From recycler@eclipse.net Wed Dec 22 12:29:23 1999
Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 23:24:28 -0500
From: Dave Miller <recycler@eclipse.net>
To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu
Subject: Mineral Content of Foods

Alan,

You wrote:

>Can anyone point me toward references on the mineral and vitamin content
> of vegetables since 1900 or so?

Try Rodale, parent of "Organic Gardening" in Emmaus, Penn. They reported
(15 - 20 months ago) a great loss of minerals in broccoli grown in
today's soils compared to that grown in the 40's (pre-war and
pre-petro-pesticides). They made a clear argument that we have robbed
the soil of natural minerals through pesticide and artificial
fertilizers.

While I might be leaving something out, short of erosion or run-off, I
believe that the minerals would remain, it's just that the plant uptake
might have changed. Or put another way, the minerals may be more readily
available when the soil is healthy and alive but we have created "dead
soil" through the use of chemicals. I know that potash contains
potassium chloride a salt and that the chloride ion "kills" the soil
(beneficial nematodes, mycelia cease to grow).

Recycler Dave

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