Depleted soil leads to reduced yields, forcing farmers to rely on fertilizers that raise food production costs, consumer prices.

Summary

Grocery prices are expected to rise globally as soil degradation, driven by overfarming, deforestation, and climate change, reduces farmland productivity.

The UN estimates 33% of the world’s soils are degraded, with 90% at risk by 2050. Poor soil forces farmers to use costly fertilizers or abandon fields, raising prices for staples like bread, vegetables, and meat.

Experts advocate for sustainable practices like regenerative agriculture, cover cropping, and reduced tillage to restore soil health.

Innovations and government subsidies could mitigate impacts, but immediate action is critical to ensure food security.

    • Track_Shovel@slrpnk.netEnglish
      47·
      21 hours ago

      It’s no joke: conventional Ag is extremely tough on soils, and depletes soil organic matter, and reduces topsoil thickness though ploughing. Add on top of that contamination from various sources (not just Ag) and the picture is bleak.

      • rayyy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        12 hours ago

        conventional Ag is extremely tough on soils

        No shit. My daughter and husband bought a house built on the corner of a field in Ohio that was farmed for years. You couldn’t get a shovel into the ground there because it was like cement.

      • Omgboom@lemmy.zipEnglish
        38·
        21 hours ago

        conventional ag

        Industrial farming is incredibly harmful to the soil. There are other methods that are far less harmful and can actually be beneficial to soil health, the problem is they don’t scale well.

        There is a great YouTube channel called No-Till Growers that really goes into some cool farming methods that are much less destructive

        https://youtube.com/watch?v=hNyu4_RWGZo

        Edit: this is probably a better video and I think it’s in a playlist about soil health. But honestly all of his videos are great

        https://youtube.com/watch?v=4aZhevnaLWw&list=PLGMgkMLKOtWv0efQXhQtuu01WfWL5yBDf&index=1&pp=iAQB

    • bean@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16·
      19 hours ago

      Right?? My first thought was, another excuse to raise prices and shrinkflate even more. Because that’s the solution! 🤬

    • scarabic@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      14 hours ago

      Soil depletion killed the Sumerians. It’s older than billionaires. If we attribute every single problem to class inequality, eventually we’re going to be wrong, because there are other problems in the world. If you think billionaires have power over us, nature is vastly more powerful.