Soil is disappearing worldwide and that means less food (includes video story)

Over Father’s Day weekend, Washington, D.C. residents joined thousands of others in more than 60 cities across the United States and Latin America to raise awareness about an urgent soil crisis and to push the lawmakers to take action.

The Save Soil movement aims to increase the amount of organic content in agricultural soil. The reason: organic levels in some areas of the country are less than one percent. Studies suggest that levels less than one percent may not produce crops.

“People are struggling right now,” shared Save Soil organizer Olga Lasco. “The ultimate goal is to bring policy to increase organic matter in the soil to 3% minimum…all the leaders, all the lawmakers, everyone has to come together. We are asking everyone to support us to get the United Nations on board.”

Organic matter is plant or animal material that is returned to the soil. According to scientists, increasing the amount in fields means more moisture and nutrients for plants to use. 

Every five seconds, the equivalent of one soccer field is lost to soil erosion and growing one inch of soil can take up to 1,000 years, according to the United Nations.

Activists claim that without good soil the food crisis, water scarcity and climate change will worsen globally. “The degradation of soil is making the ground less able to contain water, so if we take care of soil, we will be able to stop other environmental problems,” said Krystal Talley, a soil conservation activist.

Talley also thinks educating the community about soil loss can have an impact. “If we make people more aware of what’s going on – because a lot of people are not aware soil is going bad – I think that will make the movement go a lot further.”

For those interested in participating in future events, visit their website for more information.

Ivette is currently pursuing a masters in Spanish Journalism and Communications at Florida International University, and is also culminating her micro-masters in Supply Chain Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While she has over ten years of experience in business, she recently decided to pursue her passion of journalism. Ivette enjoys writing about economy, social issues, and entrepreneurship among other topics.