where do nutrients really come from we live in an unprecedented era of human history here in the United States as of 2022 approximately 1.3 percent of the workforce works on a farm over 98 of the U.S Workforce does not work on a farm we are among the world's first Generations where such an overwhelming majority of the public is disconnected from our food production systems often the closest we get to knowing where our food comes from is when we pick out fresh fruits or vegetables from the market but as increasingly more people step away from food production we are collectively becoming less aware of where our food actually comes from and if we don't know where our food comes from how can we know where our nutrients come from imagine you sit down to a nice piece of medium rare steak as an animal protein this state contains protein made from amino acids it also contains fats or lipids to a certain degree it contains vitamins which are organic molecules that contain carbon and it contains minerals like iron and magnesium but where do all these nutrients actually come from the simple answer is from Plants but where do plants get their nutrients from the soil if we look underground at the soil we'll find that the soil contains nutrients such as calcium magnesium iron potassium sodium phosphate nitrate and ammonium ions just to name a few these ions are not free-floating in the soil in most cases instead they are bound to soil particles if we take a closer look at a soil particle we'll find that it looks a little bit like an asteroid or a lava rock it has all of these pits or divots that are essentially binding sites for these mineral nutrients in the soil so let's look at this one soil particle and assume for simplicity's sake that it has three binding sites and let's say those three binding sites are occupied with ions of calcium magnesium and potassium to get these nutrients off of a soil particle plants send out roots into the soil to find these particular nutrients however plants don't have enough strength or energy in their roots to actually pop off or chelate these mineral ions off of soil particles instead there are microorganisms in the soil such as protists and fungi and bacteria that actually do possess this ability so let's imagine a hypothetical bacterium and this bacterium has enough strength to come up to the soil particle and to pop off any of those mineral nutrients in this case a potassium ion and it can carry away that potassium ion and use it for its own purposes bacteria tend to not live very long compared to plants so soon enough that bacterium will die and its body will decompose and the potassium ion that it had within its body is now in a freely available or what is called a bioavailable form that plants can use so if a plant grows a root through the soil it can now access that potassium ion that was carried by the body of that bacterium so what do plants do to overcome their inability to actually remove those nutrients they need from soil particles plants as you know perform photosynthesis in photosynthesis plants take energy from sunlight and they use that energy to combine carbon dioxide from the air with water from the soil to make sugars those sugars can then be used to make more leaves or tissues or in the case we're interested in those sugars can then be pumped into the ground through the roots in the form of root exudates root exudates are appealing food sources for soil microorganisms moving to the area of the root Zone where the plants are pumping root exudates soil microorganisms can now live in a place where they get basically free access to food in the form of root exudates now these soil microorganisms Also may need mineral nutrients that are bound to soil particles so just like we saw before they actually have the ability to remove those mineral nutrients from soil particles and because they live such a short lifespan compared to plants those bacteria will die and decompose leaving those nutrients near the root Zone such that the plants can then absorb those nutrients through their roots and express them in their leaves or body tissues wherever they need to be different plant species need nutrients in different quantities so they pump different root exudates into the ground to attract a variety of soil microorganisms that can then remove or chelate a variety of nutrients so the systems with the greatest diversity of plants tend to attract the greatest diversity of soil microorganisms which leads to a greater variety and density of nutrients that are in a form available for plants another benefit of plant diversity is that it Fosters a greater diversity of insects this can include pollinators such as moths and butterflies and male wasps and it also includes beneficial predatory insects like lady beetles that eat aphids dragonflies that eat mosquitoes and flies and other insects as well as praying mantids and various wasp species as well that are very very useful predators of best species and when you have a greater diversity of insects and invertebrates in a system it reduces the need to keep European honeybees which are invasive in North America by favoring solitary bees it improves pollination by catering to a wider variety of pollinators and it helps protect valuable species like butterflies and in addition to all of this it helps reduce the need for treating crops with insecticides if you have a system that has a diverse array of plants that diverse array of plants produces a diverse array of root exudates which attracts A diversity of soil organisms which chelate a variety of nutrients in the soil which results in nutrient-rich plants or crops which ultimately produces nutritious food for humans we would expect food to be grown in diverse systems like this this means planting a variety of crops that fill different roles and help Foster diverse growing systems that are ecologically resilient and produce nutritious food the predominant method of growing food in North American Agricultural systems is called monoculture mono meaning one culture meaning cultivating so we are cultivating just one species of crop per season per field let's imagine a farmer plants a monoculture crop corn for example in this monoculture crop there is clearly very low plant diversity the plant diversity is one species low plant diversity results in a low diversity of root exudates that are pumped into the ground which results in a low diversity of soil microorganisms which results in a low diversity of soil nutrients that are chelated by those microorganisms which ultimately reduces the nutrient content of plants and results in food with lower nutrition quality another drawback to Growing food in systems that have low plant diversity is that low plant diversity contributes to a low insect diversity when you have a low insect diversity you tend to have fewer natural predatory insects things like mantids dragonflies and wasps when you have fewer natural predatory insects you end up with higher pest pressure on that particular crop species many farmers when they face this increased pest pressure in their monoculture Fields have to resort to using pesticides to treat those insects another drawback of monoculture systems with low plant diversity is that it results in a low diversity of soil nutrients as we discussed before when you have a low diversity of soil nutrients you have to use synthetic fertilizers to increase the nutrient content of your soil synthetic fertilizers are produced in factory conditions using processes such as the Haber Bosch process produce ammonium for instance and these synthetic fertilizers when they're applied to the soil can often end up running off from the soil into local waterways such as Creeks rivers and streams which eventually gather into larger order Rivers which eventually flow into the ocean research suggests that up to 80 percent of synthetic fertilizers that are applied in agricultural settings run off into local waterways this causes a whole host of issues including the destruction of fisheries and other Aquatic resources I won't go into this for time's sake today but if you're interested do some research on the Gulf of Mexico dead zone that is produced through agricultural fertilizer runoff every summer off the coast of Louisiana the results of low plant diversity in agricultural systems such as monoculture are threefold first low plant diversity results in food that is less nutritious for the consumer second having a low plant diversity tends to increase the need to use pesticides pesticides use energy when they are made pesticides contaminate the food that we eat this is particularly true of berries like blueberries and raspberries pesticides if not applied appropriately have the potential to kill pollinators and they can cause extensive damage to local environments and ecosystems the third result is the tendency to use synthetic fertilizers synthetic fertilizers use a massive amount of energy for their creation using processes like the Haber Bosch process they run off in large proportion into local waterways they pollute our rivers lakes and oceans and can ultimately kill Aquatic Life and reduce our own food supply from rivers lakes and oceans by poisoning Aquatic Life Professor Tim Benton and his colleagues in 2021 found that food production is the primary threat to about 86 percent of species that are threatened with Extinction globally let me say that again food production is the primary threat to about 86 percent of species that are threatened with Extinction globally if we grow food in systems that have a high diversity of plants whether that is polyculture agroecology permaculture or other similar techniques the benefits can be three-fold first we can produce food that is more nutritious in systems that have a higher plant diversity second systems with a higher plant diversity contribute to a higher diversity of insects which results in more natural Pest Control through predatory insects like mantids dragonflies and especially wasps this reduces our need to apply pesticides which reduces the contamination of pesticides of the food we eat this also of course benefits pollinators because instead of being affected by pesticides we can support them by not applying pesticides in the first place and by incorporating A diversity of pollinator-friendly plants and flowers to act as food sources this also will ultimately benefit our local environments and ecosystems the third benefit is that we can use organic fertilizers instead of synthetic fertilizers organic fertilizers use food scraps and yard waste as their main building blocks in a way we are actually reducing pollution that is caused by synthesis of artificial fertilizers it also helps to reduce runoff through the application of fertilizers in a more appropriate manner and it can provide a broader range of nutrients for the plants that we are eating so how do we go from monoculture systems like this to thriving polyculture systems like this or how do we go from food production that results in this the food production systems that result in this grow your own food it's truly a lot easier than you would think you don't need much time or space or even a green thumb sure you'll kill plants along the way but as you go you'll learn how simple it is to grow and enjoy your own food from peas and beans to mushrooms vegetables and even delicious fruits growing your own food is rewarding fulfilling and a lot of fun it exercises your mind and body keeps you grounded and rewards you with delicious healthy and nutritious food once you get growing you'll see why God planted a garden in Eden and you'll learn firsthand what a joy and blessing it was for God to task Adam and Eve with tending to the garden after you start growing your own food I encourage you to teach children how to grow their own food this is a skill our world desperately needs most importantly you can help teach children where food actually comes from and where nutrients actually come from because the reality is that the nutrition quality of the food that we consume depends on the health and the quality of the soil that makes up the ground from which we grow the food that we eat