Soil microbes are key to the function of agricultural systems. Microbial populations play roles in nutrient cycling, from fixing nitrogen to solubilizing phosphorus.
Thus started an interview with Dr. Kristine Nichols, the former Chief Scientist at the Rodale Institute, an independent research institute for organic farming. This is the same role SymSoil’s Senior Scientific Advisor, Dr. Elaine Ingham, held. The full interview can be found here, but here are a few highlights:
Soil health is critical to both food security and combating climate change because soil is the foundational resource for our food production—basically, without soil, we cannot grow food. The process of adding nutrient density to hydroponically grown food is very costly—fiscally and environmentally.
Research indicates that there are some amino acids and antioxidants important for human health that can only be produced by fungi and some bacteria, meaning that they only get into the human food chain through a connection to the soil.
Thus, food security is no longer just about having enough food, it is also about having nutrient dense food.
foodtank: A Think Tank for Food ran the interview in March 2018. Click through to read the entire article, How Soil can Improve Food Security While Combating Climate Change
