The nutritional value of fruit and vegetables has fallen by up to 50pc since the Sixties because of declining soil quality, according to a new study.

This is The Telegraph, so apologies for the weird choice on percent and other style quirks.

The nutritional value of fruit and vegetables has fallen by up to 50pc since the Sixties because of declining soil quality, according to a new study.

The report, from researchers at Deep Science Ventures, found that humans needed to consume twice the number of vegetables to get the same level of minerals such as potassium, magnesium or copper as would have been present in their food 60 years ago.

The study found that many crops had lost 20pc to 50pc of several key nutrients.

Will Summers, a senior associate at the firm, said: "For 60 years we’ve measured food security in calories and tonnes per hectare.

“On those measures we’ve done remarkably well. But we’ve been quietly hollowing out what’s inside our food.”

The decrease in nutrient and vitamin value is thought to be down to declining soil quality and crops being selectively bred for their ability to grow quickly, rather than there being any focus on their health benefits.

The effect will be particularly acute for the 14pc of Britons who identify as vegetarian or vegan.

    • its_me_xiphos@beehaw.org
      0·
      1 month ago

      I hate to be that person, but…yes. Yes you should. Hubris got us on the precipice again. But, I think, it’s going to be fungus and insects. If you want to get a picture of what that looks like, you need to look at two crops. Oranges in Florida. Coffee (Arabica specifically) almost anywhere. I’ll use coffee because it’s what I know.

      Coffee is a gentle plant. It likes a bit of sun, but not too much. Decent soil, not too acidic not to alkaline. A good temperature and humidity range. It does not like disruptions and does not fair well in events that push past it’s tolerances. At the moment, every tolerance is being pushed back. As climate changes raise ambient temperatures, does weird stuff to humidity, and we fail to take care of the soil, coffee is getting hit hard. What’s interesting is that it’s normal enemies, coffee borer beetle and coffee leaf rust, are climbing to higher and higher altitudes. New diseases and insects are getting to it when they never did before. And the specialty coffee industry is talking about loosing Arabica as a viable commercial product within 50 years.

      That’s what we are looking at.

      With Oranges in Florida, the state literally paved over their orange groves. Then a nasty bacteria, Huanglongbing, wrecked it into oblivion. 95% decrease in yields since it showed up in the early 2000s. The story is incredible. Here’s a podcast from NPR about it. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/10/nx-s1-5771748/florida-farmers-struggle-to-adapt-as-disease-and-climate-take-toll-on-citrus-industry

      But that’s what I think we’re going to see happen across agriculture. One tipping point too many and poof. A whole crop gone. It’ll be a slower burn than the dustbowl. But it’s coming.