Fruits, Veggies Not as Vitamin-Rich as in Past, Says New Data

Larger Fruits and Vegetables Mean More Plentiful but Less Potent Bounty

• Of the 13 major nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, six have declined substantially, according to a study by Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas at Austin
• What accounts for this negative trend? “Like any other competitive industry, farmers’ attempts to drive up profits have led them to use new techniques to increase production. The faster- grown fruits don’t have as much time to develop the nutrients.”  Donald Davis, UTA
• “Farmers get paid by the weight of a crop, not by amount of nutrients.  As fruits and vegetables grown in the United States become larger and more plentiful, they provide fewer vitamins and minerals…It’s a simple inverse relationship: The higher the yield, the lower the nutrients.”
• “Slower-growing crops have more time to absorb nutrients from both the sun and the soil"
• Jeff Cronin, at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said scientists and the USDA often overlook farming practices. “Breeding plants to improve crop yield at the expense of all other things seems to be the problem, as well as depleting soil and not rotating crops properly.”  

 March 1, 2006  Megan Carpenter, ABC News