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.

  • TheFriar@lemm.eeEnglish
    223·
    15 hours ago

    There are ways to create sustainable farms. It’s about diversity of crops and cycling what crops are grown each year.

    https://www.edibleforestgardens.com/

    There is no environmentally friendly factory farming. There is no healthy market-conscious farming. There are absolutely ways to be kind to the earth and grow food for a small community.

    • The_v@lemmy.worldEnglish
      93·
      15 hours ago

      We need food for billions not a small community.

      Food forest = lower environmental impact per acre but a higher environmental cost per kg of production. It’s also highly environmentally irresponsible to add in invasive species, disease, and pests into and established ecosystem. These are all spread by seed, soil, and plant tissue of the crops we grow.

      • TheFriar@lemm.eeEnglish
        54·
        11 hours ago

        But…billions make up many small communities. That’s my point. Self-reliance, mutual aid. That’s the answer. Not globalized solutions.

        • michaelmrose@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          4 hours ago

          99% of us do non ag jobs and if we moved to everyone trying to farm a billion would starve and the worlds economy would implode.

          Lack of resources would lead to both local and global violence as desperate people hurt each other.

          Imagine a city of a million people abandoning all the work they do to all collectively invade rural areas to set up farms they have no idea how to run!

        • The_v@lemmy.worldEnglish
          61·
          9 hours ago

          But… we don’t have unlimited hectares of suitable land for people to fuck up. That’s the point… A food forest concept would require every last bit of ariable land on the planet and still not provide enough food for everyone.

          The entire idea shows a complete lack of understanding what it takes to feed people at the scale of billions.