ECONOMY & CULTURE
bananas, yams, and flax, all benefit from partnerships with soil fungi that extract carbohydrates from the crops while supplying them with a wide variety of nutrients from the soil. But high-yield farming compromises the ability of plants to form partnerships with fungi. Extended use of artificial fertilizer gradually changes the soil pH, making it more acidic. Acidic soil is hostile to healthy bacteria growth, further
other dairy products had fallen by a shocking 90%. Meats, including beef and pork, followed a similar trend.
QUANTITY OVER QUALITY There are numerous reasons for this nutritional nadir, but one of the most prominent is simple economics. “Unfortunately, farmers get paid for the weight of their crops, so that
incentivizes them to do things that aren’t good for the nutrient content,” Donald R. Davis told National Geographic . Davis is a retired chemist and nutrition researcher with the University of Texas at Austin. “By earning to grow plants bigger and faster, the plants aren’t able to keep up with absorption of the nutrients from the soil or able to synthesize nutrients internally,” Davis explains. The higher yields also spread the nutrients from the soil across a greater volume of crops, essentially diluting their nutrient content. CARBON OVERLOAD Anyone who studied photosynthesis in school knows that plants “feed” on the carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, break it apart, and use the carbon to grow. But rising carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere don’t translate into more nutritious foods. When crops such as wheat, rice, barley, and potatoes are exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide, they generate more carbon-based compounds, which leads to a higher carbohydrate content. In addition, when concentrations of carbon dioxide
preventing the natural release of minerals present in the soil. In an attempt to rebalance the soil’s pH, farmers often add lime. But lime transforms manganese and some other trace minerals into forms plants cannot absorb, making them unavailable to animals or humans who eat the plant.
THE VICIOUS CIRCLE OF PESTICIDES, HERBICIDES, AND FUNGICIDES
Science has found that crops grown in artificially fertilized soils are less resilient to pests, competitive plants, and fungi. The result is farming that relies heavily on the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides to protect the weakened crop. In fact, some herbicide chemicals are so powerful that only genetically modified crops can resist their plant-killing effects. As of 2018, GMO soybeans made up 94% of all soybeans planted, and 92% of corn planted was GMO corn. These plants are then treated with weed-killing herbicides.
are higher, these plants draw in less water, which in turn reduces the amount of micronutrients they bring in from the soil. Scientists confirmed the effects of increased carbon in a study described in a 2018 issue of Science Advances . Researchers found that rice exposed to higher levels of carbon dioxide showed a marked decrease of protein, iron, zinc, and several B vitamins. SOIL HEALTH = PLANT HEALTH Scientists say that the true root of the problem lies in modern agricultural processes, including irrigation, fertilization, and harvesting methods,
100 YEARS OF MINERAL DEPLETION The especially startling number associated with North America can be largely attributed to long-term reliance on synthetic fertilizers and emphasis on industrialized “maximum yield” mass-farming methods.
Mineral depletion of soil from 1892 to 1992: North America . . . 85% South America. . . 76% Asia........76% Africa. . . . . . . 74% Europe. . . . . . .72% Australia. . . . . . 55%
that focus on crop yields while ignoring soil health. These modern practices not only reduce the amount of nutrients in the soil but also disrupt essential interactions between plants and soil fungi. Numerous crops, including wheat, corn, rice, soybeans, potatoes,
Unfortunately, pesticides and herbicides reduce the plant’s ability to absorb and assimilate the few trace minerals that may be remaining in the soil. Insecticides in particular reduce trace mineral uptake by inactivating choline-containing enzymes in
44 AUGUST 2022 | MELALEUCA.COM
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