Yet the population of the US and other places that could have been on their way down to long term sustainable population, have their populations growing only from liberal policies of allowed immigration. Go to
http://www.numbersusa.com to find out more on the real culprits behind US overpopulation. Also
http://www.frostywooldridge.com and the Titanic parable and other articles.
#2 horseman of the apocalypse(from page 1) keeps riding;
October 6th, 2009
'"They” say that if we eat fresh fruits and vegetables, we will get all of the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need, but "They" are extremely misinformed and out of touch with the new reality. Modern farming methods have caused massive soil depletion on the commercial farm acreage upon which we grow most of our food crops and cereal grains on. All of this has happened in less than one hundred years, but with the exception of some smaller farmers and home gardeners that practice sustainable farming, involving crop rotation and composting, this soil depletion is continuing unabated today.
When the Second World War ended, the drug and chemical conglomerates inherited huge amounts of nitrates and phosphates which had been used in the manufacturing of munitions during the war. The conglomerates knew from earlier experiences, that these minerals made very effective fertilizer. They then started to aggressively market these N (nitrogen) P (phosphorus) K (potassium) fertilizers to farmers at extremely affordable prices. This made the traditional organic methods of farming uneconomical, so that by the sixties, the majority of American farmers had become wholly dependent upon NPK products.
This system of farming was a tremendous success, creating lush and abundant crops, so much so, that the United States had the ability to feed the world, but our soil and the consumers have been paying a very steep price ever since. NPK products grow wonderful delicious looking vegetables that appear green and healthy at the supermarket, but we are not vegetables. To maintain good healthy bodies, we require 59 nutrients on a daily basis including 13 vitamins and 22 minerals. These supermarket vegetables are not overly nutritious. NPK products were never designed for human nutrition, so they do not contain more than 8 of these essential minerals. Yet all of these nutrients are vitally essential for our health and well-being.
As each successive crop was grown on soil loaded with NKP products, the soil slowly became depleted, so that now our vegetables are now mineral and vitamin bankrupt. A good example is spinach, in 1948: a bowl of spinach contained 150 mg of iron, now that same bowl contains 2 mg.
Then, as if that is not enough, all these vegetables go through processing before they are marketed. Processing removes a huge percentage of what vital minerals and nutrients are left. Removing grain husks, blanching, boiling, baking, steaming, bleaching and freezing all have the potential to remove nutritious aspects of our food. Then the produce is usually shipped thousand of mile to our localities so that even the freshness has disappeared as well.
And then as the last act in destroying all the goodness left in our food, we cook it, and throw the cooking water down the drain.
As an example, In a recent study to determine nutrient loss in potatoes over the last 50 years, it was discovered that the following losses occurred:
• 100% of Vitamin A
• 57% of Vitamin C and Iron
• 28% of Calcium
• 50% of Riboflavin
• 18% of Thiamine
Out of all of the nutrients analyzed only niacin levels actually did increase. The conclusion was very similar for 25 fruits and vegetables under the same test conditions. Broccoli had a huge reduction in which all nutrients had significantly declined, surprisingly including niacin.
These figures have been published in scientific journals in the UK including the British Food Journal.
We are what we eat!!
Food Groups
1992 Earth Summit Statistics
1992 Earth Summit Report* indicate that the mineral content of the world's farm and range land soil has decreased dramatically.
Percentage of Mineral Depletion From Soil During The Past 100 Years, By Continent:
North America 85% **
South America 76%
Asia 76%
Africa 74%
Europe 72%
Australia 55%
* You may remember the 1992 Earth Summit by the fact that President Bush wouldn't sign any of the treaties.
** Some US farms are 100% depleted and some are 60% depleted, the average is 85% depletion as compared to 100 years ago. This is worse than in any other country in the world because of the extended use of fertilizers and "maximum yield" mass farming methods.
Fertilizers Are The Problem, Not The Solution
According to research in animal husbandry and from The National Science Foundation, animals require at least: 45 minerals 12 essential amino acids 16 vitamins 3 essential fatty acids
According to Gary Price Todd, MD, the human body requires at least 60 minerals for optimal health and basically the same other essentials as animals.
But, only 8 minerals are available in any kind of quantity in most of the food we eat today. "
At the loss of 1" per decade from 1910 to the 1992 report, half the soil was gone, now it is 2/3. Plus, looking at the fact that it takes nature from 700 to 1,200 years to make an inch of good farm soil under interglacial conditions in the best places. People have been using it up at 100 times its regeneration rate. The lost organics and micro-nutrients are all part of the depth and health of farm and range soils. There is much more to healthy soils besides the minerals and organics. Healthy soil is an ecosystem with fungi, worms, bacteria, and other organisms. Once artificial fertilizers are gone and soil reaches a critically low depth or health, plants for food just won't grow. Erosion, salinization from river irrigation, citification, and sterilization can be added to the depletion scenario.
Back to page 1 (and aquifer depletion).