#this man is absolutely addicted to the crop top lifestyle

[liefallow]

him cutting right through the hoodie pocket is killing me

[cosimaballettithomas-blog]

Blog No. 10

This week focused on the function and role of soil in the environment as one of the most essential natural capitals on earth (Prof’s PowerPoint). While soil is renewable, the formation of a single centimeter takes hundreds of years (Miller 2012, 284). Chiefly, soil consists of rock, water, minerals, gases, nitrogen, phosphorus, and biomass (Prof’s PowerPoint). Some services provided by soil include the supplying of nutrients essential to plant growth, water purification, water storage, and carbon sequestration. Because soil is required by plants, it is also indirectly required by animals. The film Symphony of the Soil puts it perfectly: “We don’t grow plants we grow soil, and soil grows plants” (Symphony of Soil 2013). Although aphoristic, there is actually a depth of insight to this, we see farmers as people working with the earth, tilling and subduing it to produce commodities when in reality, soil does most of the work, and without it agriculture would not be possible, let alone life on earth. One really interesting part of the film was the farmer in California who describes how instantly evident the effects of switching his cattle to an organic diet were on the land, now fertilized by waste no longer contaminated by pesticides and other artificial chemicals that had literally been suffocating the grass underneath (Symphony of Soil 2013). The film furthers that “if we declared a war against the soil itself, then we [would] literally [be] committing a species level suicide.” In a sense, by ignoring climate change and going about our business as usual, we are declaring war against the earth and the soil as the building blocks of life on earth and without which we could not survive. The environmental impacts on soil caused by our unsustainable practices are copious, including top soil erosion, drought, crop failure and increased pest populations. Top soil erosion is a major issue given that it takes so long to regenerate. It is generally caused by flowing water which “carries away particles of topsoil that have been loosened by rainfall,” which is one reason why tropical rainforests have the least fertile soil out of all the biomes. Wind can also blow topsoil away largely occurring in dry, flat regions. Lastly, farming, deforestation, and overgrazing all contribute to soil erosion as they wipe out vegetation that holds soil in place (Miller 2012, 290).

Although we cannot replicate soil, we have discovered a way to produce food without it: hydroponic farming. An Environmental News Network article titled “Indoor Farming Takes Root at University of Toronto” discusses the mechanics behind hydroponic agriculture, or rather hydroculture that uses a “nutrient solution, instead of soil” (pictured below). “The water nourishes the roots, collects in a gutter and then recirculates back to a nutrient tank that feeds back into the hydroponic system” (ENN 2017). Unlike traditional commercial agriculture, which degrades soil and uses a colossal amount of water, hydroponic farming produces no waste when everything that is used is reused. Hydroponic farming can and should be employed everywhere because it can produce niche crops that cater to climate and culture. Another benefit of hydroponic farming is that it takes place inside a greenhouse thus minimizing land use. Moreover, “yields and availability are increased because crops are grown year round, regardless of weather conditions” which could help to bring many people out of poverty and in general provide healthy and nutritious food at all times (Miller 2012, 282). Moreover, hydroponic farming can occur in cities in the form of vertical farming by building greenhouses on rooftops. Another benefit is that, because greenhouse conditions are controlled, there is less risk of pests which eliminates the need for pesticides. Lastly, there is no threat of soil erosion or buildup of harmful chemicals and pesticides because neither are needed in the first place (Miller 2012, 282).

                                                                                         (Organic Authority 2017)

I think vertical farming in general, whether it be hydroponic farming or simply having a rooftop garden is becoming increasingly popular as the climate crisis persists. As discussed in Food Inc., if everyone knew where their food was coming from and how it is produced, many would be less inclined to eat it (Kenner 2009). That film was released ten years ago, and now far more people are aware that the food industry is not only cruel and inhumane to animals but is essentially poisoning people by using the cheapest ingredients available. Moreover, the unhygienic living conditions in which livestock are forced into leads to the spread of disease and ultimately affects the food that we eat. The film mentions a few, most notably salmonella and E.coli (Kenner 2009). Not to mention the huge environmental impacts of agriculture which has “the largest ecological footprint of any human activity and accounts for 25% of world greenhouse gas emissions” (Prof’s PowerPoint). I really believe that these films have been very effective in making people to want to change their diets. I actually decided to become vegetarian after seeing this film when it first came out as well as after reading Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals which was published around the same time. A former professor of mine, Dickson Despommier, who coined the term “vertical farming” believes that it is largely the answer to our food problems. I think this is reaching, especially considering that most of the world’s food problems exist in less developed countries largely due to overpopulation and rapid urbanization and where vertical farming simply could not produce enough food to sustain so many people. However, I think the concept is worth exploring more, not as the answer to all of our problems but as a tactic for reducing dependence on factory farming, localizing food, encouraging healthy eating, and reducing transportation from imports/exports and trips to grocery stores, especially in low income neighborhoods lacking local stores with fresh produce. It obviously would not hurt to implement vertical farming in less developed countries, and I think we should absolutely provide the materials and funding to build and operate greenhouses; however, the global food crisis is also a social and environmental crisis rooted in depleted resources (beyond soil) and unstable government systems as well as powerful corporations that support poverty by producing in those countries and refusing to raise wages. Thus, even if we built a greenhouse in every community, most people would not be able to afford to buy the fresh produce. Not to mention the revenue that is generated for less developed countries by allowing industries to produce crops and other commodities there.

In response to the Critical Thinking Question: “Is the food Americans eat really “food” anymore (from nature), but rather a man-made, industrially processed product/artifact in the Anthropocene?” I would argue that, for the most part, it isn’t (Prof’s PowerPoint). Of course there are levels to this, packaged food is obviously fake compared to fresh produce; however, just as Food Inc. explains, even something as wholesome as an apple has an entire backstory that we consumers have no conception of, we don’t know where it came from, who made it, the working conditions under which it was produced, what chemicals it was treated with, etc. I remember reading a study conducted years ago where an average American was fed a hunter gatherer diet and within a week they regained all of the healthy bacteria necessary to proper digestion which we have lost over the years as we have moved away from this lifestyle. As expounded on in “Symphony of Soil” we’ve come to associate soil with dirt and thus see it as something undesirable when in reality soil contains the necessary nutrients to literally support every form of life. Diets based solely on packaged and artificial food cannot possibly contain the necessary and inherent minerals and elements within and provided by soil. The hunter gatherer diet was rooted in a relationship between body and earth and sustained humans for ages without being any tilling, plowing, or chemical spraying. It should come as no surprise that indigestion is such a nationwide epidemic, as are other conditions such as IBS, Crohn's, and Lactose Intolerance, which I personally think is our body’s way of telling us that the only humans that are supposed to be drinking milk are infants, and even then, milk produced by their own species. The same can be said about our obsession with products like Hand Sanitizer which, although serves the purpose of killing off any harmful bacteria in the dirt and other natural surroundings consequentially kills the far more abundant bacteria necessary to immune health. 

The film Fed Up discusses obesity and the fault of the food industry for creating the epidemic by making us addicted to the chemicals it loads into our food products. The film predicts that in two decades “over 95% of all Americans will be overweight or obese” and “by 2050, 1 out of every 3 Americans will have diabetes,” and the food industry only serves to benefit from this (Fed Up 2014). In a way, the food industry and government that has failed to regulate it properly are killing Americans. And while it is the individual who makes the conscious decision to those foods, for many Americans who live in food deserts and low-income neighborhoods with little access to grocery stores and fresh produce that naturally contains essential nutrients courtesy of soil, they have no choice but to buy artificial and fast food that is inexpensive and accessible.

Word Count: 1558

Discussion Question: Do you think one can truly be an environmental advocate if they consume  meat, given that the industry consumes vast sums of water, degrades soil by overgrazing and other activities, and emits a huge percentage of greenhouse gases?

Work Cited

Van Buren, Edward. “Prof’s PowerPoint Notes.” https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzKbjVLpnX0RMjVGYUwwZlBXa28/view

Miller, Tyler G., and Scott Spoolman. "Chapter 12: Food, Soil, and Pest Management." Edited by Scott Spoolman. In Living in the Environment. 17th ed. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning, 2012.

Garcia, Deborah. “Symphony of Soil.” Amazon Video. April 22, 2013.

ENN. "Indoor Farming Takes Root at University of Toronto - Mississauga." Environmental News Network. March 16, 2017. https://www.enn.com/articles/50812-indoor-farming-takes-root-at-university-of-toronto---mississauga-.

Monaco, Emily. "Hydroponic Farming Startup Wants to Build a Vertical Farm in Every Major City on the Planet." Organic Authority. November 15, 2017. https://www.organicauthority.com/buzz-news/hydroponic-farming-startup-wants-to-build-a-vertical-farm-in-every-major-city-worldwide.

Kenner, Robert. "Food Inc." YouTube. June 09, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJDGUxqEdYY.

RADiUS. “Fed Up.” YouTube. April 09, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=69&v=aCUbvOwwfWM.