National Geographic has an online article on soil which includes this sidebar on soil erosion in Haiti. Extreme widespread deforestation has contributed to the loss of topsoil which in turn greatly impacts the productivity of the land. Even if global trade barriers were lifted, allowing Haitian farmers to get a fair price for their crops, they may still be unable to produce enough to feed the population due to the infertility of the land.
Many people don't realize is that soil quality greatly impacts the nutritional value of the crops group grown in that soil - particularly for minerals like selenium and iodine. Selenium deficiency in humans in China can be traced to the low selenium content of much of the Chinese agricultural land. One of the most effective ways to improve the iodine content of people's diets is to introduce iodine into the water used to irrigate plants.
The good news is that many soils can be restored and renewed - with intentional farming and conservation practices. Farmers rather than clinicians should probably be thought of as our frontline nutritionists.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing this. I had not thought about soil as a factor in nutrition as much as the produce itself.
Are you surviving the Hurricane Gustav? What after-effects of the storm is your project feeling?
Post a Comment