Soil Depletion

The flavor of food correlates with its nutrient density, making bland-tasting produce a reliable indicator of nutritional shallowness. Over half of people eating institutional food were deficient in zinc. Soil microbes mobilize rock-bound trace minerals into bioavailable forms that plant roots can absorb; without healthy soil biology, even mineral-rich soils cannot nourish plants. Industrial fertilizers replace only nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, leaving out trace minerals entirely. Food fortification in processed products replaces only a handful of synthetic vitamins, not the full spectrum of trace minerals absent from the food supply. Harvesting crops removes minerals from the soil that the plants extracted during growth. Repeated cropping without adequate mineral replacement progressively depletes soil nutrients. The article states that soil should have removed minerals replaced before supporting another crop.