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The “Real Dirt”
(by Alexandra Heath - December 11, 2007)
Most people don’t think much about dirt; except when it comes to keeping it out of the house, off the cars, kids and dogs, and making sure that what they pulled out of the closet to wear for work today doesn’t have any embarrassing spots on it. We have lots of sayings about dirt, though. “It’s dirt cheap.” “I hit pay dirt last night!” Mostly though, we don’t give it much consideration. But, it takes six inches of good dirt, generally called topsoil, to grow the food we eat. What is not good news is that we are losing topsoil in the United States at the rate of eight pounds for each pound of food we produce.
Nature, however, is very good at building dirt. It takes an average of 500 years for one inch of soil to be grown by natural means. We are depleting it 18 times faster than Nature can replenish it. The world agriculture system is in trouble. And it’s not just the loss of dirt: Water, Plant and animal diversity, Loss of skills, Desertification, Deforestation. The statistics paint a grim picture.
What can one person do? It would be easy to let the bad news overwhelm us, but there are some practical things that we can do, such as:
Change your dietary choices. This is, of course, not easy to do, but necessary to lessen the impact of mechanized agriculture on natural resources. Modern farming uses 63 units of farmable soil (one unit equals 1,000 square feet) to grow the annual dietary requirements for a high animal-product diet. The average American diet requires 30 units of farmable soil; whereas, a vegan diet uses only seven units of farmable soil. According to world scientific and environmental experts, in some countries there is only enough water to irrigate four units of soil to produce the annual dietary requirements of their citizens. Ultimately, with the projected losses in land, water and energy, everyone in the world will be fed on just four units of farmable land per person.
Buy locally grown food and agricultural products from small, family farmers. You will know where your food came from; who grew it and you can ask questions. Corporate farming has decimated the small family farm and contributed to severe environmental degradation of farmlands. Each of us can support our local community by making sure our food dollars go to local farmers. In 1987, the average U.S. farm represented a $500,000 investment. From each acre under cultivation, the farmer could expect to realize about $27.40 per acre. This represents a 2.5% return on investment for an annual income of $12,658. Things haven’t gotten any better for family farmers.
Grow as much of your own food as possible. Even if you grow ONLY the vegetables you and your family eat, you will have reduced your reliance on others producing your food by about 10%. Each adult eats about 2,000 pounds of food per year. The bulk of that amount is in cereal crops (wheat, oats, rye), followed by high calorie bulk foods, then vegetables for variety, color and vitamins. Of course, if you alter your diet to be more vegetarian or even vegan, the vegetables you grow will constitute a higher percentage of your annual diet.
Compost. Perhaps no other garden practice is more important than composting. Plants remove nutrients from the soil during their growing cycle. We harvest the plants and the nutrients transfer to us when we eat them. What happens to the nutrients in the soil? We have to put them back in if we want our garden to continue to be fertile and healthy and produce more delicious fruits and vegetables for our dinner table. Composting breaks down plant materials so that nutrients become available for the bacteria, molds, and insects that build soil. If composting is a bit of a mystery to you, CSU Chico offers a composting workshop. The News & Review usually carries the announcements for upcoming events.
Finally, it comes down to tending your garden. The world’s problems are big—bigger than one person can manage. Yes, speak out on environmental issues. Support community agriculture. But mostly, grow your garden. It will change you for sure. It also may just save the world.
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