>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
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