A Solution for Depleted Soil Nutrition
I hope this post finds you well.
I went on an adventure, through my keyboard that is, to research today’s vegetables. Apparently, they have less nutrients than they did in 1950. Yes! That’s right, you heard me. I couldn’t believe it, myself. In fact, in one case, a vegetable lost 100% of the nutrient vitamin C. So, I had to investigate, the truth that is. I know it’s out there.
Maybe the soil is the problem, it could be our modern Agra business practices are not working. They call it Intensive Farming. Then I remembered. Years ago, when I was a kid, I had learned of a type of soil, that was invented by the indigenous people of the Amazon rain forest, called Terra preta. Thousands of years later, this artificial, manufactured soil with natural ingredients, is still fertile. Today, they harvest it and use it as a fertilizer.
So, I keyed my way through the labyrinth of the web, seeking answers. Hoping to find why our vegetables are not what they seem. Although, my journey had taken me down a rabbit hole. I eventually surfaced two weeks later. Along the way I found a wealth of information, that I would like to share with you.
They say, it’s the journey that’s important not the end results. The information I uncovered will raise your neck hair, give you chills, and inspire you to take action. Because if we don’t, were doomed. Your understanding of vegetables and our forest will forever be changed, and you will discover the reason for removing CO2 is not because it causes climate change, but how it effects our plants.
First learn about Terra preta:
A nuisance I was, impulsive, curious about everything. I relied on asking questions for learning, as a result I didn’t read much, although I read the book Chariots of the Gods, by Erich Von Daniken, which was the only book I ever read from cover to cover. From this, I became an ancient alien believer, they did everything. I loved the ancient alien documentaries on tv. It is from these shows that I learned about Terra preta de Indio. It’s strange, the potential solution to our nutrient, mineral, and vitamin depleted vegetables, came from some crazy people who believed in aliens. To this day, I don’t understand why we are not embracing it. It is truly a miracle soil, thanks to the Amazon’s ancient people.
Terra preta is basically a manufactured, artificial soil that provides long term soil nutrition retention. The soil consists of biochar, pottery chards, fish and animal bones, animal feces and other plant residue. All these ingredients create some kind of microorganic ecosystem that last for thousands of years. Soil depths are up to 2 meters, and it regenerates itself, pushing up the soil by 1 centimeter, 0.4 inches per year.
One issue I have noticed. It seems there are lots of article extolling the biochar as a soil nutrition improvement. Terra preta is not biochar, It’s that and other materials too. I think the ancient Amazonian people would have only used biochar alone, if it worked.
To learn about Terra preta and how it can help improve soil nutrition for our food, read these articles and watch these documentaries.
Must Read:
1. Wikipedia: Terra preta – Wikipedia, A comprehensive introduction.
2. Article: How Is Soil Depletion Affecting Your Food? (vitacost.com)
4. Netflix: Kiss the Ground
Beneficial to read:
1. SoilFixer: Amazonian Dark Earth – what is it and how do you make it (soilfixer.co.uk)
2. Science Daily: Amazonian Terra Preta Can Transform Poor Soil Into Fertile — ScienceDaily
3. National Geographic: nutrient | National Geographic Society
Learning About Nutrition:
Nutrients, minerals and vitamin depletion: Apples have lost 80% of the vitamin C content since 1950. Kale has lost 27% of iron. Bananas lost 76% of copper. Carrots have lost 99% of vitamin A. Beef has lost 54% of iron, 24% of copper, and 41% of calcium. A generation of people in the 1950’s were less likely to be overweight than our generation and had less health problems than we do.
Humans have existed for thousands of years farming sustainably. The nutrition cycle was used for sustainable farming. The soil, composed of water and nutrition, feeds the plants. The animals eat the plants receiving the nutrition from the plants. The humans eat the plants and animals, thus getting all the nutrients needed to survive, from the soil. When the plants and animals die, they are put back into the soil with all its nutrients, completing the cycle. This cycle has sustained human and animal life for thousands of years.
In the 1960’s, a new form of farming, called Intensive Farming replaced the sustainable method. Plants could be grown closer together increasing the yields up to 10 times greater, using chemical fertilizers and weed killers. Unfortunately, there is no replenishing of soil nutrition. The fertilizers and pesticides used are placed on the top and they do not replenish the soil with the trace nutrients, minerals and vitamins our bodies need.
Must to Read/Watch:
1. How Is Soil Depletion Affecting Your Food? (vitacost.com)
2. Can we ditch intensive farming – and still feed the world? | Farming | The Guardian
3. Intensive Farming – Everything Connects
4. Fact or Fake News: is our food becoming less nutritious? | Rothamsted Research
5. Watch Eating Our Way To Extinction | Prime Video (amazon.com)
6. Watch The Biggest Little Farm | Prime Video (amazon.com)
The Amazing World of Trees:
There is a documentary called “Day Zero”, you should watch. I learned that trees disperse water as vapor into the air. There is more water in the air than in the rivers on the ground. It turns out, the Amazon trees actually produces clouds of volatile organic compounds that seed the air to create rain. Essentially, the rain is there because of the trees. So, the water vapor is there, and won’t turn into rain until the forest produces these compounds. The more rain the forest needs, the more particles, compounds, are released into the atmosphere. I will never see the humble tree the same again. This is an amazing, the trees disperse the vapor into the air, emit the compounds that seed the vapor into rain. The rain falls to the ground where the tree roots absorb the water, completing the cycle.
What is a volatile organic compound? You might ask. Starting with volatile, an example is a solution that readily evaporates. Alcohol is a volatile substance. So, volatile is a substance that readily changes from say a solid to a liquid or from a liquid to vapor at room temperature. Next is organic. This is a class of compounds that have carbon bonded to hydrogen and other elements. Some organic compounds contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen or nitrogen. Next is the word compound. This just means a combination of elements bonded together. CO2 is a compound containing carbon and two oxygens.
Documentary to Watch:
- Watch Call of the Forest: The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees | Prime Video (amazon.com)
- Watch The Hidden Life of Trees | Prime Video (amazon.com)
- Watch Day Zero | Prime Video (amazon.com)
We May be in Trouble, Too Much CO2:
This may be the most important discovery made. If this is true, we are in serious danger. It turns out that excess CO2 may be the cause of nutrition, mineral and vitamin depletion in our vegetables and meat. If there is anything you should learn from this article, this is it. To fully understand you must read the article titled, The great nutrition collapse, In Politico magazine.
If this is true, not only will we have to stop emitting gases, we need to remove the excess CO2 that the industrial age emitted. Currently, we are just over 400 ppm CO2. A normal level is at 250 ppm CO2. You do the math.
Mandatory to Read:
Other Interesting Stuff:
I also discovered another documentary you must see. You will thank me for this, I’m sure of it.
Documentaries:
- The Biggest Little Farm, I & II