Soil as it Relates to Nutrition

Most of us in the United States take a lot of things for granted and we are also victims of the machine. We trust the system and accepted methods way, way too much.

One day I was shopping with my wife in one of the major superstores. I was a bit bored and found myself just staring down one of the isles, looking at nothing in particular, but actually observing the whole of what was within my view. I saw hundreds and hundreds of brightly colored boxes and plastic containers with all types of flashy names and slogans printed on them. My mind began to analyze what I was seeing. Was this really food I was looking at? Just regular old food? Well, there did not appear to be anything regular about it,not with all the flashy colors and such. All this stuff must be something really exotic and incredibly good, it all looked so attractive.

Randomly, out of sheer curiosity, I reached out a grabbed the nearest colorful box; the prettiest one. Slowly and deliberately, I read the ingredients. It began to occur to me that even though I am an above average reader and reasonably good with vocabulary, I could not pronounce exactly half of the items contained in the ingredients list. That bothered me.

If I can't pronounce the names of these ingredients, there is a strong chance that I really don't know what they are and an even stronger chance that I do not really need them inside of my stomach. I had to wonder if these ingredients that I could not pronounce were put in there for my benefit and well being or for the convenience or benefit of the manufacturer?

I put the box back on the shelf and again, scanned the isle studying the exterior of all the containers. Then it hit me, these folks are all in a big contest. All of the companies that have their products on these shelves are competing against eachother for my money. My money, my neighbor Bob's money, Uncle Joe's money, everybody's money. I could not come up with any other explanation for all the jazzy packaging.

I asked myself, "Are all these manufacturers really concerned about my good health? How many meetings in corporate offices are held to discuss the potential impact of all these whacky ingredients on my body?"

Well, I was on a roll now so I waltzed up and down the isles, looking for products that I thought might be manufactured and sold by companies who did have my best interests at heart. Oh, I found a few that I felt might actually be concerned about how their products were produced and what it was that was going in my stomach, but it was very few, comparatively speaking.

I found myself in the produce section. This is the place where we buy things that are supposed to be very healthy and good for us to eat. You know, fruits and vegetables and all that grows in the dirt. I went from label to label searching for the name of a local company, someone who raised produce within a hundred miles of my home. You guessed it, I quickly became alarmed that the vast majority of it was raised not only outside of that hundred mile radius, it was raised outside of our country!

Soon thereafter, I was able to locate my wife; her cart mounded up with all those brightly colored packages and lovely looking produce. I was a changed man, never to look upon a basket of groceries the same again.

How many of you, taking the time out of your day to read this post, are aware of how soil is designed to work? Some call it dirt, some call it soil, whatever you prefer to call it, it is the medium from which all food related items that you swallow originate from. Let me back up; it is the medium from which all food related items that you swallow are "supposed" to originate from! In reality, I guess, we would actually have to go back to 1880 for that to actually be the case and in that setting, there would be a well used garden spade, a hoe, a fork and any number of other soil related impliments in every shed or garage in America. In those days, practically every household had a garden and everyone of those gardeners had a working knowledge of soil and how it functions. If not, they didn't eat very well. I realize, painfully; those days are gone, likely for good.

Dirt is dirt you argue, nothing special about that, right?

Wrong.

Soil or "dirt", when adequately understood and evaluated can only be accurately described as the foundation of most living things. If you doubt me, please come up with the name of any life form on earth (living on or above the land) that does not require nutrition originating in the soil. That should put the importance of soil and it's condition into the proper perspective.

Here's another eye-opener for you. Soil, in and of itself, with all proper ingredients in place, is a living, breathing, manufacturing machine. It is a life form, in and of itself. That fact will come as a surprise to eighty percent of you. In 1880, it would have surprised no one.

Any good, knowledgeable gardener will explain to you that the produce harvested from a garden is only as good as the soil it came from. Of course this same principle applies not only to peas and corn, it also applies to wheat, barley, bananas, apples, soybeans, and any other food related item that requires sunshine and water in order to grow. You think about that list the next time you are surveying your cupboards for something to have for supper. Even though it comes in those nice, fancy packages, the majority of the ingredients should still come from the soil.

So if in fact, all of this is true, then why is it that society is no longer concerned at all about soil? It's because the responsibility for the maintenance and assurance of soil quality has been transferred to others; and the "others" is an alarmingly small number compared with the amount of folks who have no concern for it at all. In the United States today, one large farming corporation could conceivably raise enough of a particular food item to supply, lets say, 100,000 people for a year. This would be especially true for a food item like wheat, for example. So in reality, let's assume that there are five corporate officers of this company who are responsible for making the decisions that are related to soil quality on their farm. So, due to the wonders of monstrous modern machinery, five people could actually control and manage the production, quality control and sale of enough of one food item to supply up to 100,000 people for an entire year. That's quite a shift from 1880 when it would have been more like a ratio of ten to one. In that case it wouldn't have been difficult at all to track down who was responsible for puny turnips on your plate.

We are a trusting bunch aren't we?

Back to the soil. If you can swallow the theory or idea that healthy soil is actually a living thing, then what exactly does that life form within soil consist of? It is a thing called a macro or a micro-organism. "Micro" meaning an extremely tiny little organism that lives and works on and below the surface, eating and digesting every inert form of matter that it comes into contact with. During the digestive process, it will break down and convert all substances (whenever possible) back into their respective original, natural components. These natural components, (minerals and such) it knows are vital to the feeding and nourishing of the plant life that the soil is supporting. These micro-organisms are amazingly enterprising little machines working 24/7 to generate the vast majority of the nutrients that will be absorbed by the roots for plant growth and development. Many other things such as the absorption of oxygen and water particles are also vital to the soil system, but it is the micro and macro organisms within the soil that provide most of the nutrition to the plants. Photosynthesis and other natural processes contribute as well. The plants in turn, along with all the nutrients contained therein, are then processed and digested by your body. Seems simple enough right?

If the gardener or farmer understands and abides by the rules of maintaining good, healthy soil, then the plants that are produced from that soil can be relied upon consistently as a good source of "complete" and quality nutrition. Unfortunately, in order for that to happen, in most cases, you would have to remove the "money" or income factor from the scenario in order to ensure the nutrient quality. When you are raising your own produce, in your own soil, you are going to be concerned with only one priority and that it the overall quality of that produce and how that translates to your good health. If you are raising that same produce for a profit on a very large scale, I believe that priority of overall quality could easily and quickly be sacrificed for the "bottom line". Add to that the reality that many of the modern synthetic fertilizers and chemicals that are sprayed on the soil and crops are actually toxic to the micro and macro organisms in the soil. Consistent and steady use of these toxins will, over time, cause these organisms to go dormant and cease to function. Less organism function translates to less nutrients to the plants; a plain an simple truth.

When most Americans shop for produce at their local superstore, they are really only concerned with the overall appearance of that produce - how attractive it is to their eye, with little or no concern for the actual nutrient content of that some produce. After all, how in the world is the average consumer going to be able to determine nutrient quality or quantity? They can't and most producers are counting on that fact. Modern science produces many ways and products that provide producers with the ability to grow very "good looking" fruits and vegetables. These same methods and products are not designed to ensure complete nutrition at the same time, only mother nature can do that. Some natural processes cannot be replaced.

Many, many organic growers are popping up all over the place these days. They are generally much more concerned about the growth process and the over-all nutrient quality of their produce. This is a good trend, but always remember, man kind is carnal in nature and will tend to lean toward profit margins in any large commercial operation.

In 1935, a good, successful farmer understood the natural farming rules of crop rotation, composting with organic material and other methods that would effectively feed and balance their soil on an annual basis. By farming smart, they could actually use the same soil year after year successfully without losing very much in terms of soil quality. Crop rotation provided a means for the micro-organisms to manufacture a complete and balanced menu of nutrients to the plants, year after year. Organic fertilizers such as manure and left over crop residue did a nice job of replacing required components also. Now days, we have outsmarted ourselves. Good crop rotation habits have gone by the wayside due to the demands of a fluxuating market. In some cases, farmers are planting the same fields with wheat and barley year after year, if those markets remain profitable. Fertilizer salesmen come around and convince them that by using their products, they can effectively by-pass nature and inject all the necessary ingredients back into the soil each year. Think about a produce operation in South America or in Mexico. Heaven knows they are aware of some of the same methods used to by-pass the necessity of crop rotation and there can be no doubt that they are certainly not subject to the same regulations that our American farmers are. They can literally grow big, fat, beautiful heads of lettuce year after year in the same soil. All they need to accomplish this is a nice, big dose of synthetic fertilizer to get the job done. Not only that, but plants artificially stimulated will in some cases, grow much larger and faster than those relying strictly upon mother nature. Faster and bigger translates into more tonage of product, more heads of lettuce and more profit. Remember . . . . . . . . . . "The bottom line".

Think of it as plants on steroids; a crude and crazy comparison maybe but you get my drift.

By now, I think you are just beginning to see the big picture. The industrialization and modernization of our food industry has not necessarily been a good thing for our over all health individually and collectively. Your body will only perform according to the quality and quantity of good, pure nutrition that it is provided. That just makes sense, doesn't it? If the soil that is used to produce the plants that provide our food is out of balance or just plain depleted of critical nutrients, then it stands to reason that the food we eat will not be what it could or should be. You can eat "good looking" celery and cabbage till it is coming out your ears, but if it is not of high nutritional quality, you are just processing a lot of good-looking, fairly expensive green stuff.

I rest my case.

As stated in the previous post, I have been fortunate enough to have discovered a very valuable, cost-effective source of quality nutrition. Over the past three years, I have enjoyed a dramatic turn around in my overall health condition for the good. I will be happy to share that process with you if you contact me at briggsdistributors@live.com

Best wishes

WRB