Worldwide Environmental impacts

"Cocoa, rubber, wood fibre, coffee—each replaced roughly two million hectares of forest between 2001 and 2015. And yet, despite the romantic image of small family farms feeding the world, the reality is different. Most of the food traded globally comes not from homesteads but from large plantations—monoculture systems owned by corporations, often on land taken from others and worked by migrant workers. Plantation growing has changed our soils in ways we’ve barely begun to understand—millions of hectares transformed, often permanently.

We tend to think of plantations as relics of the past, tethered to the age of slavery. But while slavery has been abolished, plantations are very much alive—still extracting, still expanding. The plantation model has moved out of the tropics and now occupies much temperate land, growing salad crops, particularly in Europe. Today, around 1.3 - 2.3m ha of tropical forest are lost each year to palm oil expansion alone. This includes both primary and secondary forests, as well as vital peatlands. Since 2000, palm oil has driven 5–10% of tropical deforestation globally, and in hotspots like Indonesia and Malaysia, up to 50%. These two nations now produce 85% of the world’s palm oil.

The impacts are enormous. Palm oil monocultures have destroyed habitats for endangered species—orangutans, tigers, elephants—prompting widespread conservation efforts. Yet we continue to demand palm oil, a major ingredient of ultra-processed foods, present in around half of all packaged products, from snacks to cosmetics. Only 20% of it is registered as ‘sustainable’."  This is from my book 'on the Origin of Soils' published by 5mbooks. this autumn.

Unsustainable agricultural practices are farming methods that deplete natural resources faster than they can regenerate. These practices provide short-term food production at the expense of long-term environmental health, destroying soil, water, and ecosystems.

Key Unsustainable Practices

• Monoculture Farming: Planting the exact same crop on the same land year after year. This drains specific nutrients from the soil, reduces biodiversity, and leaves crops highly vulnerable to pests.

• Excessive Chemical Use: Overapplying synthetic fertilisers and chemical pesticides. This kills beneficial soil organisms, creates chemical-resistant pests, and pollutes nearby water sources through runoff.

• Over-Irrigation: Watering crops excessively, especially in dry areas. This wastes freshwater, depletes underground aquifers, and causes soil salinisation (salt buildup that makes land toxic to plants).

• Intensive Tillage: Deeply ploughing fields repeatedly. This destroys the soil's natural structure, kills earthworms, and leaves the topsoil highly vulnerable to being blown away by wind or washed away by rain.

• Slash-and-Burn Agriculture: Cutting down and burning forests to create temporary fields. This releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide, destroys habitats, and leaves the soil fertile for only a few years.