by Nandika Ravi
Several people gathered at Toronto’s Inukshuk Park on June 19 for a walkathon, in an effort to educate people on the depleting health of soil around the world. 16,000 people from all walks of life in over sixty cities across North and South America including Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto in Canada came together to create awareness about this issue.
The ‘Save Soil’ Movement that was started by India’s spiritual leader Sadhguru and his Isha Foundation, has now become a global movement.
“Food doesn’t come from Uber Eats, it comes from soil. The healthier the soil, the healthier your food, the healthier your body”, said Sadhguru during the IUcN(International Union for Conservation of Nature)summit.
Soil extinction is not just another ecological challenge. It is an existential threat. If we do the right things now, we can significantly turn this situation around and regenerate the soil in the next 15-25 years.–Sg #SaveSoil #ConsciousPlanet @UNCCD@FAO @WFP @UNEP @cpsavesoil pic.twitter.com/o0pgUMpiR5
— Sadhguru (@SadhguruJV) February 10, 2022
Gagan Gill, who’s a volunteer and active member of the Isha foundation said that, “this movement is a hundred day journey, which started in London and is now culminating in India.”
“Our soil is degrading at an alarming rate and we have about sixty years of agricultural soil left.”
Research conducted by the foundation revealed that in the next twenty years, 40 per cent less food is expected to be produced for 9.3 billion people. Poor soil leads to poor nutritional value, which means over 2 billion people could suffer from nutritional deficiencies leading to a multitude of diseases. Almost 10% of the 8 billion people on earth are already undernourished with 3 billion lacking healthy diets, and the land and water resources farmers rely on stressed to “a breaking point.”
Soil degradation not only impacts food production but also other environmental factors such as water scarcity, climate change, loss of bio-diversity, loss of livelihood leading to conflicts and migration. Gaurav Srivastava who’s the Save Soil coordinator for GTA strongly feels that the time to act is now.
Walkathon participants in Toronto
“52 per cent of agricultural soil is already degraded and if we don’t do anything, then fifteen years from now we could have food shortages in different parts of the world,” said Srivastava.
“We come from the soil and we go back to it, so we should make sure to protect this soil as long as we live on it,” he added.
The goal of the global movement is to save soil by getting the message out to 60 per cent of the world’s electorate, so that they can push for policies that would make soil conservation possible. Some policies include having a minimum of 3-6% organic content in agricultural soil(by bringing the land under shade from vegetation & enriching the soil through plant litter and animal waste)and carbon credit systems through industries and businesses.
According to Isha foundation’s research, soil degradation can be reversed across the globe through policies that are created to safeguard soil health. Collective participation of all citizens is needed, which can only be ensured by adopting the necessary policies in every nation of the world.
“People can help by raising their voice, writing letters to our political leaders about why this movement is important and why we need to care about the health of our soil, “said Gill.
Head to SaveSoil.org for more information on soil conservation and to be a part of this movement.