Its not surprising that 60 years after the green revolution ( <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution</a> ) that we would have washed trace minerals from the soil of our most productive farmland, which produces most of our vegetables, resulting in them having lower mineral content. Its also not surprising that nitrogen fed fruits and vegetables bred for size and weight would be larger and so contain diluted minerals.<p>But if we intend to continue to increase our agricultural output and continue to feed the earth's population then there's no going back, and you can't feed everyone on earth with organic methods. Its hard enough using every trick in the book. Borlaug ( <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug</a> ) is an amazing guy and anyone who enjoyed this article will enjoy reading about the bio-hacker that fed a billion people and ended mass starvation in India and China by breeding kick-ass wheat and rice that raised agricultural output by seven times since the 1940s!<p>The solution for Americans: grow your own vegetables! Use plenty of compost, use organic heirloom seeds suitable for your area and spray weekly with dilute dish soap and you'll have minerals a plenty in your veggies and no pesticides. And they'll taste better than anything you've ever had! It doesn't take much land to grow a significant amount of food.
I'm not clear on the importance of this claim, even if it were to pan out. We aren't seeing vitamin deficiencies in this country beyond those people who don't actually <i>eat</i> vegetables.
"The Omnivore's Dilemma" is a great book about this.<p>One thing I learned there is that if you buy a strawberry flavored something that lists "natural flavorings" on it, that doesn't mean it has any strawberry in it. "Natural" just means the material originates in nature, not that the actual molecules are natural. Material from corn chemically processed into something that tastes (barely) remininscent of strawberry is a "natural flavor" according to the system.
This does not come as a surprise if you've followed prior evidence suggesting that processed stuff contains less nutrition than natural foods(whole grains, grass-fed, organic, etc).
This doesn't really address how to solve the issue. Would going to farmer's markets/growing your own be the only way to address this on an individual scale? Or would the farmers be doing the same thing.
There is an interesting documentary "Food matters" (<a href="http://foodmatters.tv/" rel="nofollow">http://foodmatters.tv/</a>). The facts presented are astonishing. However, I do not necessarily advocate on taking their point of view, In my opinion it would be reasonable to withhold judgment and look on their facts. It might change your perspective.<p>"You are what you eat"
As far as I know, in countries fighting against obesity like ours, and with no real vitamin deficit, it's not really a big problem having lesser energetic food.<p>my 2c.
Nutritionists have been saying this for years. This is why the very high end multi vitamins ($50-100 per month!) include such a wide variety of ingredients, and the does is somewhere between 9-12 capsules PER DAY.<p>Examples:<p>Life Extension Foundation: <a href="http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item01335/Life-Extension-Mix-Tabs.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.lef.org/Vitamins-Supplements/Item01335/Life-Exten...</a><p>NSI:
<a href="http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Synergy-Supreme-Multi-Vitamin-Version-3" rel="nofollow">http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Synergy-Supreme-Multi-Vitamin-Ve...</a>
there's "do-nothing" technique from masanobu fukuoka
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masanobu_Fukuoka</a><p>he claimed his yield is the best in japan -- by weight<p>he could win the most nutritious award too if such category existed