Nutrient Depleted Soil

I want to talk to you about dirt. I’m not talking about the stuff you vacuum off your carpets or wash from your car—maybe the word “dirt” is throwing you off. A better term might be soil: the medium that every plant and herb we eat grows and draws nutrients from. Only a little over 10% of the land on Earth must feed all 6.5 billion of us. According to a 1992 Earth Summit Report, when compared to 100 years ago, American soils are 85% depleted of the minerals and elements that we need to assimilate for our wellbeing. Notice that report was 20 years ago; by now our soil’s health account is nearly in bankruptcy.

When I was a boy, Mom always said, “Eat your vegetables !” I trusted her, it made sense, and I was pretty obedient most of the time. My favorite TV program back then was the Popeye cartoon show so I ate my spinach to imitate my sailor hero. When I was young, a serving of spinach contained approximately 150 mg of iron. Today that same portion contains less than 5 mg. You see, decades of over-farming, erosion, and now desertification of our soils have rendered our foods sadly deficient, almost empty calories, like the wax fruit on my mom’s dining room table center piece. As an example, a British Food Journal study reported that in the last 50 years the potato has suffered the following nutritive losses:

• 100% of Vitamin A
• 57% of Vitamin C and Iron
• 28% of Calcium
• 50% of Riboflavin
• 18% of Thiamin

There was a similar outcome for twenty-five other fruits and vegetables. These revelations make Mom’s “eat your broccoli” instruction seem almost hollow. Remember, plants can make many vitamins and enzymes , but not minerals; minerals must be absorbed from the soil. In an attempt to put life back into the dirt, copious amounts of artificial fertilizers have been put into the land. These chemical supplements are definitely cheaper than organic, but they lack even the essential nutrients. There’s an article I read in Articlesbase called, “Soil Depletion is Going to Kill Us,” which gives the feeling that fruits and vegetables are now almost junk food. You add to the reality of soil degradation, additional depletion caused by premature harvesting, processing, additives, and cooking, and how much real nutrition is left?

A major part of the solution to our dilemma is raw , organic, pristine-soil grown superfoods from Sunwarrior. You’re worth it!