Soil health is human health

Soil health is the ability of soil to function. The eight vital functions of soil are to provide physical stability; produce plants and food; supply water, nutrients, and plant-growth promoting compounds; cycle nutrients; store carbon, nitrogen, and other essential nutrients; protect water quality; filter elements to avoid toxicity; and serve as a reservoir of biodiversity. These are essential ecosystem processes that benefit humankind.

One of the soil functions of widespread interest to country and city dwellers alike is providing a firm foundation, either for growing plants or for the variety of buildings that we house our livestock, harvested grain, or families in. Firm foundations are also metaphorically important to sustain ways of living. Figuratively speaking, standing on good ground can lead to good outcomes in our daily lives. Therefore, achieving exemplary soil health condition on your farm could be considered a foundation for sustainable living, hopefully in more ways than one. Let’s explore a bit more of these similarities between soil health and other aspects of human and community health.

Rhythm of reciprocity

At the core of soil health is the foundation to support plant growth through photosynthesis, the miraculous process that energizes life on Earth. Plants can be eaten to sustain our lives. Plants can produce fibers to clothe us and to shelter us from the harsh elements of nature. Plants transform energy from the sun into organic molecules that feed a diversity of livestock species, wildlife, insects, and countless microorganisms.

Plants require soil and soil requires plants. Soil isn’t truly living and fully functional without plants, which not only take nutrients from the soil but also give back organic-rich molecules that create the cycle of life within it. We, too, must learn the rhythm of give and take in our relationship with the soil. A one-way extraction from the soil is not a melody that will sustain itself for very long.

Taking from the land without giving something back has not just temporarily denuded the land, but ultimately destroyed civilizations. Consider the fall of the Roman Empire as an example, in which land was exploited, leading to its collapse, along with other contributing factors. Sustaining land productivity requires us to nurture its life-giving functions. By fostering the vital functions of soil, our agricultural landscapes and communities will be better able to withstand the invasions of climate change, political strife, and moral subversion.

The biochemical basis of photosynthesis is the conversion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into simple sugars in plants that can be metabolized and transformed into various usable products. Nonstructural carbohydrates and protein may be desirable traits of forages to feed livestock, but the diversity of plants in our world can also provide joy in the form of soft cotton socks or that first sip of morning coffee. Plants are also the precursors of a crusty bagel topped with cream cheese, strawberry-topped ice cream, and the steaks and sausages served during a gathering with family and friends. How much better all of these good gifts from the soil will be when we appreciate the delicate balance needed to sustain the process of the farmer who nurtured the land, to the hands of the people who prepared the food, to the divinity of life on our home planet.

Connected by carbon

Carbon is the element that is intermingled in all of life. From the carbon dioxide absorbed by plants, to the carbohydrates in food that fuels our daily duties, to the return of organic residues to soil that are processed by microorganisms into soil organic matter, carbon is the currency of life.

Yes, carbon is in the pages of the books you read, as well as the gadgets you use to get information. Carbon does not act alone, so all the other elements on our planet enter the web of life in necessary and dynamic ways. Whether your life is on the farm or along the edges of the city, carbon is fueling your activities. Striving to keep the delicate balance becomes our stewardship role. The health of soil depends on your ability to make good decisions about how much carbon will be returned to the land and how soil is managed to enrich the life that comes from it.

The big picture

Life on earth is indeed interconnected, and caring for the soil to achieve outstanding soil health conditions on your farm is possibly one of the greatest acts of love you can give to your fellow citizens. With modern industrialization of agricultural food and fiber supplies, our actions at a local level are impacting greater stretches of our planet than ever before. Consider where your food was actually grown and processed. Consider where crops produced on your farm might actually be consumed by humans or livestock around the world. Consider the plastic items you buy and what the fate of those plastics might be in hundreds or thousands of years. Consider the water you drink and how it got there.

Soil is an integral part of the cycle of life. Soil gives us food and fiber. Soil takes our wastes and cycles them into basic elements, allowing for new life to emerge. Consider the Bible passage of John 12:24, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” We give back so that life can be better. Soil is the medium by which we can practice this ritual on a recurring basis, whether that be daily, seasonally, annually, or generationally.