...so long its labeled as such, so the buyer can make a decision. Let the market weed this shit out. Granted big food fought this, but they still lost... now companies label their products non-GMO to get the customers who don't want it 
“Moreover, a lot of studies show that the mineral content of our soil has declined steadily since the 1950’s, along with the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables that grow in that soil.”
Not quite. I remember in my land resource econ course, after the great dust-bowl disaster, the government put in regulations for properly restoring land, methods to prevent erosion, etc. Hell, even dark age farmers had enough sense to know after seven years, you need to leave it fallow so it has a chance to restore. But over time, they've relaxed, repealed, etc. the regulations. But leave just enough to prevent another dust bowl to avoid the bad press that could bring all those regulations back.
Not saying its the farmers fault, they have it tough. If they refuse to use big Ag products, they get sued by big Ag to prove they aren't using their products. In other words, I don't use your modified seed...so you sue me to prove that I didn't use your seed. Because you "believe" I did and what you grow constitutes false advertising. The farmer, doesn't have the resources to fight, so eventually he capitulates and starts using their product just to get the lawsuit to go away so it won't bankrupt them.
They use hormones to grow chickens at a fast pace and abnormally in very hideous conditions, to the point that a chicken may never see the light of day. The owner raising the chickens can object to this and start a more human way of raising them, but will find themselves out of business because the buyer then refuses to purchase them.
Smaller farmers who sell to locals, city clientele who want their product, city clientele who visit farmers markets, etc. even find themselves being sued by big Ag. But they've gotten a bit smarter about it and have used the rules, such as creating dummy companies, etc. to counter big Ag.
I have family that's in farming, wife essentially grew up on a farm. One of her uncles had a neighbor that planted a crop of strawberries, the Smuckers cannery refused the entire crop. And they were the only cannery in town. Nor was there any company that would purchase the strawberries whole. He filed for bankruptcy, plus tried to sell, home can and give away his crop to anyone that would take it before it rotted. The uncle who grew blackberries, saw the writing on the wall, sold the farm and bought a home in town. He was old and past the retirement age anyway.
In the end, it did happen. Another uncle grew a few acres of berries on the side for a little extra income. One year he grew significantly less and took to raising animals for their own consumption. I asked why, he said last year the cannery stated going forward they would only accept crops with a minimum yield. He obviously would not be able to meet that. So he grows for his family and sells some on the roadside stand. Obviously the minimum yield is for big Ag growers. Wonder how long before they start trying to sue the roadside stands.
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