Hi,
Imo, the higher content of minerals in organic foods does not necessarily mean
that more minerals were taken from the soil. I could imagine that in organic
farming the circumstances are more plant-friendly and giving more opportunity to
the seeds to realise more of their potential. The minerals in the seed partly
come from soil I guess but there is a continuous truely alchemical process of
change happening in seeds and plants.
From what I heard human manure is very poor and should not be used on the land
and to my knowledge was also not used in ancient well performing agricultural
systems (but I am no expert on this last point).
wytze
John D'hondt wrote:
> 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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