There is no alternative to fertile soil to sustain life on Earth. Soil fertility is the very basis of sustainable food production and food security. It is living soil that provides sustainable alternatives to the triple crises of climate, energy and food. All living things, including humans, need food of one kind or another. Life also depends on air and water, but nothing can live with air and water alone. Living things not directly rooted in the soil – things that live in the sea, on rocks, or on trees, for example – still require minerals that come from the earth. They must have “soil” from somewhere. Living things other than plants get their food from plants or from other living things that feed on plants and plants feed on the soil. By one means of another, all life is rooted in the soil. The purpose of a sustainable agriculture is to sustain human life, and thus, sustainable farming must be rooted in the soil.
In times not too long past, the connection between soil and human life was clear and ever present. Little more than a century ago, most people were farmers and those who were not lived close enough to a farm to know that the food that gave them life came from the soil. They knew that if the soil was rich, if the rains came and the temperature was hospitable to plants and animals, food would be bountiful, and there would be plenty to eat. They knew that when droughts came, plants dried out then died, the soil was left bare, and there was little to eat. They knew when the floods came, plants were covered with water and died, the soil was left bare, and there was little to eat. They knew very well that their physical well-being, if not their lives, depended on the things that came from the soil.
Today, the connection between soil and life is no less critical but is no longer so direct or so clear. Most urban dwellers also have lost all sense of personal connection to the farm or the soil. During most of the past century many people living in cities either had lived on a farm at one time or knew someone, usually a close relative, who still lived on a farm. Their connection with farming gave them some understanding of their connectedness with the soil. At least they knew that “land” meant something more than just a place to play or space to be filled with some form of “development.” But these personal connections have been lost with the aging of urbanization. One of the most common laments among farmers today is that “people no longer know where their food comes from.” For most, any real understanding of the direct connection between soil and life has been lost. It’s sad but true.
The natural productivity of our soils has been degraded, have destroyed the ability of farms to support rural economies, and have diminished the sustainability of human society. If we are to build a sustainable society, scientists of all disciplines eventually must address the full ecological, economic, and social implications of their work. But, the science of sustainability must begin with sustaining the life of our soils – where roots of a sustainable agriculture must grow.
We can conclude that the lost of fertile soil will effect tomorrow's world. If there are to be productive soils in the future, we must conserve and make wise use of the soils we have today. The soil that washes down our rivers to the sea is no more renewable than are the fossil fuels that we are mining from ancient deposits within the earth. In spite of our best efforts, some quantity of soil will be lost – at least lost to our use. Thus, our only hope for sustaining soil productivity is to conserve as much soil as we can and to build up soil organic matter and enhance the productivity of the soil that remains.
Resources:
Ministry of the Environment Web site. "Environmental Quality Standards for Soil Pollution." Available from http://www.env.go.jp/en/lar/regulation/sp.html .
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Web site. "Soil and Groundwater Pollution Remediation Act." Available from http://www.epa.gov.tw/english/laws/soil.htm
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