>...*The main source of dietary zinc is animal
>products, primarily red meat* and that *The diets of children in developing
>countries appear to be substantially deficient in zinc.*
>
>*Even in the USA, it's quite common for children to be consuming less than
>the recommended daily allowance of zinc....He advises children or adults who
>have a strict vegetarian diet to find sources of ainc in vitamin and mineral
>supplements.*

Thanks for highlighting this, Rachel. Everybody concentrates so much
on the organic macronutrients that minerals are often left in the dust.

I remember reading somewhere an hypothesis that plant and animal
foods are primarily a carrier of the "real" nutrients (minerals)
into the body. Not very well developed, but an interesting meme.

Another way in which agriculture fails us is that force-growing food
with NPK eventually depletes the soils of the trace minerals needed
for health: zinc is important for sure; manganese is often overlooked,
and there are studies that suggest that imbalances of Mn and copper
play a role in mental disturbances.

Perhaps the soil-depletion mechanism works in the downfall of
civilizations. Once a trace element is depleted, the masses
suffer declining vitality, perhaps allowing epidemics to spread.

In the American/N. American economic sphere, cheap oil-
energy subsidized importation of food can work for or against
the general health, depending on the crop's uptake of local soil
minerals. I doubt this has been studied -- the US FDA's nutrition
tables are probably useless for certain minerals, and cannot
reflect the content of this year's crop of carrots grown in
Sedro-Wooley compared to those grown 5 years ago in France.

All the more reason to use locally-grown organic produce,
especially those crops grown using mineral-supplementation
(such as rock dust) and/or biodynamic methods. Same for free-
range meat, as animals are still smarter than most livestock
managers at eating mineral-appropriate foods. Closest thing
to H&G one can get.