I can well believe this but one question springs immediately to mind. How
can one maintain mineral content in organic soils if the first objective in
(organic ) agriculture is to make a profit. The farmer exports his produce
and his minerals and he brings only money back, which has a notoriously low
mineral content.
Farmers may have to do better than that or sustainability may be no more
than a short lived fashion word.
There are/were some countries were farming has proven itself to be
sustainable for at least a few thousand years. But there the farmers brought
the bodily wastes of their customers back to the farm together with a little
money.
Rather impossible to realize in this urbanized, efficient world?
John
----- Original Message -----
From: wytze <geno@zap.a2000.nl>
To: <sanet-mg@ces.ncsu.edu>
Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2000 3:56 PM
Subject: Fw:higher nutrient levels in organic food
>
>
> Laurel Hopwood wrote:
>
> > Journal of Applied Nutrition
> > 1993; 45:35-39.
> > Organic foods vs. supermarket foods: Element levels
> >
> > Synopsis:
> > Over a 2 yr period, organically and conventionally grown apples,
potatoes,
> > pears, wheat, and sweet corn were purchased in the western suburbs of
> > Chicago and analyzed for mineral content. Four to 15 samples were taken
> > for each food group. On a per-weight basis, average levels of essential
> > minerals were much higher in the organically grown than in the
> > conventionally grown food. The organically grown food averaged 63%
higher
> > in calcium, 78% higher in chromium, 73% higher in iron, 118% higher in
> > magnesium, 178% higher in molybdenum, 91% higher in phosphorus, 125%
higher
> > in potassium and 60% higher in zinc. The organically raised food
averaged
> > 29% lower in mercury than the conventionally raised food.
> >
> > Laurel Hopwood
> >
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