If the vitamin drain is confirmed, it will mean that people cannot count on vegetables and fruit to be the packages of concentrated nutrients they're supposed to be. In a time when most people aren't coming close to getting five, let alone nine, servings of fruits and vegetables, it seems pointless to ask them to eat more to get the same nutrients. The USDA is apparently unconcerned and not interested in the vitamin drain, despite its mandate to ensure high quality safe foods. In her letter to Organic Gardening, Ms. Johnson said that the nutritional content of produce is not as important as things like appearance and big yield. In other words, Ms. Johnson espouses the view of commercial growers that food is a product in the same way that running shoes are a product.
Looks are more important than substance.
That view of vegetables and fruits reduces your spinach salad to pretty roughage, and your chances of meeting RDAs to slim. The food tables are available online. Dietary intake of whole grains. Agriculture Handbook No. 8. USDA Agricultural Research Service.