This discussion has gone 'round and 'round. I believe these figures, but I
also think there's more to the story (such as the condition of the soil from
which these foods are taken). I believe that the SANET archives (which I've
not done, and don't have the time for, unfortunately, so I may be speaking
from false memories) would reveal that these same basic "claims" have been
made before. But it seems to me that few words were said about the soils from
which the vegetables were grown. Most of us feel that organic soil amendments
are wonderful for the environment: adding macro- and micro-nutrients,
adjusting pH, increasing water holding capacity and infiltration, reducing
soilborne disease pressure, and increasing microbial populations that better
regulate soil nutrient cycling.
I guess what I'm trying to say (and this has been said before in another
version of this thread) is that when vegetables are grown side-by-side on the
same soil (the only difference being fertility) the mineral content _may_ be
very close. That's one aspect of organic versus synthetic fertility that has
not (in my opinion) been well studied. We have good research out there that
shows improvements in soil profiles (and everything else listed above), but
little about mineral content.
Further, (and this too has been mentioned previously) the type of nutrient
available is not well characterized (i.e. organically-complexed iron versus
the mineral iron and magnesium, as well). The biochemistry may well be
different than the chemistry, and is more difficult to determine that through
straight analytical chemistry means.
This said, I still think that organically produced vegetables are better (for
the environment, for biodiversity, for the farmer and his/her workers, and for
the consumer) than synthetically produced vegetables.
--------------------
Russ Bulluck
Visiting Post-Doctoral Scholar
Department of Plant Pathology
1 Shields Ave
UC-Davis
Davis, CA 95616
lrbulluck@ucdavis.edu
-------------------------------------------------------------
The soil population is so complex that it manifestly cannot
be dealt with as a whole with any detail by any one person,
and at the same time it plays so important a part in the soil
economy that it must be studied.
--Sir E. John Russell
The Micro-organisms of the Soil, 1923
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