The use of unbalanced fertilizers may also result in plants being deficient in certain essential amino acids. Crops also remove other essential and trace minerals, which are not returned to the soil in most fertilizer programs. The soils become more deficient in these minerals with time, resulting in plants that are not only lacking the minerals but also those vitamins that depend on the minerals for synthesis. Most pesticides are synthetic organic poisons that have no counterpart in nature and consequently pose a considerable problem for our bodies, which must detoxify or eliminate them. Food handling involves the addition of numerous chemicals and loss of certain nutrients.
Cooking usually results in a further loss of nutrients.
Modern agriculture has become dependent on simplistic chemical solutions to problems, just as heroin addicts have become dependent on their drug. Neither pesticides nor stimulatory drugs treat problems at the causal level. Some of the strategies available to governments are laws, regulations, standards, codes, taxation, incentives, education, models, research and development, public participation, policy and planning. Lovins, A. Exploring energy-efficient futures for Canada. May, R. M. Food lost to pests.