Nutrional Value and Taste of American Fruits and Vegetables Has Plunged, Study Says

Have you noticed that fruits and vegetables just don't taste like they used to? Well turns out you aren't just imagining the good ol' days: According to a report in the February issue of the Journal of HortScience, most fertilized American produce is diluted with carbohydrates, making it taste significantly less delicious, when compared to what was served in your grandparent's day. And guess what, it also has a fraction of the healthy nutrients.

Photo via Flickr

The report reexamines a study released in 1981 by Jarrell and Beverly in Advances in Agronomy which indicates the mineral composition in fertilized plants is highly diluted by "dry matter" which has no nutritional value. The average vegetable, says Donald R. Davis, a former research associate with the Biochemical Institute at the University of Texas, Austin, "is anywhere from 5 percent to 40 percent lower in minerals (including magnesium, iron, calcium, and zinc) than those harvested just 50 years ago." And yes, these minerals are what make fruits and vegetables taste so good.

Photo via Flickr

If you haven't yet discovered that a carrot or a potato isn't the the same as any old carrot or potato, head to Tuscany. In a small organic market near the Duomo in Florence, you'll find potatoes that actually taste--when simply boiled--like they are already buttered.

Which brings us back to perhaps the most powerful argument for organic produce: If you aren't going organic for the nutritional value, the destructive farming practices, or to pass up the harmful pesticides, you might as well just go for taste.

More From TreeHugger.com and PlanetGreen.com on Organic Produce
Got Organic?
Organic Food: Healthier for You and the Planet
Organic Food is Healthier: Once More

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Comments

[SOLERSO68]

03:49 PM on 03/13/2009

wait a second. i want a "green" planet, and we' ve been very hard on everything and all but.... whose "grandparents" are we talking about here? MY grandparents were born in 1908 ands 1910, they passed away long ago and i have no idea what thefood of thier youth tasted like, only that , having survived the dppression and ww2, they were very cheap. now im old enough to be a grand parent to some reading this post and i grew up in the 70' s and 80's, when the farming practices of the last 50 yuers were ( justifiably) coming under attack for being bad for the environment. super rich chemical fertilizers and overspreading of manure were, and sometimes still are, destroying some of our fresh water supplies. these practices have been restricted and there has been some reduction of quality and quantity of produce. im talking about the produce most of us eat. not the tiny amount we might grow, or the special 10.00 per pound stuff i buy when im cooking for a woman i like and i want to impress her. most of us cant afford to live on organic produce..ALSO approved labeling can be very deceptive as to "organic".

[Thermodynamics]

03:55 AM on 02/19/2009

This is true about animal products too. Chickens that grow up in someone's back yard are not as mushy as those things in the store and the flavor is different.

And then there is grass-fed beef. It has a clearly different taste. Grass-fed beef really makes you rethink the whole commercial food thing. It is too tough to eat as a steak. You have to make ethnic dishes and eat less dead cow per meal.

[LitDr2B]

11:03 AM on 02/19/2009

Right! And if we went back to eating like that, there would be far less consumption of animal products, and far less degradation to the environment. Yeah, I know someone will post "If you were vegan, there would be even less," but I opt for a flexitarian approach.

[LitDr2B]

01:13 AM on 02/19/2009

I don't think it's just from fertilizers and these farming practices, but rather because of the spread of modern hybrid varieties that are selected for shelf-life, and not taste.

Organic doesn't necessarily mean better taste. For example, I've had organic tomatoes and non-organic tomatoes of the same variety (say, Romas or the large salad tomatoes). They tasted the same. But heirloom tomatoes, which are from the old seed, are very tasty.

I think the example par excellence of this degradation is the Red Delicious Apple. They are bred to be able to stay in cold storage for about a year, but have you tasted one lately? Whether or not they are organic, they are mealy and tasteless. The older varieties are better.

So, it's not just organics we need to clamor for, but a shorter food supply-chain so we can get back to these tastier (and from what I've read, healthier) varieties.

[mommadona]

04:30 PM on 02/18/2009

I grew up on a farm.

I grow my own, or buy from the local farmer's market/natural food store.

Just had some WONDERFUL tasting "Premium Washington Red Delicious" apples the other day...organic - big GREEN label from the State of Washington on the bag...

Tasted just like when I was a kid....when's the last time you found an apple like that at the supermarket?

Think globally, buy locally...