“Nutrient Decline in Vegetables – What is the Evidence?” by Muriel Nesbitt

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Find a direct link to the Zoom presentation here.

Or join by phone: 253-215-8782

Meeting ID: 920 0799 1742

Passcode: 709395

 What is nutrient density and why is it important to you and your family? Simply put, it is the amount of nutrients in a serving of food, or a certain amount of food (i.e., eight ounces). A deficiency in food nutrients can affect food quality, lowering the nutritional value which makes it less helpful to your body and can negatively impact the taste of the food as well.

Join Clallam County Master Gardener Muriel Nesbitt for a Green Thumb Gardening Tips Zoom presentation on July 14^th from noon – 1:00 p.m. for a look at nutrient decline in vegetables and what that means for your family and your garden.

According to USDA data, a decline in nutrient density for many foods has been occurring over the past 50 years. Muriel will discuss evidence that indicates that the nutrient density of vegetables has been declining markedly in the last century. She will also talk about the response of plants to elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Muriel will present the effects of decline in nutrient density, along with some suggestions about what gardeners might do to ensure the quality of their food plants. “It may help gardeners make choices that maximize the nutrient density of their crops,” Muriel said.

Muriel began her career as a high school teacher in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She went on to become a graduate student at the University of Washington where she earned a Ph.D. in genetics. Muriel was a professor of biology at University of California, Los Angeles for two years and then taught biology at University of California, San Diego for 35 years before retiring to Port Angeles in 2008.

Green Thumb Education Series Presentations are held from 12 to 1 pm on the second and fourth Thursdays of most months. Talks are currently only being offered by online streaming, due to current social distancing concerns with COVID-19. Please see instructions for accessing the live stream. Presentations and associated printed materials will be archived on the local articles and archived presentations portion of our website. These events are free, but donations to help support the WSU Clallam County Extension Master Gardener program are appreciated.