Are Todays’s Fruits and Vegetables Less Nutritious? by Janet Lynas, Ph.D., N.H.D.

January 28, 2025 Nutrition admin

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I already have spring fever. That’s not a good thing since it’s too early to plant my garden. So, I’m looking at flower seeds and garden seeds. Actually, now is the time to start some seeds indoors so the plants will be ready for spring planting.

We are told that today’s fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than they were 70 years ago. Is this true? If so, why?

USDA Tracking

The United States Department of Agriculture has been tracking food quality for over 100 years. Since 1909 the USDA has been recording the amounts of nutrients available in the food supply for consumption. This information is seen on the food package labels.

During my research for this article, I learned about, Alex Jack who is a member of the Preventive Medicine Center. Mr. Jack is also a writer, and has published quite a bit in the field of nutrition and healthy diets. In the course of doing his research, Mr. Jack had consulted the USDA’s Food Composition Tables many times over the decades. One fact he noticed was that the nutrient data in the composition tables has been changing significantly over the years. He compiled USDA data on food composition from 1975 to 1997. Some of the nutrients in foods had dropped as much as 53% in some foods.

The USDA confirmed the apparent loss of nutrients revealed in the original study. However, the USDA questioned the results that there was an environmental crisis or soil depletion. The agency contended that changed testing methods and uncontrolled comparisons may be responsible for the discrepancies. The UDSA suggested that these apparent declines do not reflect real changes in nutrient density, but are the difference in measurement methods.

Other research papers suggest, there has been a decline in nutrient density, although it’s not caused by soil depletion. The argument is that it’s not a cause for concern, but that the food composition tables can still be a useful guide to an adequate diet.

Yes, the truth is that measuring techniques and equipment have certainly changed over the course of time. These changes can indeed make it look like the soil is depleted.

What has changed?

One major change was the “Green Revolution,” introducing chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and hybrid plants. In 1926 a commercial seed company called Pioneer Hi-Bred introduced hybrid corn seeds.

Monsanto seed company is the modern day version of hybrid seeds. There has been a great deal of resistance to hybrid seeds throughout the decades. For growers, hybrid plants often
grew more rapidly and gave greater yields. For the seed companies, advantages are that the hybrid seeds are not true-breeding, which means seeds have to be purchased yearly. This means farmers can’t save leftover seeds to use the next year. This makes one question if it’s the seeds that are now being used that are making the plants deficient in nutrients. Since these plants grow faster and are ready for harvest sooner, have the plants had the time required to produce fruit having the essential nutrients for consumption?

Could the introduction of synthetic fertilizers or other chemicals led to the decline? In 2009, Donald R.
Davis, PhD, a biochemist at the University of Texas, published a review on both observational and experimental observations, related to the decline in nutrients. In one of three categories he included several repetitions of comparisons of nutrient densities in vegetables now versus decades ago. This data found declines over periods ranging from 30 years to 100 years.

In my research for more recent data, I have not been able to find current information on this topic. My hypothesis is that if new data was done, it perhaps might show that the decline in nutritional value has either stayed about the same or declined even more.

What we do know is that hybrid seeds and synthetic fertilizer has contributed to the decline in the nutritional value of our food. We also know that with the decline in the plant based food, there is a decline in the animal based food in nutrients as well.

Where do we go from here?

If you are a home gardener, purchasing Heritage seeds and using natural fertilizer is a start. Home grown vegetables and fruits not only provide better quality of food, but saves a lot of money at the grocery store. Yes, home gardens can be a lot of work, however, the rewards are worth it. There are more communities who are doing just this. Community gardens not only teach people about plants and caring for the earth, but provide food for anyone willing to donate their time to the project. Gardening brings people together.

Last summer my garden produced more than I could eat and put away for the winter. I shared my produce with my neighbors. By doing so, I got to know my neighbors. Neighbors don’t associate with each other or visit like they did decades ago. By sharing my produce, I learned that my neighbor’s twin babies love tomatoes. Another neighbor has a baby who has had serious health problems and they appreciated the bell peppers I gave them that they used in meal preparation. Another neighbor and I plan to expand my garden so we will have more produce. We will have more food to can and freeze for ourselves and more food to share with our neighbors.

Support your local organic farmers. Make sure when you go to the farmers market that you buy from an organic farmer. Organic farmers have very strict rules and regulations they have to follow to say that their produce is indeed organic. Also, by supporting local organic farmers you are supporting your local community. Another reason to support organic farmers is to encourage other farmers to change to organic farming. This change from commercial type of farming to organic will take time for the farmer who decides to make the change, but will be worth it for the farmer and community.

So, I encourage you to take baby steps. Buy organic as much as possible. Often times organic cost are the same or cheaper than commercial products. Check prices when shopping. Let’s face it, by cutting out the junk foods you are better able to purchase organic foods.

I encourage you to look at the links below to better educate yourself on this topic.