Dirt - The Movie, inspired by the book Dirt by William Bryant Logan, is an interesting look at our soil and how it is being eroded and destroyed. In the last 100 years we have lost a third of our valuable top soil. Mono cultivating has also messed with the natural system. Because farmers plant thousands of acres with the same crop, when pests descend on the crop they affect all the surrounding agricultural area too. The farmers bring in pesticides to take care of the pest, but this also destroys the nutrients in the soil. To overcome this problem, nitrogen fertilizer is added. Very little of the fertilizer soaks into the plant root system, the rest flows into streams and rivers. Following the Mississippi, fertilizer flows down to the Gulf ultimately feeding algae. The algae suffocate fish and only the jellyfish survive. I'd write more on the subject, but I'm inspired to rake leaves and turn my compost pile to get ready for planting my vegetable garden this spring.
