Data collected by the U.S. government show that the nutritional content of America’s vegetables and fruits has declined during the past 50 years – in some cases dramatically.

The cause is believed to be the trend in agriculture toward encouraging crops that grow the fastest and biggest. The faster-growing plants aren’t able to acquire the nutrients that their slower-growing cousins can, either by synthesis or from the soil.

[Read](http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/261163_veggie01.html) (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)