Soil health refers to the ability of the soil to function as an ecosystem that supports plants, animals, and humans. Healthy soil has good water retention and structure, which can increase plant resilience to drought, erosion, and pests.
Sustainable Agriculture relies on healthy soil because, without it, the quantity and quality of crop yields suffer. Healthy soil has an important role in maintaining clean air, water, plant health, and organism health. Soil health also affects the health of the environment because unhealthy soil releases large amounts of carbon dioxide, contributing to greenhouse gases.
Healthy soil is made up of five main ingredients which are minerals, organic matter, living organisms, water, and gas. The composition can further be broken down into biotic and abiotic factors which are living and non-living elements respectively. Soil composition differs in every region which is why it is important to monitor your soil health.
More than 50% of agricultural soils are degraded and have poor soil health and this is due to erosion, pollution, over-cultivation, fertilizers, and overgrazing. Soil can become contaminated from pollution, excess pesticides, and sewage, and this contamination can limit plant growth. The overuse of fertilizers is a big factor in causing poor soil health and it can result in crop failure.
On a global scale, the most common form of agriculture is "conventional agriculture". Conventional agriculture is much less concerned with soil health than sustainable/organic agriculture. This is explored further below.
On a national level, conventional agriculture is even more common. As of 2017, around 40% of all United States land was used for agricultural purposes. According to a 2019 study, certified organic acres made up 4% of total farmland.
On a local scale, conventional agriculture is still the most common form of agriculture, however there are a growing number of organizations starting sustainable agriculture practices.
Conventional agriculture can be defined as the use of synthetic chemicals to maintain crops. These synthetic chemicals are extremely harmful to the health of soil, as they cause nutrient loss, increased levels of drought, fluctuations in pH, and depleted microbes/bacteria/fungi. The goal of conventional agriculture is to obtain the largest possible yield of produce at one given time, regardless of the effects that will play out over longer periods of time.
The Sustainable Agriculture Project at Grand Valley State University is a great example of local organic agriculture. The SAP is very concerned with the health and quality of their soil. Sustainable agriculture attempts to reach the objective of having a healthy work environment, economic profit, and social and economic equity. Sustainable farmers use methods that encourage soil health, minimal water use, and low amounts of chemicals or fertilizers.
Organic matter and clay minerals in the soil are referred to as colloids for their unique property to store chemicals. The soil texture describes the consistency of these minerals and shows the chemical-carrying potential of the soil. Colloids have unique electrostatic properties that allow certain chemicals to attach because of protonation and dissociation. The total amount of these exchange sites that can hold positively charged ions is the cation exchange capacity. This measurement, in turn, reflects the potential of nutrients in the soil that can be carried and stored. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are readily available through air and water, but the plant relies on soil for other macronutrients such as phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium.
The greater the concentration of H+ ions the greater the acidity level. Measuring the soil acidity reflects this concentration of ions and can help determine what cations are more likely available.
Removing the whole plant in agriculture and preventing decomposition also prevents cations from returning to the soil. Disrupting this cycle of chemical exchange continues to imbalance the availability of nutrients in the soil.
We propose that the Sustainable Agriculture Project implement a program that accepts donations of food waste from local community members, puts these food scraps into a substantially large compost container, and then makes the compost available to the same local community members on a pay-what-you-can basis.
Examples of large compost structures
The only cost associated with this plan is the compost container. Ideally, this container would be substantially large and structurally sound enough to last a long time and hold a large amount of content. Industrial composts are incredibly costly and are outside of the scope of this project. Therefore, we think it is realistic to plan on spending around $500 to create a compost container big enough to hold the community's compost. These funds would be spent on lumber, hardware (nails, screws), and necessary power tools.
Besides this, there will be minimal spending involved with this implementation plan. The compost will require minimal maintenance, and can easily be incorporated as one of the tasks completed by the volunteers that already do work at the SAP.
People: This plan will serve the people, in that it will provide access to high-quality fertilizer that would normally involve a great deal of work to obtain. Instead of community members having to spend time, money, and energy on building a composting system, they can instead bring their food waste to the SAP and in turn bring home compost. It also serves the people by providing them with soil that will lead to higher quality and quantity yields.
Planet: As stated above, sustainable agriculture is much more beneficial for the planet than conventional agriculture. This implementation plan will benefit the planet as it is designed to prevent the community from having to use conventional fertilizers. With this plan, instead of community members' soil being pumped full of synthetic chemicals, it will be infused with nutrient-rich microbes.
Profit: While this plan is not designed go maximize profit, it is designed to be economically sustainable. Obviously, it benefits no one to have the SAP spend more money than it earns. With that said, the compost made from the donated food waste can be made available to community members on a pay-what-you-can basis.
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Bialik, Kristen. “Organic Farming Is On The Rise In The U.S.” Pew Research Center, 10 Jan. 2019, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/10/organic-farming-is-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s/.
Doval, C. (2018). What is Sustainable Agriculture? Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. https://sarep.ucdavis.edu/sustainable-ag
Gomiero, Tiziano, et al. Environmental Impact of Different Agricultural Management Practices: Conventional vs. Organic Agriculture, Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences, 29 Apr. 2011, www.researchgate.net/publication/255978998_Environmental_Impact_of_Different_Agricultural_Management_Practices_Conventional_vs_Organic_Agriculture.mor92. (2022, December 5).
Importance of Soil Health and Soil Improvement In Agriculture. ICL. https://www.icl-group.com/blog/the-importance-of-soil-health/ Soil Health. (n.d.). Www.fs.usda.gov. https://www.fs.usda.gov/nac/topics/soil-health.php
Edited by Stony Brook University, Environmental Topics and Essays, Stony Brook University, you.stonybrook.edu/environment/sustainable-vs-conventional-agriculture/.
“USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service.” Edited by USDA, Census of Agriculture , 2017, www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2019/2017Census_Farms_Farmland.pdf.