Sound Soils
Soils are living systems that perform an important function: to produce carbon from solar energy, suitable to sustain plants that can be eaten by humans and animals alike. The strange thing is that man, in his haste to produce enough food for the growing population, has lost the skill of taking care of this life-giving basis.
Artificial fertilisers impoverish the soil and erode it as a system with the end result that the mineral content of our food is not high enough and out of balance. The Network Vital Agriculture and Nutrition was established to promote farming with a more sustainable cycle of nutrients.
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Challenge 21st century: The living soil
Man depends more and more on what planet Earth has to offer when it comes to his livelihood, natural resources, fuel, minerals, food and living environment. And as the world population grows, man-made and natural disasters, like floods and earthquakes are becoming increasingly common. Knowledge about the earth is therefore vitally important to society.
Relationship between soil & quality of our foodstuffs
The importance of carbon for the part of the earth's crust where plants root, i.e. the soil, cannot be overstated. The rooting soil, varying in depth from 1cm (1/2 inch) to about 100m (330 ft), forms the basis of the foodchains on land.
The biological activity in this part of the earth's crust determines the quality of the food, makes the difference between good food and food that has the quality of filler or slow working poison. The extremely sophisticated symbiosis of soil, plant and animal systems is the result of millenia of natural development and evolution. Unfortunately, in the 20th century's euphoria of scientific development and control, this has changed dramatically.
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