Soil and Your HealthBasic Health Publications, Inc., 2004 - 122 pages "In "Soil and Your Health," eminent health writer and environmentalist Beatrice Trum Hunter discusses the natural resource that grows our fruits and vegetables. The quality of food depends on the quality of the soil in which it is grown. Is organically produced food superior to conventionally grown food? How do earthworms and trace minerals benefit the soil and the food and feed grown on it? How do intentionally applied fertilizers, pesticides, and sludge, as well as inadvertent contaminannt affect soil? Hunter responds to the mounting soil-quality crisis with hopeful answers and measures beginning in our own gardens and farms."--Publisher description. |
From inside the book
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Page 1
... human health . The routine application of toxic pesti- cides , herbicides , and chemical fertilizers and other wide- spread practices , such as the use of sludge , are weakening the health and nutritional vitality of our soil and food ...
... human health . The routine application of toxic pesti- cides , herbicides , and chemical fertilizers and other wide- spread practices , such as the use of sludge , are weakening the health and nutritional vitality of our soil and food ...
Page 2
... human health . Soil and Your Health presents the issues concisely and offers practical informa- tion about how we can solve the problems . The more we appreciate the worth of healthy soil , the better we will be able to achieve a ...
... human health . Soil and Your Health presents the issues concisely and offers practical informa- tion about how we can solve the problems . The more we appreciate the worth of healthy soil , the better we will be able to achieve a ...
Page 5
... human eye , in reality it teems with life . A mere teaspoonful of soil may contain billions of living organisms upon which plants depend for growth and health . Some of these organisms decompose complex matter into simpler forms ...
... human eye , in reality it teems with life . A mere teaspoonful of soil may contain billions of living organisms upon which plants depend for growth and health . Some of these organisms decompose complex matter into simpler forms ...
Page 8
... humans consum- ing the crop . The connection between soil health and human health should be obvious . No one has expressed it more clearly and succinctly than William A. Albrecht at the University of Missouri , when he said , " food is ...
... humans consum- ing the crop . The connection between soil health and human health should be obvious . No one has expressed it more clearly and succinctly than William A. Albrecht at the University of Missouri , when he said , " food is ...
Page 37
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Contents
3 | |
9 | |
15 | |
23 | |
Building Good Soil | 32 |
Soil Quality Organic vs Conventional Farming | 42 |
Soil Fertility and Weeds | 60 |
Consuming Soil | 70 |
Sludge An Inappropriate Soil Fertilizer | 91 |
Soil Contamination with Drugs | 95 |
Losing Soil in Global Dust Storms | 101 |
Bioremediation of Contaminated Soil | 107 |
Main Sources | 112 |
Additional Readings | 117 |
Index | 118 |
Toxic Trace Minerals in Soil | 77 |
Other editions - View all
Soil and Your Health: Healthy Soil Is Vital to Your Health Beatrice Trum Hunter No preview available - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
acidic acres African dust agricultural aluminum amounts animals antibiotic antibiotic residues areas arsenic biodynamic bioremediation boron calcium carbon-nitrogen ratio Chapter chemical fertilizers compost composted yard trimmings conservation tillage consume contain contaminated soil conventional farming copper cotton dust storms earthworm castings earthworms eat clay elements environmental erodible land farmers feed fluorine garden geese geophagia global dust storms grass grazing growing humans humus improve increased industrial wastes insects iron Klamath weed legumes livestock manganese manure materials meal ment microbes microorganisms molybdenum mulches nitrates nitrogen no-till no-tillage nutrients nutrition organic farming organic food organic matter organic mulches organiculture percent pesticides pests phosphate phytoremediation plant diseases plant growth plots plowed pollutants potassium potato practices problem production Raloff reduced result rock roots selenium soil conservation soil fertility soluble subsoiling substances surface tion toxic trace minerals toxins USDA vitamin weed control worms yield zinc
Popular passages
Page 25 - The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions ; but long before he existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still continues to be thus ploughed by earth-worms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organized creatures.
Page 23 - For, to say nothing of half the birds, and some quadrupeds which are almost entirely supported by them, worms seem to be the great promoters of vegetation, which would proceed but lamely without them, by boring, perforating, and loosening the soil, and rendering it pervious to rains and the fibres of plants, by drawing straws and stalks of leaves and twigs into it ; and, most of all, by throwing up such infinite numbers of lumps of earth called worm-casts, which, being their excrement, is a fine...
Page 24 - ... by worms. It is a marvellous reflection that the whole of the superficial mould over any such expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years through the bodies of worms.
Page 10 - The Objective of the Program The goal to be achieved is a more stable agriculture, more dependable sources of income, and progressively satisfactory livelihood for the people of the region. To achieve this goal, there must be widespread use of good soil management and water conservation practices and adjustments in sizes and types of farms which will enable farmers and ranchers to effectively cope with the climatic hazards of the region.
Page 24 - ... slopes, probably to avoid being flooded. Gardeners and farmers express their detestation of worms; the former because they render their walks unsightly, and make them much work: and the latter because, as they think, worms eat their green corn. But these men would find that the earth without worms would soon become cold, hard-bound, and void of fermentation; and consequently sterile...
Page 91 - viscous, semisolid mixture of bacteria- and virus-laden organic matter, toxic metals, synthetic organic chemicals, and settled solids removed from domestic and industrial waste water at a sewage treatment plant.
Page 17 - Briefly, this book sets out to show that the moldboard plow, which is in use on farms throughout the civilized world, is the least satisfactory implement for the preparation of land for the production of crops.
Page 15 - When water erosion is the primary concern, a farmer can meet the minimum requirement of conservation tillage by leaving 30 percent or more of the soil surface covered with crop residue.
Page 13 - Congress passed the Soil and Water Resources Conservation Act of 1977 (RCA). The act mandated a continuing appraisal of the Nation's soil, water, and related resources.
Page 44 - Professor of Soils and Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri at Columbia, and Frank A.