A new dilemma for those who advocate Veganism is on the agenda of the forthcoming Oxford Farming Conference. Farming and other interests are now arguing that it is vital we eat more lamb and beef because some crop plants and fish are being drained of essential nutrients.
A heart specialist who is speaking at the conference is claiming that key nutrients in some fruits, grains and vegetables have declined by up to 50% over the past 50 years.
Alice Stanton, professor of cardiovascular pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland says that nutrient levels have dropped because farmers were trying to meet demand for cheap food. The declines in nutrients includes vitamins and key elements essential for sustaining a healthy metabolism within the human body. She also highlights the fact that the genetic selection of crops which look good, have an even shape and appearance also reduces mineral uptake from the soil. If the genetic selection process prioritises above ground appearance to the detriment of below ground root development, then this will restrict nutrient uptake.
But, it is much more complicated than this analysis advocates because there is a growing body of empirical evidence that the increasing atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide from our use of fossil fuels and of course intensive farming practices such as factory livestock production, leads to plants increasing their carbohydrate concentrations at the expense of nutrient uptake. Over the past 50 years carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have increased from around 290 ppm to current levels of around 400 ppm, leading to hugely damaging climate change. So, which is more damaging : low levels of minerals in our veg or the damaging influences on climate change of intensive meat production from livestock farming? Meat and Two veg – now there’s a wicked problem ?
Rice and wheat provide two out every five calories that humans consume. Like other plants, crop plants convert carbon dioxide (or CO2) from the air into sugars and other carbohydrates. They also take up minerals and other nutrients from the soil.
The increase in CO2 in the atmosphere that has happened since the Industrial Revolution is thought to have increased the production of sugars and other carbohydrates in plants by up to 46%. CO2 levels are expected to rise even further in the coming decades; and higher levels of CO2 are known to lead to lower levels of proteins in plants. But less is known about the effects of CO2 levels on the concentrations of minerals and other nutrients in plants.
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