Edacious reposted this
Why is the taste and nutrition of our food in decline? Many blame declining soil health. And yes, the biology of soil plays a massive role in mediating nutrition to plants. But the story is much bigger. Agriculture is a complex system where genetics, soil, weather, fertilizers, and management practices all interact. Over the last 40 to 60 years, we’ve selected for plants and animals that grow faster and bigger. The result? More yield, more calories, but less nutrition per gram of food, less tasty food! Formally, genetic dilution is the reduction of desirable traits within a population when genes linked to less favorable traits dominate. In agriculture, it shows up as lower nutrient density, weaker flavor, and the loss of other quality traits in crops and livestock. Put simply, breeding programs have traded quality for quantity. Modern wheat often contains less zinc and iron than older lines. Rapid-growth livestock breeds tend to have less flavor and lower nutritional value than heritage breeds. For decades, we’ve been breeding for one outcome: more yield. The implications are profound. Does less nutrition per gram make us eat more? Are we less satiated because our food carries fewer micronutrients and bioactive compounds? If we keep breeding for abundance, what happens when abundance no longer nourishes us?