The State of our Soils should be as Widely Discussed as Water or Air

In looking into the research on soil and soil health over the past 25 years, I am struck by how much we have discussed, measured and then set aside without it becoming part of the mainstream debate about global environmental condition.

“Throughout much of the twentieth century, there has been very little concern about soil quality. In contrast to the other key components of the environmental system, air, and water, there are few immediate public perceptions that the quality of the soil is declining. With respect to air, there has been public outcry when, as a result of pollution through the combustion of fossil fuels, the air quality is such that the population have suffered respiratory problems. Similarly with water, when the water has proved to be unfit for human consumption or the aquatic life has been killed, there has been publicly expressed concern. This visual evidence for changes in air and water quality has led to wide-scale public concern, and in many countries, this has led to development of health-related standards for air and water on the basis of fit-to-breathe and fit-to drink criteria.” ¹.

Perhaps the problem is that soils, unlike water and air are not in the public domain.