The obsession of safeguarding soil

“It feels as if the earth is falling away under my feet” is a commonly used way of describing a sense of disorientation or panic, of feeling lost. Sayings like this are never commonplace, however; they often express truths as ancient as they are apposite and we would do well to listen. The ground beneath our feet is what bears our weight and enables us to stand on the Earth. It is after all the force of gravity that keeps our feet on the ground, as if to remind us of our ineluctable attachment to the soil. Soil supports us. It gives us food and clean water. It regulates the temperature. It plays a leading role in the life cycle of many vital elements, carbon above all. Soil is one of the Earth’s most biodiverse components. It has been an invaluable pharmaceutical resource for thousands of years. Just as our lives depend on air and water, none of us could exist without soil. So if the earth really did disappear from under our feet, we would indeed be lost. For some years now, however, we have thought nothing of ignoring this patent truth and happily set about depleting the ground beneath us. Known technically as soil consumption, this is one of the most irreversible of unsustainable behaviours that blots man’s copybook here on Earth, an action of pure madness that is destroying the ground we walk on and with it our existence and our future. How aware are we of the situation? The answer must be ‘very little,’ otherwise there would be much more indignation and those who are responsible for the future of the soil would suffer a much more palpable sense of guilt. The origins of the threat hanging over soil lie much further back than the surge of asphalt and concrete gradually covering it. They lie in our heads, where the concept of what exactly soil is is too weak or confused or hackneyed. The first step towards safeguarding the soil involves understanding exactly ‘what it is’. An imperative for which the first years in school must not and cannot suffice; nor can an offhand platitude of an agronomist friend nor the odd snatched hour spent following a well-meaning webinar. Really to comprehend what soil is requires willpower, curiosity, patience and a substantial dose of passion, and if at all possible it should include practical encounters with soil, planting feet firmly on the ground.