In 2004, Donald Davis and fellow scientists at the University of Texas made an alarming discovery: 43 foods, mostly vegetables, showed a marked decrease in nutrients between the mid and late 20th century.

According to that research, the calcium in green beans dropped from 65 to 37mg. Vitamin A levels plummeted by almost half in asparagus. Broccoli stalks had less iron.

Nutrient loss has continued since that study. More recent research has documented the declining nutrient value in some staple crops due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels; a 2018 study that tested rice found that higher CO2 levels reduced its protein, iron and zinc content.

While the climate crisis has only accelerated concerns about crops’ nutritional value, prompting the emergence of a process called biofortification as a strategy to replenish lost nutrients or those that foods never had in the first place.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    The QR code thing is not a bad idea, but I think there should also be a central database, hopefully government-managed, where you can look it up before you get to the QR code or even the store.

    • HubertManne@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      yeah and it would actually not be that much more over the code. more than likely you would add the data and then make the QR code off of it.