The nutrients in our soil have been decreasing over the past 50 years, causing the nutrients in our food to decrease, which affects our health. Farming of course is important to our lives and health, but farming is also big business. We all want lower food prices and with a growing population, we need more food grown than ever before. What factors has caused the loss of nutrients in the soil and can it be reversed.
We hear about food crops all of the time on the nightly news. Bad weather like hail or flooding can ruin a portion of the wheat crop and the price of bread and everything else that wheat goes into will go up in price. That is what supply and demand are about.
Not only can weather and bugs create shortages of certain food crops, but the population is increasing across the planet, and more people need more food. As farmers continue to find ways to grow more food, the soil has become depleted of nutrients.
There are actually people who think a loaf of bread at the grocery store is just that, a loaf of bread that is somehow manufactured that way. They don’t stop and think that the loaf of bread has to be grown first as wheat on a farm.
| Is the loss of nutrients in the soil bad for our health? Yes, this can be a problem considering that we get almost all of our vitamins, minerals and nutrients from the plants that grow in the soil. Even if you ate only animal foods, those vitamins and minerals also came from the plants the animals ate. |
What Causes the Loss of Nutrients in Soil, Plants, and Food?
There a number of reasons for the loss of nutrients in the soil, plants and food. Plants get much of their nutrients from the soil, so the loss of nutrients in plants starts with the loss of nutrients in the soil. And of course there are arguments about these reasons, depending on who has the most to gain from these arguments.
The fertilizer companies, the huge corporate farms, GMO seed manufacturers, the use of ethanol and the politicians. Some argue it is all about global warming or climate change.
If the soil has fewer nutrients, then the plants growing in that soil can also have fewer nutrients, which causes us to eat fewer nutrients which does affect our health. The main reasons for the loss of nutrients in the soil are:
- Runoff
- Erosion
- Failure to rotate crops
- Harvesting of crops without replacing the lost nutrients.
- Leaching
- The use of pesticides on crops and soil reduce can kill the beneficial living bacteria in the soil.
- Acid rain causes a low pH level of the soil or a more acidic soil which causes more leaching of the nutrients in the soil [1].
Corn depletes the soil of nutrients faster than other plants. With the demand for more corn for ethanol, some farmers are planting only corn year after year without crop rotation. Corn takes more nitrogen than most other crops which means heavy use of nitrogen fertilizers.
Loss of Nutrients in Plants and Food
A University of Texas at Austin 2004 study of 43 plants found that nutrient values have decreased in the last 50 years. This study found nutrient losses ranged from 6% for protein and a 38% loss of riboflavin. A USDA (United Stated Department of Agriculture) report suggested an “alarming decline in food quality in 12 common vegetables” [4].
This study found losses in the following nutrients:
- Protein had a 6% loss
- Phosphorus: 9% loss
- Iron: 15% loss
- Calcium: 16% loss
- Vitamin C: 20% loss
- Riboflavin: 28% loss
The study’s conclusion is that nutrient loss is a result of changes in cultivated varieties. The trade-off is between higher yields and lower nutrients.
Faster growing and higher yielding seeds and plants do not develop the root systems that plants used to have. A shorter and shallower root system does not allow the plants to absorb as many nutrients from the soil as they used to.
Another cause of lower nutrient values in our food is the picking fruits and vegetables before they have had time to fully ripen, which can cause lower nutrient values.Why Our Food is Less Nutritious
We can see that our food is losing nutrients for various reasons over the decades, but there are other reasons that our food has become depleted of nutrients as well, which could be a reason for the rise in certain health problems.
One reason is the loss of nutrients in the plants and vegetables we eat, but another larger problem is the advent of processed foods.
With the soil being depleted of nutrients and much of our food being processed, our health suffers from the lack of real vitamins and minerals in our food.
What You Can Do to Eat More Nutrients
- Eat more nutrient dense whole foods, which is simply to eat more healthy foods.
- Eat fewer junk foods and processed foods which are not nutrient dense foods.
- Eat more organic foods. Organic farmers usually take better care of their soil but don’t get the higher yields. This is one reason organic foods cost more but could be better for our health.
- Eat more locally grown fruits and vegetables. These plant foods are usually picked fully ripened and do not have to sit on docks or in trucks for weeks before getting to your store. Buying at farmers markets is a great way to eat organic and locally grown foods and also helps your local farmer stay in business.
- Grow some of your food and try to use heirloom seeds, organic fertilizer and make your own compost.
Conclusion
As a consumer, you do have a choice to eat higher nutrient foods. You can eat the most nutrient dense foods only and forgo the processed foods and buy from organic and local farmers.
About the Author
Sam Montana is a certified Food Over Medicine instructor from the Wellness Forum Health Center and certified in optimal nutrition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Copyright © 2012-2022 Sam Montana
References and Resources
[2] University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2007, October 29). Nitrogen Fertilizers Deplete Soil Organic Carbon. ScienceDaily http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071029172809.htm
[3] Erosion: Drive to increase corn acres could damage soil. Des Moines Register
[4] PubMed: Davis DR, Epp MD, Riordan HD. Changes in USDA food composition data for 43 garden crops, 1950 to 1999. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Dec;23(6):669-82. doi: 10.1080/07315724.2004.10719409. PMID: 15637215.
