One Reason Why Organic Foods Are More Nutritious

For years, dietitians, pesticide makers, junk food companies, and Big Agriculture have argued that organic foods are a waste of money. They often point to the enormous crop yields – i.e., supposed superiority – of conventional corporate farming.

Organic farming is based on sustainable agricultural methods, in which soil nutrients are replenished with natural fertilizers and chemical pesticides are avoided.

A few small studies have strongly suggested that organic foods have higher levels of many nutrients. Several years ago, researchers found that plants increased their production of antioxidants to protect against weather and insect stresses. Pesticides obviate the need for these natural defenses, resulting in lower antioxidant levels.

New research points to a fundamental flaw in high-volume farming. Biochemist Donald R. Davis, PhD, of the University of Texas, Austin, and his colleagues analyzed levels of 13 nutrients in 43 food crops between 1950 and 1999. They used U.S. Department of Agriculture data for their comparison.

Although overall crop yields increased many times during this time, levels of six nutrients decreased. For example, protein declined by 6 percent, and vitamin B2 went down by 38 percent. Calcium, phosphorus, iron, and vitamin C also had substantial declines.

After further investigation, Davis and his colleagues attributed the decrease in nutrient levels to a “dilution effect.” Although plant yields per acre increased, the root systems of plants were not able to improve their assimilation of nitrogen and minerals, which are needed to make protein and vitamins. In other words, growing more plants per acre is equivalent to having more mouths for the soil to feed. That means smaller portions of nutrients per plant.

The lesson? You can’t fool Mother Nature.