The Art of Taking Care of Our Soil

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Life on Earth would not be possible without healthy soil, yet we have been treating it very badly over the past decades. 

The soil is a complex and dynamic ecosystem composed of different minerals, air, water, plants, and small living organisms. A single healthy handful of soil can contain more living things than people on Earth. How about that?

A healthy soil absorbs and purifies our water and provides us with the large majority of the food we eat. Carbon-rich soils act like huge sponges, absorbing water during floods and providing it to plants in times of drought. So, why are we mistreating it?

The intensification of agriculture neglected thousands of years of history and hands-on experience and know-how in working the land, and now, fast-forward into the new era of farming, barely anyone remembers how it used to be without big machines and “helpful” chemicals. Indeed, the demand for food to feed people is higher than ever and intensive exploitation combined with chemicals accelerates the process of generating food for the food we eat. Gradually, this approach just became the norm, and the easiest and probably most profitable way of farming, at least in the short term. The severe and not always equal and fair competition in a globalised world that prioritises goods from overseas, extensive, all-year-round products rather than local seasonal ones, played a role here as well.

Currently, according to some studies, nearly half of the world's topsoil has vanished in the last 150 years as a result of extensive ploughing and overuse of fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals. When soil is damaged by such methods, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse gas effect and, therefore, climate change. Some of the consequences of unhealthy soils can be the degradation of ecosystems, an increase in temperatures, floods and droughts, and acidified oceans.

But, there is time to change this approach to soil exploitation, and, whether we are a farmer, land owner or simply a consumer, there are many solutions we can take into consideration to help regenerate our soil and therefore prolong the quality of life of our species and many others on this planet. 

However, in order to do that, we have to be willing to let go of some of the privileges of this globalised world. We need to focus our consumption on what is local and seasonal, and not fall into the temptation of the delicious off-season fruits, or the cheaper beef that has travelled around the world before reaching our plate. Thus, we need to be more informed about the reality of our goods production, make the effort to support local farmers and businesses, stay conscious about where we choose to invest our money, and, maybe, reconsider our diets too. 

One of the most important actions in the overall approach to soil is to end the use of chemicals in our crops. Not only does this degrade the soil, but it also has tremendous consequences for our health, as many recent health studies have proven. 

Then, we need to reconsider the methods used to work the land for the crops. We need to get rid of tilling and ploughing and bring back the methods that do not involve breaking the soil, which destroys the dynamic ecosystem of water, air and nutrients and releases the so important (in the soil) carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 

Combining that with a more diversified field, interspersing crops with trees or forest to secure the soil and allow the fixation of carbon on the ground, enriching the soil with more water and nutrients, and stimulating a healthy, resilient and dynamic habitat for pollinators and natural pest controllers, which is also less dependent on human intervention. 

Other game-changers can be the increase of crop diversity, the choice for perennial grains instead of annual grains, and the method of crop rotation, where the livestock, while grazing the ground, fertilises it and stimulates the grains to grow. 

Finally, wherever there is an option for us, we all should try growing our own garden and then become less and less dependent on “fresh” vegetables from the supermarkets, which are anything but fresh.  

Main inspiration source: Movie ‘Kiss the Ground’