Are Our Crops Gorging on Carbs?

Research reveals that the nutrient content in our food has been decreasing in the last hundred years or so.

In a study published in 2004 they looked at forty-three different common crops and how the nutritional value had declined between 1950 and 1999. What they discovered was that the protein content of the plants had decreased by approximately 6%. Vitamin C decreased 15 percent and vitamin B2 by 38 percent. There were also declines in minerals such as iron and calcium.

Are we witnessing a nutrient collapse and if so, what could be causing it? Soil depletion and intense farming practices is one theory but if plants still seem to be thriving surely, they must be getting the nutrients they need.

One suggestion is that selective breeding for higher yields and resistance to pests could be disguising this nutritional decline. Could we be accidentally breeding out the nutrition in our food?

One theory is that carbon dioxide could play a vital role, increasing the growth of the plants from the Carbon Dioxide content in the air.

Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 280 parts per million to over 400 parts per million today.
In terms of plant food, that’s about an increase of almost 50% but they don’t necessarily become more nutritious, they instead, put on more carbs.

Further Reading: https://phys.org/news/2018-04-carbon-dioxide-boost-plantgrowth.html