From steved@ncatark.uark.edu Wed Oct 6 11:50:59 1999 Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 23:07:18 +0000 From: Steve Diver To: sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu Subject: Re: Organic and nutrition >I can't recall whether this has been addressed in this forum before >or not...but an organic farmer I am working with recalls a federal >study which found that organic food is superior in some nutrients to >conventional food. She says she recalls that some nutrients were in >the hundreds and even thousands of percent greater in organic food. > >Does anyone know if this study exists and where to get a copy? >Thanks. > >Mark 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 Steve Diver ATTRA http://www.attra.org To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". 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