Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

kgb123 — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 03:06:49 GMT

We will be growing our own produce in our garden this year and my hope is that it will be better for us. However, with all the genetically modified hybrids etc., what is the best bet for seeds and plants that will yield nutricious produce? I have heard of "heirloom tomatos" and I think these are older breeds that have not been subjected to being modified as much. Should I look for heirlloms? Anybody know a good source or will any store bought seeds yield more nutricious food simply since it will be fresher and not subjected to pesticides etc?

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

Renaissance Man — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 02:14:15 GMT

Organic produce is great, in that it should be devoid of the various poisons that other produce may be subjected to, however to infer that organic vegetables

also somehow automatically contain more minerals and trace elements is misleading at best. Plants are only able to access and successfully process

minerals into the colloidal form of negatively charged particles, which can be successfully assimilated by the animals which digest them, including humans,

IF the minerals are firstly present in the soil or medium in which they are grown.

Unfortunately, it is estimated that in the soils where the majority of our food is grown in Nth America, the 10 or so major minerals are depleted by over 90%

and the 75 odd trace elements essential in our diet for maximum health, are virtually nonexistent.

Regular farming practices routinely fertilize with P,N,K; Phosphorus, Nitrogen and Potassium, so the vegetables look good. Simply put, one promotes strong roots, another strong leaves, and the third encourages flower seed and fruit production.

The problem with this program is that it leaves us short of of over 80 minerals and trace elements that are essential for our good health.

Our food producing land needs to be seeded with a crushed rock mixture which contains a wide range of these missing substances, but of course that might cost money, and agribusiness is all about profit.

A perfect source of the right material would be the ash which showered much of Washington State after Mt. St. Helens erupted.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

Heather Marsh — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:50:14 GMT

As concerns the proposed 'food safety' proposal in the USA, there are a couple of things that US citizens should consider doing NOW.

The first is to query it in the'opinions' segments of local and national newspapers in the form of 'I have heard about proposal 875 and I am now worried that this could mean I am no longer allowed to grow my own vegetable garden. I prefer organically grown food'

The same approach should also be used with your state representative, and even with President Obama.

Make them THINK.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

Heather Marsh — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:42:23 GMT

Dave-O

Your soil might be poor now, but there is much you can do to improve it. The original pre-industry crop rotation methods can be used. The first crop to be planted needs to be a nitrogen fixer, like peas or beans. These will grow even in poor soil with water. Dig the mature plants into your garden patch once grown. This add nitrogen and attracts earthworms. If you can add in some ruminant manure when digging it in you should be able to attempt other plants the next spring.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

aweugene — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:51:18 GMT

This our second year in a local organic farm. Yes I agree. In order to eat healthy local farms are the best.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

tyndale3 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 15:15:17 GMT

Thanks to some of your earlier articles on this subject, my husband and I have looked into community gardening. We will be joining a gardening co-op this weekend, and with 20 hours of work per month (between the two of us), we will get free shares of organic heirloom vegetables for 2-3 people every week through October. We've also began to start our own container gardening in our apartment! Thanks for the information, I hope to use some of it to send to friends and family to further the case for locally grown and organic. If you live in CO, check out the Mercury Cafe in downtown Denver- she's been using only locally grown organic foods for the last 27 years! A pioneer! The information on the Community Garden that we've joined can be found at www.eatwhereyoulive.com (I found the info from this site actually!)

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

SilverWolf74 — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:29:23 GMT

I try to get Organic as much as I can. The down side is how expensive it is.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

Maxiegrower — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:42:09 GMT

Geamantan - For complete mineralization of your garden use Azomite, an ancient sea-bed deposit brought up by vollcanic activity in Utah. It is VERY economical. Available at Peak MInerals on-line. To show you how pro-biotic it is, I kept a worm bin going for 8 mo with adding nothing but Azomite to the soil..They mulitplied like crazy. We have a company here in Seattle called Cedar Grove Compost - they gather clean vegetation and I get the one with aged diry COW manure. The steer manure you see packaged does not contain the same nutrients. Ask around, maybe you can find something similar. Minerals and ht organic material should give you a good start!

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

Morrow — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:30:22 GMT

Square foot gardening is a fascinating way to garden that was developed by an engineer. It is amazing how little space is needed to grow food for a family. Thank you all for caring about all of us. I have been a Mercola fan for 15 years and have learned so much. Now with the added input from every one who has come to this site it is truly even more of a treasure. I did want to ask, "Why no citrus peels in compost?" I did not know that, Islander.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

dwnszng — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:20:52 GMT

Where I live I can buy some organic produce from the supermarket, but most of it is from Mexico. All the organic lettuce comes from Mexico. What does anyone know about the Earthbound products? Are they safe? I'd like to grow a garden, but I don't have one yet.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

T_rex — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:40:24 GMT

A vegetable garden is a great idea. Unfortunately for someone like me, the amount of land that I own is zero. So those of you with a piece of land, please put it to good use and consider yourself fortunate. I look at all those perfectly manicured Roundupped lawns and think , what a waste ...

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

Julieanne — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 06:40:57 GMT

stslater, it's good to hear of someone using the E Bokashi. I was hesitant to mention it, as I didn't know if it was available in the US (I am in Oz).

I made my own bucket - just bought a 20 litre bucket and put an irrigation tap on the bottom. For those who lack space, this is a really easy system, which requires no work. A bag, which I buy online, lasts me over a year, so it's really cheap too!.Great stuff!

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

pisces — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:40:26 GMT

This isn't just Big Agra that is responsible for this, it's the corruption and ignorance of our less than august legislature that leads them to do with political decisions about our country that Bernard Madoff did with Wall Street. Madoff said it started out so simply, and yet it grew to a monster that no one, not even he, could control. We adopted freeways in Hannibalesque fashion to more seamlessly connected the isolated parts of this country and to be better able to ward off any threat of invasion. Well, the wall came down 20 years ago and we never slowed down. Agriculture was taken over by corporate interests and our whole way of life is now paying the price of that legislative ignorance. In a few short generations, the majority of Americans have lost the ability to even grow something as simple as a tomato.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

spsracing — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:15:26 GMT

Believe it or not Oregon State government wants to regulate farmers markets throughout the state to make sure the food is safe. Many other states have done this too. This seems to be a waste of taxpayer resources and an intrusion into healthy lifestyles. Let your elected morons know that you want government out of your lives.

re: Vegetables Aren't as Good for You as They Used to Be

gailj — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:39:02 GMT

These ideas are all well and good, but if you live in Portland Oregon famous for being greeen you might be in for a surprise.

Since Bush raised the auto emissions in March of 2007 many people in my part of town are suffering from enormous lung illnesses. Children have to be carried up the steps and still have asthma. For the first time in 52 years I did NOT plant a garden. the black on the clotheslines was disgusting and even hanging clothes out to dry became impossible.

The real estate lobby must be doing a job on the media because the only people who are willing to admit...but not publicly...that the air is so polluted that things must change are the doctors. People are afraid if California hears that the air is toxic then people will not be able to sell their homes ever for more than when the bottom fell out.

Unless your EPA is more capable than the one in Portland then forget about asking them where the black particulates are coming from....they will tell you they have never had complaints. I think one should go with the best organic food one trusts and limit what comes out of your toxic soil.