A study out of the UK, published in the journal International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, shows declines in essential minerals in fruits and vegetables from 1940 to 2019. Researchers at Coventry University compared 28 types of fruit and vegetables – including potatoes and bananas – sold in the UK in 1940, 1991 and 2019 and found they contain fewer nutrients than they did 80 years ago. The study revealed that average levels of sodium in some produce had fallen by 52% over the period, iron by 51%, copper by 49%, magnesium by 10%, potassium by 5%, and calcium by 2.5%. The research stated that many countries have experienced declines in the mineral nutrient content of fruits and vegetables since the 1940s. The researchers said most varieties of fruit and vegetables eaten today have been bred to improve productivity and profitability and “this focus on yield has largely ignored any implications for nutritional quality”. They also said that contemporary industrial agricultural methods, including soil-less hydroponics, could play a role in producing less nutritious produce, but that there is a surprising lack of robust studies that compare the mineral composition of crops grown in soil with soil-less production systems.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09637486.2021.1981831
ALSO READ about the Soil Food Web and the importance of the soil underneath your feet: https://toxinfreeusa.org/education/soil-food-web