Crops Grown In Upper Great Plains Of The U.S.A. Have Natural Edge, USDA Scientist Says
posted 05/08/03

Upper Great Plains soils and crops have some inherent nutritional advantages, and farmers in these areas could capitalize as the United States and the world become more health-conscious, a top U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist said Thursday.

A "Dakota Diet" of healthful products from the region could include things such as buckwheat, bison, beans, peas and lentils, said Gerald Combs, director of the USDA-Agricultural Research Service's Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

"I propose we develop new producer-consumer partnerships and that we market nutrition and health as part of marketing agriculture, and we do so based on the best science," Combs said.

He said soils in some of central and northern North Dakota, for example, are high in selenium. Crops grown here could have a marketing advantage if further research bears out early indications, that proper intake could cut some cancer rates by half to two-thirds. Bread made from high-selenium wheat could deliver significant amounts of the element to offer the cancer benefits.

Likewise, buckwheat is a crop with the potential to improve insulin production.

"Imagine we're sitting on a food that could have a role in addressing diabetes," he said, extolling the agronomic virtues of the crop.

There are signs that Americans will pay for the increased nutrition, Combs said. Most Americans feel their diets are somehow unhealthy.

Most would improve their diets but feel it's too complicated to do it.

"In virtually every study of consumer values, health ranks right up there with taste and price," he said.

U.S. consumers are spending $6 billion on organic foods, growing at more than 20 percent per year. The natural foods market is $28 billion, growing rapidly. The "functional food" market is at $17 billion, growing at over 8 percent per year. Functional foods are such things as calcium-supplemented orange juice or corn snacks with added folic acid.

Meanwhile, the nutritional supplement market is about $15 billion, but its growth has slipped to under 4 percent.

"The thinking is there is some cross-over from supplements into functional foods."

Americans want foods with healthier fat profiles, food to help digestion and control blood sugar, slow aging, prevent cancer and give vigor, among other things.

Of the top 10 causes of death in Americans of all ages, at least five are related to diet, Combs said.

"How we eat is a determinant of how we die," Combs said.

The cost of poor nutrition is enormous -- $300 billion -- equivalent to the whole size of the food industry, he said. Cancer costs, including lost wages, have been estimated at $200 billion; heart disease, nearly $100 billion.

Only one in five children is consuming enough calcium, according to the government. The statistic is directly related to the consumption of dairy products versus soft drinks.

"We are producing people who are going to have osteoporosis after two or three decades," Combs said. "That's pretty clear."

Fast food isn't completely to blame, Combs said.

"I think if there was a market for fat-free tofu sticks or some damn thing like that, then there would be millions of dollars spent on that. The Hershey company spent $80 million a year just to market Hershey Kisses."

Meanwhile, about 70 percent of American girls consume no more than two servings of vegetables per day.

"And you have to count french fries to get to that," Combs said.

The U.S. produces about half of the fruits and vegetables needed for all Americans to eat according to the USDA's food pyramid.