 different varieties of fruits and vegetables were deficient in certain nutrients by looking at data from the USDA.

Davis et al. reliably found declines in protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, vitamin B2, and vitamin C, in food grown in 1999 compared to those grown in the 1950s, such that the nutrient contents of a single orange grown in 1950 was the same as 8 oranges grown today.

Scientific American looked at other studies with similar results. While not all the declines were as dramatic as the eight-to-one orange ratio, there could be as much as 37% less iron in our vegetables, 30% less vitamin C, and 27% less calcium.

Mineral deficiencies are common in low-income countries due to reduced access to fruits and vegetables and ruminant meats which are the best sources of various minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium typically deficient in diets found in low-income countries.

The authors of the UK study presented several reasons why food may be so deficient in these minerals, and included commonly cited concerns like the growth of varieties of fruits, vegetables, and grains bred solely to increase yield, and less-common factors like a reduction in the use of copper-based fungicides as a culprit for the reduction in soil copper content.

They also identified that only 27% of all the fruits and vegetables consumed in the UK are grown in the UK—the rest are imported. During the Second World War, nearly all of the fruits and vegetables consumed during the summer months were produced in the UK (97%). This decline was hypothesized as one of the reasons for the lack of minerals.

“We do not recommend dietary supplements to meet the gap in nutrients supplied by fruits and vegetables,” the authors write in their conclusions. “Unless for diagnosed specific problems, these foods remain the best source of nutrients”.

For a range of reasons, agroecological farming should be supported in the context of the global climate emergency and loss of biodiversity. Farmers and other actors in the food system need to be provided with practical information to improve the nutritional quality of fruits and vegetables although further research is needed to fill the gaps in knowledge about how to improve the nutritional quality of foods”. WaL

PICTURED ABOVE: Grazed orchard, Herefordshire, UK. PC: AGFORWARD Project.