Soil Depletion

Perhaps the best summary is by Dr. William A. Albrecht, Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, who said:

"A declining soil fertility, due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, is responsible for poor crops and in turn for pathological conditions in animals fed deficient foods from such soils, and that mankind is no exception."

Dr Albrecht goes further to unequivocally lay the blame:

"NPK formulas, as legislated and enforced by State Departments of Agriculture, mean malnutrition, attack by insects, bacteria and fungi, weed takeover, crop loss in dry weather, and general loss of mental acuity in the population, leading to degenerative metabolic disease and early death."

1992 Earth Summit Statistics

1992 Earth Summit Report* indicate that the mineral content of the world's farm and range land soil has decreased dramatically.

Percentage of Mineral Depletion From Soil During The Past 100 Years, By Continent:

* You may remember the 1992 Earth Summit by the fact that President Bush wouldn't sign any of the treaties.

** Some US farms are 100% depleted and some are 60% depleted, the average is 85% depletion as compared to 100 years ago. This is worse than in any other country in the world because of the extended use of fertilizers and "maximum yield" mass farming methods.

Fertilisers Are The Problem, Not The Solution

According to research in animal husbandry and from The National Science Foundation, animals require at least: 45 minerals 12 essential amino acids 16 vitamins 3 essential fatty acids

According to Gary Price Todd, MD, the human body requires at least 60 minerals for optimal health and basically the same other essentials as animals.

But, only 8 minerals are available in any kind of quantity in most of the food we eat today.

We know plants can make vitamins, amino acids and varying amounts of fatty acids, if they are healthy from being grown in soils containing abundant minerals. If the soil lacks minerals, the plant is stunted because a plant can not make minerals.

Why not just add more minerals.

Because it's too expensive for corporations with vested interests in the current system to fix the problem until the demand for fully nutritious food is higher. The demand won't increase until more people know about the result of mineral deficiency. More people won't get informed until scientists and others manage to inform the public.

This socio-economical perspective is confirmed by a US Dept. of Agriculture official that was quoted in Diet for a New America (John Robbins, Stillpoint Publishing, 1987). Quote: "...halting soil erosion and degradation would be prohibitively expensive"

In other words the situation is not going to be fixed any time soon.

NPK Commercial fertilizers were introduced in 1908.

Was the soil depletion problem solved?

Not by a long shot! Study any commercial fertilizer by reviewing the ingredients listed on the package. You will see nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) and most times, nothing more.

Why?

It's a known fact that you can raise most crops and plants with what little nutrients are still in the soil, and NPK.

Most farmers never put back more than 8 minerals.

In the first place, more than 8 minerals would be nearly impossible to obtain. Secondly, farmers get paid to produce maximum yield per acre, not maximum nutrition, so why bother with producing healthy food?

In addition to causing mineral depletion fertilizers also weaken the crop which in turns makes it more subject to insects.

This in turn forces the farmers to use toxic chemicals to kill the insects. Dr Jerome Weisner, Science Councillor to John F. Kennedy stated way back in 1963 that "The use of pesticides is more dangerous than atomic fallout."

His words are simply a deafening reverberation from those of Rachel Carson in her incisive work of 1962, 'Silent Spring', where she says "We are rightly appalled by the genetic effects of radiation...How then, could we be indifferent to the same effect from farm chemicals used freely in the environment."

Few people know that these clear thinkers were simply expounding on the writings of Amerige Mosca, Italian Scientist and winner of the Science Prize at the Brussels World Fair in 1958.

He tried to stop the fire, which is now burning out of control, when he warned us that. "The damage resulting from nuclear radiation is the same as the damage resulting from the use of toxic genetic chemicals. The use of fungicides of organic syntheses annually causes the same damage to present and future generations as atomic fallout from 14,500 atomic bombs of the Hiroshima type (approximately 29 X 14 megaton hydrogen bombs)."

Sadly, Mr. Mosca's full report was classified for 50 years by the Italian Government. On top of everything the farmer is encouraged to spray there vegetables with wax in order to provide a nicer look and increase sales and profits.

When consuming mass produced (non organic) food one is definitely in risk of eating more toxic chemicals, not to mention genetically engineered food that looks fresh for suspiciously long time, but has questionable effects on your physiology. Organic Food, Still not Good Enough You might think that the solution to the problem is to eat only organically grown food. That is obviously a healthier choice, because you get more minerals and less toxic chemicals into your system while eating organic food (see table below).

However you don't get the 60 colloidal minerals from organic foods, therefore it is essential for people that eat organic food to supplement with both major and colloidal minerals.

Can We Remineralise the Soil

Is it possible to fix our depleted soils? Many agricultural specialists have said yes it is. There some interesting books on this site (free PDF downloads) http://www.remineralize.org/

More Quotations

"In the future, we will not be able to rely anymore on our premise that the consumption of a varied balanced diet will provide all the essential trace elements, because such a diet will be very difficult to obtain for millions of people."
Dr. Walter Mertz, U.S. Department of Agriculture, told to congress in 1977.

Dr. Linus Pauling the two-time Nobel Prize winner states that: "You can trace every sickness, every disease, and every ailment to a mineral deficiency.

"Mineral insufficiency and trace elements insufficiency are more likely to occur than are vitamin insufficiency states. Because of differing geologic conditions, minerals and trace elements may be scarce in the soils of certain regions and rich in those of other regions. Thus, you can live in some areas, eat a perfectly 'balanced' diet and still develop mineral deficiencies or trace element deficiencies that can only be averted through dietary change or supplementation." The Doctor's Vitamin and Mineral Encyclopedia

In Dr. Jensen's book, Empty Harvest, he talks about how many of our illnesses are correlated with our improper stewardship of the land. Our immunity very much parallels the immunity of the land. Of special mention is that trace minerals are very depleted in our soils. Veterinarians have long since known this, which is why there are some 45 trace minerals added to dog and livestock food. They would much rather spend a few cents everyday than hundreds of dollars on vet bills!

Dr. Charles Northen, MD researcher reports that, "In the absence of minerals, vitamins have no function. Lacking vitamins, the system can make use of the minerals, but lacking minerals vitamins are useless."

Gaylord Hauser, from his book, "Diet Does It", concurs by stating, "Minerals are certainly as important to us as vitamins, yet minerals are overlooked, neglected and their value underestimated."