From recycler@eclipse.net Wed Dec 22 12:29:38 1999 Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 23:24:28 -0500 From: Dave Miller 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 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From hey4hogs@kuntrynet.com Wed Dec 22 12:32:22 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 01:23:31 -0500 From: Greg & Lei Gunthorp To: recycler@eclipse.net, sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Mineral Content of Foods [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] If we take out all the minerals but only replace NPK why wouldn't mineral levels go down? Also, what if the only factor in selecting new varieties is yeild with no regard for quality? USDA has the mineral data on food but good luck getting ahold of it. I've tried with no luck. I was told it was just a conspiracy but she wouldn't send data to show me. That was after I was transferred about 15 times. We have a huge food quality problem out here and they know it. I'd love to see one of the investigative tv shows get ahold of the real data. It would make a good case for a whole new paradigm than industrialised agriculture. I wonder why they don't want that? Best wishes, Greg Gunthorp -----Original Message----- From: Dave Miller To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Date: Tuesday, December 21, 1999 11:34 PM 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 > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From recycler@eclipse.net Wed Dec 22 12:47:32 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 02:35:38 -0500 From: Dave Miller To: "Alty, Al" , sanet , NY VEG , CJVG list , aquaponics@townsqr.com Subject: Re: Monsanto "Genetic Engineering" may sell out? Take 2 Jim Sealy Jr wrote: > > Either way we're planting soybeans and corn come spring > because people have to eat and it's simply not possible to fill the > volume needed with pure organic. We'd have to plow under the world. > Which prairies, and forests do you want cleared and planted if we give > up chemicals and GE? > Jim, I might be way off base here but last I checked, provisions to feed the world are not the problem, food distribution and politics are. We have the land space to feed the world only most of it goes toward feeding cattle, a serious mismanagement of said land use. Without the cattle (used for meat and milk) we could use the grains to feed billions and ALL without a genetic engineering need. As yet, I await a rational arguement that defines the reasons for harvesting grains and taxing our water supply (not to mention excess methane and runoff from animal waste) all for the purpose of feeding animals for slaughter. Fish farming in the aquaponic sense seems a much saner route. Anything that is a fairly closed loop works for me. While I choose to generally avoid animal products/derivitives I do understand that the world needs to eat AND that not all folks feel as I do. When you ask me to believe that we must "plow under the world" I sense that we either have a population explosion in which case I state that we must be prepared to die like all other species on the planet, or modify our reproduction mechanisms or at least temper our diet. I find the latter the easiest though birth control is also possible short of pissing off some religious beliefs. I respect and expect the opinions of those who can convince me otherwise. Recycler Dave To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From Diana.Erney@Rodale.com Wed Dec 22 12:54:02 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:46:55 -0500 From: "Erney, Diana" To: "'sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu'" Subject: vitamin and mineral content of food Here's the link to the recent article which appeared in Organic Gardening magazine regarding the decline of nutrients in the US food supply: http://www.organicgardening.com/library/novdec_watchdogusda.html I hope you will find it helpful. Diana Erney Sr. Research Associate Rodale Organic Gardening Books To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From bluestem@webserf.net Wed Dec 22 12:54:25 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 14:22:22 From: Bluestem Associates To: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: Re: Mineral Content of Foods On Tue, 21 Dec 1999 23:24:28 -0500, Dave Miller wrote: >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. I guess I have to come back to this topic again. Study after study has shown _no_significant_or_consistent_difference_ between organic produce and conventional counterparts. There are a couple of possible major conclusions from those 20+ years of organic vs conventional studies. a) Mineral content of *organic* produce has been declining along with that of conventional ... or b) Organic food was of lower mineral content to begin with and conventional food has come *down* to the level of organic. Rodale's "clear argument" is therefore a complete crock as far as I'm concerned, until somebody shows me significant and consistent numbers to the contrary...ie, a) that a wide range of organic produce, grown in several regions, has significantly higher mineral content than conventional b) that difference is consistently maintained for several years Simply not using synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilizers does *not* make someone a good farmer, and it certainly doesn't guarantee that their crops will be of better nutrient quality than those of a conventional grower. There are some superb organic farmers out there --- better farmers than 95% of all conventional growers. My point is that they are *also* better than 95% of all *organic* growers, too. GOOD growers produce mineral-rich food. There are good growers, mediocre growers, and lousy growers, and whether they are certified organic or not has little (if any) bearing on which category they fall into. Bart To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From markl@buylocalfood.com Wed Dec 22 12:56:04 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:48:03 -0500 From: Mark To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: RE:mineral and vitamin content of vegetables While I am an organic gardener, I posted a similar question a while ago because I too was told that "organic vegetables have more nutrients" than conventional ones. After many responses from the group it became clear that this was an old saw that had been passed around for years, and that the only measurable difference between organic and conventional vegetables was that organic had more dry matter. While I would welcome information supporting the claims we have heard, I think advocates of organic production need to emphasize the clear benefits of the practice: soil stewardship, safer for farmers and farmworkers and not laced with chemicals for consumers. Mark ---------------------------------------------------- Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) An independent non-profit organization. http://www.buylocalfood.com 893 West Street Amherst MA 01002-5001 T: 413-559-5338 F: 413-559-5404 To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From WILSONDO@phibred.com Wed Dec 22 12:57:08 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:10:35 -0600 From: "Wilson, Dale" To: "'recycler@eclipse.net'" Cc: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: RE: Mineral Content of Foods [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Dave, > 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. Keep in mind that analytical methods change over time, and small changes in method can affect results. Methods today are easier and more accurate than in the 40's. Making comparisons across large expanses of time or space is always unreliable. For example, just letting the vegetables wilt before testing would increase mineral content by weight (by reducing water content). Studies that use a local control (more-or-less side-by-side production) are far more reliable, and should always over-rule results like those presented by Rodale. Those folks at Rodale should know better. Dale To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From awiediger@Hart.k12.ky.us Wed Dec 22 12:58:35 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 10:04:37 -0500 From: awiediger@Hart.k12.ky.us To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: RE: mineral and vitamin content of vegetables I agree. In our sales direct to consumer, and at the Farmers' Market, we are often asked "does it taste better because it's organic?". We always answer, "Why don't you try it and let us know? ". Our produce probably will taste better than most at our market. Most of it is from a wholesaler in the closest large city, being resold, and resold, and resold until it's totally unsellable or sold out. So ours is grown well, and more importantly for the consumers' taste, fresh. We tell people who ask, exactly how we grow our produce, but we absolutely do not make claims for healthier, tastier, better - that's for the customer to decide. It works for us. Alison in Kentucky > ---------- > From: Mark[SMTP:markl@buylocalfood.com] > Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 1999 8:48 AM > To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu > Subject: RE:mineral and vitamin content of vegetables > > While I would welcome informationsupporting the claims we have heard, I > think advocates of organic production need to emphasize the clear benefits > of the practice: soil stewardship, safer for farmers and farmworkers and > not laced with chemicals for consumers. > > Mark > > To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From mmiller@pcsia.com Wed Dec 22 12:59:58 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 09:56:33 -0600 From: mmiller@pcsia.com To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Mineral Content of Foods >USDA has the mineral data on food but good luck getting ahold of it. I've >tried with no luck. I was told it was just a conspiracy but she wouldn't >send data to show me. Greg, thanks for jogging my memory. I have some of the data you mentioned that I got from the US Gov't Printing Office in Chicago when I lived in that neck of the woods (or tollways). For those of you interested in these publications you can contact your closest printing office or US Government Printing Office 401 South State Street Chicago, IL sorry don't have the zipper but your PO will. or call 312-353-5133 The publication I got was the 1989 Supplement entitled Composition of Foods Raw, Processed, Prepared. It goes with the Agriculture Handbook Number 8 from the Human Nutrition Information Service. This publication has several areas of analysis. Proximate Minerals - 9 listed Vitamins -9 listed Lipids profile - sat. mon and poly from 4:0 to 22:6 individually Amino acids At the time I got the supplement, the Handbook #8 was not available but that may have changed or you local university library should have it or you may be able to get it from the Ag college or Home Economics Department especially if you don't let them know you're a troublemaker for the "conspiracy". ;>) Mike Miller To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From gcr@rhealiving.com Wed Dec 22 13:00:20 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 10:32:50 -0600 From: Donna Fezler To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: RE: Mineral Content of Foods-www [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Try http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/software/software.html on the National Agricultural library site http://www.nal.usda.gov/ Donna Fezler GCR Jacksonville, IL http://www.rhealiving.com - To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From williamevans@home.com Wed Dec 22 13:01:20 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 08:39:10 -0800 From: William Evans To: "sanet-mg-digest@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: mineral content- organic is better >Can anyone point me toward references on the mineral and vitamin content > of vegetables since 1900 or so? The Sanet archives contain a number of posts relating to the nutritional quality of organic foods. In addition to references previously posted, here are three more sources: 1. "The Healing Power of Minerals, Special Nutrients and Trace Elements" by Paul Bergner (1997, Prima Publishing, Rocklin, CA) includes USDA figures that show a decline in mineral and vitamin content of several fruits and vegetables between 1914, 1963, and 1992. Table 1 is a summary of mineral decreases in fruits and vegetables over a 30-year period, adapted from Bergner's book. Table 1. Average changes in the mineral content of some fruits and vegetables*, 1963-1992 Mineral Average % Change Calcium -29.82 Iron -32.00 Magnesium -21.08 Phosphorus -11.09 Potassium -6.48 * Fruits and vegetables measured: oranges, apples, bananas, carrots, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, celery, romaine lettuce, broccoli, iceberg lettuce, collard greens, and chard 2. In England, Anne Marie-Mayer compared food composition over a 50-year period using data from the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF). Her study, "Historical Changes in the Mineral Content of Fruits and Vegetables" was presented at the Agricultural Production and Nutrition conference held at Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy on March 19-21, 1997. Table 2, adapted from Marie-Mayer's paper, summarizes the average ratio of nutrient content and dry matter of 20 vegetables and 20 fruits. A ratio of 0.81 for Ca, for example, means that over an approximately 50-year period the average content of calcium in vegetables has declined to 81% of the original level. Table 2. Average ratio of mineral content and dry matter (new/old) for vegetables and 20 fruits* Ca Mg Fe Cu Na K P D.M. Vegetable ratio 0.81* 0.65* 0.78 0.19* 0.57* 0.86 0.94 0.97 Fruit ratio 1.00 0.89* 0.68* 0.64* 0.90 0.80* 0.99 0.91 The symbol * indicates a statistical difference 3. In 1997 an extensive literature review was published: "A comparison of organically and conventionally grown foods -- results of a review of the relevant literature" by Katrin Woese, Dirk Lange, Christian Boess, and Klaus Werner Bogl. 1997. J. Sci. Food Agric. Vol. 74, 281-293. The authors are with: Federal Institute for Health Protection of Consumers and Veterinary Medicine, Division 2, Chemistry and Technology of Foods and Commodities, PO Box 330013, D-14191, Berlin, Germany. The review summarizes and evaluates the results of more than 150 investigations (published between 1926 and 1994) comparing the quality of conventionally and organically produced food, or of foods produced by different fertilization systems. The review is particularly noteworthy to those of us readers here in the United States, because it looks like better than 90% of the citations are from German-language journals and literature. This article does a good job of addressing the parameters used to evaluate differences item by item. One passage worth noting: "Only the more or less correlative results of the feed selection tests permit a general conclusion: animals distinguish between the foods on offer from the various agricultural systems and almost exclusively prefer organic produce." ============================================= As an aside, this is what Dr. William Albrecht emphasized in his work as a soil scientist at the University of Missouri; i.e., animal feeding trials to ascertain the true quality of feedstuffs, writing: "cows are capable chemists" "as a chemist by experience and survival, not by academic training, the cow led the nomad over fertile soils" "we need to start observing and judging the cow as she is a chemist on the hoof guiding her own nutrition" ============================================== Other findings: *Lower nitrates in organically produced or fertilised vegetables. *Lower pesticide residues in organic fruit and vegetables *Higher dry matter content in organic products *Feed experiments showed animals preferentially selected organic produce, but where fertility parameters and rearing performance were determined the results were contradictory To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From jgruv@wam.umd.edu Wed Dec 22 17:02:29 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 13:51:57 -0500 (EST) From: Joel Brooks Gruver To: "sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu" Subject: Re: Mineral Content of Foods Hello to all... The issue of differences in nutritional quality between organically and conventionally managed crops is a distraction... the real issue is "what are the factors that impact the nutritional quality of food plants". The Soil Quality issue Volume 7 (1&2) of the American Journal of Alternative Agriculture included an article by Sharon Hornick titled "Factors effecting Nutritional Quality of Plants". This article is a good foundation for starting to think about the impact of inherent soil properties (e.g. texture, clay mineralogy), variable soil properties (e.g. organic matter content) and crop/soil management practices (e.g. fertilization, tillage...) on crop nutritional quality. A more recent article in the same journal Volume 12 (2) titled "Suppression of VAM fungi and micronutrient uptake by low-level P fertilization in long-term wheat rotations" by Clapperton, M. J., Janzen, H.H. and A.M. Johnston provides a clear example of how modification of soil ecology associated from P fertilization can reduce the micronutrient content of wheat. Another interesting article is "Enrichment of some B-vitamins in plants with applications of organic fertilizers" by A. Mozofar in Plant and Soil Volume 167 pages 305-311. The biotic and abiotic factors that impact crop nutritional quality are at work in both organic and conventional systems... rather than distracting ourselves with largely meaningless monolithic comparisons... lets focus on the mechanisms/factors that either promote or impede a plant's expression of its genetic potential for nutritional quality. Joel Gruver Center for Agriculture, Food and Environment Tufts University To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From steved@ncatark.uark.edu Wed Dec 22 21:32:55 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 18:28:28 +0000 From: Steve Diver To: Steve Groff Cc: sanet Subject: Re: Mineral Content of Foods Steve Groff wrote: > As a followup, I was wondering where I could get my soil tested for the minor > minerals or are plant tissue tests better. how much does this test cost? What > minerals should I test for? What is the best source of needed minerals. What is > the most effective way to get the minerals into the plant? The 14-page ATTRA's resource list titled "Alternative Soil Testing Laboratories" has just been revised (December 1999) and now available in print. The updated web version will be on-line in January. I think it goes a long way to addressing this whole issue. There are plenty of soil labs -- using a variety of approaches and philosophies -- that can provide soil-test specific information to help farmers improve soil health and crop nutritional quality. Monitoring the crop in the field with on-site instruments, and following that with agronomic and horticultural adjustments to improve the nutritional and energetic status of the crop is the other part of the equation. Steve Groff mentioned vitamins. In the list of Soil Test Supplies, Instruments, and Equipment section below -- lifted from Alternative Soil Testing Laboratories -- see the Vitamin C test strip from EM Science. Test strips are also available for nitrates. These can be done as on-site tests at the farm, at the farmstand, or at the farmers market. One of the better on-site tests you can perform as an indicator of taste is degrees Brix, using a refractometer. The refractometer is an precision optical instrument used in the food industry. The higher the Brix, the greater the soluble solids and sugars present in the sap of fruits and vegetables. On one of the California farms, they raised Brix readings on Japanese melons from 8 to 16. This is a dramatic taste improvement. This was done with supplemental foliar feeding (Brix Mix from Peaceful Valley Supply) in addition to soil amendments. In Wisconsin, the ginseng growers initiated a quality improvement program to increase active herbal ingredients. This was done through soil testing, soil fertilizer programming, and foliar feeding. Steve Diver ATTRA http://www.attra.org ================================================= Soil Test Supplies - Instruments - Equipment Gempler's 100 Countryside Drive PO Box 270 Belleville, WI 53508 800-382-8473 608-424-1544 608-424-1661 Fax [Gempler's Master Catalog] http://www.gemplers.com Gempler's IPM Almanac] http://www.ipmalmanac.com Gempler's carries a full line of soil testing equipment and IPM supplies, including pH meters, Cardy meters, electrical conductivity meters, soil test kits, and soil probes. Of special interest is the Professional Soil Quality Test Kit ($485), which provides indicators of biological, physical, and chemical soil conditions. This is the test kit promoted by USDA-NRCS, also known as the USDA Soil Health Test Kit. It was developed in the early 1990's by Dr. John Doran, a USDA soil scientist, in collaboration with the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. The test kit is accompanied the USDA Soil Management Manual (Item No. RGM97) which describes testing procedures for: pH, nitrates, salinity (EC), soil compaction, soil moisture, soil biological activity (respiration), soil texture, water infiltration, bulk density, earthworms, and waster quality. The manual sells individually for $9.95. Hach Co. P.O. Box 389 Loveland, CO 80539-0389 800-227-4224 970-669-3050 970-669-2932 Fax csays@hach.com http://www.hach.com Hach Co. manufacturers a number of portable soil and water quality monitoring instruments: pH meters, electrical conductivity, percent base saturation, colorimeter meter. LaMotte Co. P.O. Box 329 Chestertown, MD 21620 800-344-3100 410-778-3100 410-778-6394 Fax lamotteese@aol.com http://www.lamotte.com The LaMotte STH Soil Test Kit features the Morgan Universal Soil Extraction Solution , the solution used in the Reams Test, to measure plant available nutrients. The Kit includes a colorimetric Humus Screening Test. LaMotte carries a complete line of soil & water quality monitoring instruments. Pike Lab Supplies RR 2, Box 710 Strong, ME 04983 207-684-5131 207-684-5133 Fax Contact: Bob Pike pike@somtel.com http://kiosk.maine.com/pals/ Extensive selection of on-farm testing supplies: refractometers, paramagnetic soil meter, electrical conductivity, soil test kits, compost test kits, Cardy meters. Pike Lab Supplies also carries a wide selection of books on eco-farming. Spectrum Technologies, Inc. 23839 W. Andrew Rd. Plainfield Illinois 60544 800-248-8873 815-436-4440 815-436-4460 Fax specmeters@aol.com http://www.specmeters.com/index.htm Spectrum Technologies manufacturers a number of portable soil and water quality monitoring instruments: pH, electrical conductivity, nutrient test strips, Cardy meters, colorimeter meter. EM Science Regional and National Distributors 856-423-6300 800-222-0342 856-423-4389 Fax http://www.emscience.com EM Science manufacturers test strips for pH, nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, phosphorus, calcium, and vitamin C. The reflectoquant meter is used in combination with test strips for rapid and accurate determination of results. ================================================== To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From recycler@eclipse.net Thu Dec 23 14:47:48 1999 Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 23:42:30 -0500 From: Dave Miller To: sanet Subject: Doctors Sue Glickman and Shalala [ The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set. ] [ Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set. ] [ Some characters may be displayed incorrectly. ] Okay, so I am more than a week late: On Wednesday, December 15, 1999, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a national health advocacy group, filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 15, 1999 Doctors Sue Glickman and Shalala Financial Conflicts of Interest, Racial Bias on Diet Panel Washington, D.C.^×The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a national health advocacy group, filed a federal lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). PCRM is charging the government with violating the law that bans undue influence in federal advisory committees. The D.C.-based doctor's group is concerned about the activities of a powerful 11-member federal advisory committee, appointed to revise the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Along with the Food Guide Pyramid, these Guidelines provide nutritional advice for all Americans and form the basis of all federal food programs, including the National School Lunch Program which feeds 26 million children a day. "We have uncovered evidence that at least six of these committee members have had or currently have significant ties to the meat, dairy, or egg industries," says Mindy Kursban, PCRM staff counsel. "And we have good reason to believe the government has intentionally withheld documents revealing conflicts of interest." {THIS IS REALLY SAD} "It doesn't take a physician to diagnose the problem with this committee," says PCRM president Neal D. Barnard, M.D. "Clearly, its work^×and the public's health^×has been compromised. As health professionals concerned with the staggering levels of illness in this country, these industry ties are particularly hard to swallow." PCRM is also suing the USDA and the DHHS for promoting dietary guidelines that undermine minority health. In a national campaign launched last spring, PCRM is asking the government to acknowledge that minorities suffer from higher rates of prostate cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases than Caucasians and to promote diets low enough in fat and rich enough in plant products to reduce their risk of these conditions. Additionally, PCRM is asking the government to make dairy strictly optional, acknowledging that the majority of African-, Hispanic-, Asian-, and Native-Americans are lactose-intolerant, and that they may wish to choose other sources of calcium. PCRM's proposals for changing the Guidelines have been endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust; the NAACP; former U.S. Surgeon General M. Joycelyn Elders, M.D.; Martin L. King, III; Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.; Muhammad Ali; and many other community leaders and minority health advocates. For interviews with PCRM medical and legal experts, as well as video footage of the news conference, please contact Simon Chaitowitz at 202-686-2210, ext. 309. SimonChai@aol.com The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization founded in 1985 and focused on preventive medicine, particularly good nutrition, and higher standards in research. To learn more, please visit: http://www.pcrm.org/news/lawsuit.html -- Happy Solstice, Prosperous New Century! _______________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤» ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Recycler Dave A remodeler, drummer, farmer, soapmaker To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From maroc@islandnet.com Thu Dec 23 19:32:22 1999 Date: Thu, 23 Dec 1999 15:10:10 +0000 From: Maroc To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: minerals and nutrition We must be making some headway because Alison and Dale are both right on. Alison your sales pitch is honest and pointing people in the correct direction. With reasonable respect to Dale and his collegues we'd have to say that no scientist in a lab will ever be as finely tuned to bovine nutrition as a healthy cow. If there is a disagreement over the nutritional contents of any bovine food, I'll trust the cow any day. You can bet that humans have a built-in ability in this also, although nearly all of us have grown so far from the real world that we has lost most of it. I would never pretend that food we grow has constant nutritional content/quality. There are too many variables over the plant's lifetime to predict the final outcome. But you know quality when you get it. You know the joy when your eyes, your fingers, your nose, your lips, mouth, and digestive tract all sing, "this is it", even if it is only a radish. Science has its values, although it is nothing like the chemical corporations would have us believe. For instance, it took me a long time to realize (and admit) that sending soil samples to a testing lab was all wrong. Just as the cow can tell me a lot about the food I'm giving her, our vegetable plants and fruit vines, bushes and trees, will tell me what they need and want if I watch them carefully and learn to understand their signs. If Dale and Alison are both headed down the same road, we'd do well to head in that direction also. Don Maroc Vancouver Island, Canada To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail From uai@alltel.net Wed Dec 29 14:52:29 1999 Date: Tue, 28 Dec 1999 07:40:30 -0500 From: Hugh Lovel To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Minerals in Food Dear Mark, et. al., Some organic vegetables DO have more minerals and a better profile of minerals--most notably biodynamically grown ones. There is quite a lot of variation. For example, I grow the sweetest turnips. I grow them as a companion plant in my winter rye cover crops and they never have enough nitrate content to have any bitter taste. If you consider nitrate content as a mineral, then they don't have much of this kind of mineral. But they have enough calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. to weigh several pounds more per bushel than the kind you ordinarily get in the stores, and commonly they outweigh the organic ones in the whole foods stores too. One of the measures of mineral content, the brix reading made with a refractometer, is usually thought of as a measure of plant sugars, but there is a correlation between minerals and plant sugars that works like this. A plant builds up higher levels of plant sugars when it has enough calcium and other minerals in its cell walls to block the radiation of infrared energy that plants commonly undergo at night. It is common knowledge that sugars build up as a result of photosynthesis, but it is less commonly known that they may convert these sugars back into radiation and give it off at night if they don't have sufficient mineral content to shield this radiation from escaping. Calcium is the most important mineral here, but since such things as boron are essential for calcium uptake and utilization by plants they are important too. What can markedly INCREASE a plant's loss of infrared radiation is nitrogen salts such as ammonia, nitrates, urea, etc. There are huge variations in brix measurements and mineral content between different growers and some chemical growers do a good job here and some organic growers don't. What a lot of people DON'T know is there can be huge differences in the organizational forces present in the growing medium and that this can have a large effect on the quality of what is grown. I'm copying a post I sent to the BDNow! List about hydroponics as it contains some useful even if a bit arcane information about organizational forces. Hydroponics? Consider this. The ether, which is the insubstantial organizational force that permeates substance and is especially rich in organ-isms and organic forms in general (Reich called this "orgone" energy) parallels the states of matter that in an earlier age were called the elements--fire, air, water and earth. As each state of matter becomes more condensed the ether associated with it becomes more intensified. Thus in the radiant, fire state we have warmth as the organizing principle. In the gasseous, air state we have light. In the liquid, water state we have sound or harmonious/dissonant associations of molecules that we know as chemistry. Lastly in the solid, earth state we have the most intense condition of the ether which is known in BD circles as the life ether. Hydroponics grows plants in a solution of water loaded with various soluble chemicals, but this does not provide the most organizational forces. Steiner's second agricultural lecture points out these solid state organizational, etheric forces are most intense in the crystalizing period (in the northern hemisphere) in mid winter when they are received in the siliceous rocks of the earth and transmitted to plants by way of clay. The only way to get these forces in our food is to grow it in soil rather than hydroponic tanks. Thus I don't know of any attempts to pass off hydroponically grown food as biodynamic. There just isn't any way it measures up. So it wouldn't make any difference if it was cheap and efficient, it grows watery food that simply doesn't have that much life force. It is insights like this that set biodynamics apart from the rest of the organic movement, which simply doesn't know much about this sort of thing. Best, Hugh Lovel P.S. I might add to the above that as we have poisoned the earth and eroded its topsoils we have diminished the vitality of soils, the atmosphere, rainfall and the earth as a whole. There simply isn't as much natural life force available as there used to be either for chemical or organic growers. Unless the grower is doing something to replenish the life (organizational) forces in his growing environment the produce will be lower in minerals, sugars, complex amino acids (complete protein rather than so-called crude protein) and so forth. When there is enough water available this produces watery vegetables, but this condition is also reflected by greater incidence of drought, especially when the atmospheric life forces related to fruiting and ripening are deadened by pollution. Then you can have a situation such as we had at our Atlanta organic farmers' market this past summer where the two farms that best survived the drought and had the most produce to sell were both using biodynamic preparations. HL Mark wrote: >While I am an organic gardener, I posted a similar question a while ago >because I too was told that "organic vegetables have more nutrients" than >conventional ones. After many responses from the group it became clear >that this was an old saw that had been passed around for years, and that >the only measurable difference between organic and conventional vegetables >was that organic had more dry matter. While I would welcome information >supporting the claims we have heard, I think advocates of organic >production need to emphasize the clear benefits of the practice: soil >stewardship, safer for farmers and farmworkers and not laced with chemicals >for consumers. > >Mark >---------------------------------------------------- >Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA) >An independent non-profit organization. > >http://www.buylocalfood.com > >893 West Street >Amherst MA 01002-5001 >T: 413-559-5338 >F: 413-559-5404 > > >To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command >"unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". >To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command >"subscribe sanet-mg-digest". > >All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: >http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail