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Okay, Chelsea, I'm not giving you the choice now.

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As I was going through the mask, I realized,

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I realized which one I want to cover.

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And it's gonna be this one.

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It's From the Guardian, written by Miranda Lipton

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on March 28th, 2024.

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Vegetables are losing their nutrients.

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Can the decline be reversed?

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In 2004, Donald Davis and fellow scientists

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at the University of Texas made an alarming discovery.

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43 foods, mostly vegetables, showed a market decrease

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in nutrients between the mid and late 20th century.

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According to that research, the calcium in green beans

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dropped from 65 to 37 milligrams.

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Vitamin A levels plummeted by almost half an asparagus.

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Broccoli stocks had less iron.

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Nutrient loss has continued since that study.

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More recent research has documented

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the declining nutrient value in some staple crops

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due to the rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

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A 2018 study that tested rice found that higher CO2 levels

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reduced its protein, iron, and zinc content.

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The climate crisis has only accelerated concerns

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about crops nutritional value.

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That's prompted the emergence of a process

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called biofortification, a strategy to replenish

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lost nutrients for those that foods never had

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in the first place.

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Biofortification encompasses multiple technologies.

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One involves genetically modifying a crop

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to increase its nutritional contents,

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which allows for the rapid introduction of new traits.

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Another, agronomic biofortification,

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utilizes nutrient-rich fertilizers or soil amendments

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to concentrate particular minerals and plants.

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Lastly, selective plant breeding can produce new varieties,

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though it can take a decade or more

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to yield a single variety.

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Biofortification is an alternative to fortification,

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which has been part of the US industrial food system

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since the 1920s, when the nation began boosting

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table salt with iodine to reduce conditions related

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to mineral deficiency, such as goiter.

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Biofortification puts nutrients directly into the seed,

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as opposed to fortification, which adds nutrients

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into the food once it's grown.

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On the global stage, international stakeholders,

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such as the World Health Organization

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and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural

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Research, CGIAR, have deemed the development of nutrient-enhanced

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biofortification crops as one of their leading goals

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in achieving food security.

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Pratik Unial, program leader at the International Food Policy

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Research Institute, explained that because of climate change,

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iron and zinc have been dipping by 30% to 40%

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due to excessive rainfall, cold, and physical damage.

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Harvest Plus is an organization under IFPRI,

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and it provides global leadership on biofortification,

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evidence, and technology.

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It is currently working with governments

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in more than 30 countries, and its biofortified varieties

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have been planted by more than 100 million farmers

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across the world, predominantly in developing countries.

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By 2030, the organization estimates

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1 billion people will be benefiting

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from biofortified food.

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Quote, we're about 20 years into a 40-year program,

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said Jenny Walton, head of commercialization and scaling

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at Harvest Plus.

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While malnutrition demonstrates the urgent need

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to increase the nutrient density of crops globally,

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Benjamin Cohen, a professor of environmental studies

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at Lafayette College, points to biofortification

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as a band-aid rather than a solution to the problem.

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Quote, my concerns are about funders,

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based on my policy makers choosing to invest

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in biofortification instead of supporting more

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enduring smallholder models of farming

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that could be more efficient and resilient

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than large-scale systems.

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Promoting biofortification suggests solving a problem

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that should not exist if not for large-scale,

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capital-intensive agriculture.

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It's likely that those same agricultural processes

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would only be further entrenched with biofortification.

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Harvest Plus sees plant breeding

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as the most insustainable way of biofortifying.

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It relies on existing plant genes.

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The organization works exclusively with staple crops

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and is developing them to contain

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a higher amount of vitamin A, iron, and zinc,

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three micronutrients identified by the World Health Organization

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to be the most efficient in diets globally.

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That approach means that in places such as Pakistan,

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where diets are wheat-heavy, fortifying that grain,

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could make population levels change.

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Harvest Plus has already released 400 varieties

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of staple crops, none of them are patented.

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I think that's far enough into that article.

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It's interesting they take the spin of,

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oh, don't worry, we're fixing the problem,

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but they do clearly identify this as a climate change issue.

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And that's a big problem.

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Yeah.

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I mean, the longer this podcast goes on,

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the more I realize we're just fucked by all life.

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Oh, we're so fucked.

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Yeah.

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All means possible.

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In any way, you could possibly even not even think

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that we might not be fucked.

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We're fucked.

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Yeah, and it's funny that you say that,

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because I outright avoid the actual terrible news articles,

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because I find them too doomy.

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So now it's vegetables.

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Yeah.

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We're fucked by.

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Yeah.

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I mean, it makes sense when you actually think about it,

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unfortunately.

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And I think I've heard about this before,

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that it like they're losing their,

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I can't remember what sense I heard this.

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Yeah, I had heard it too.

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I had always thought that it was more so

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due to diminished soils and the fact that we're using oil

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as a fertilizer, more or less,

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in that you're not getting all the nutrients that it needs.

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But apparently it's more climate change.

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And it's funny because I've heard the argument

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from people who don't really care about climate change,

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that the world's actually getting greener.

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This is clearly showing that even if it's getting greener

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or things are growing more,

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it doesn't mean that it's good for humans.

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Maybe those people just need to know

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what the billionaires are doing.

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Perhaps.

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Perhaps.

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Perhaps not.

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That's my two cents anyway.

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Okay.

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But yeah, not only are all our foods filling us with plastic,

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the plastic clearly is just replacing

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that the minerals that should be in there kicking them out.

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Yes.

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So hopefully our body can just make it out.

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And with that belt of doomy gloominess,

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just stay with us.

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There's things to live for,

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including an episode on Friday.

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So we'll see you then.

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Bye.