Leisha This article is taken from a section of the Human Microbiome Course
This is one of my favorite stories because you know the story. You already know what I’m going to tell you… I’m just going to bring it to your attention. Some of the words you might not understand yet, but you will understand the concept.
Let me take you back to a time, before our time… when things grew naturally in nature, in a pristine environment, where there was nothing added and nothing lost. It was a perfect orchestration of God’s creation! You had over 35,000 different bacteria in the soil and 5,000 fungi. You had a perfectly operating biogeochemical Cycles: the hydro-logic cycle, the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle, the oxygen cycle, the sulfur cycle, the phosphate cycle, the mineral cycle, the telluric current cycle, the silica cycle, and the alumina cycle.
Then you had your plants doing the majority of photosynthesis: 6 parts carbon in > 6 parts oxygen out > 1-part sugar. The larger trees and plants were donating polysaccharides (sugars) to the smaller plants for the complex process of converting an inorganic mineral into a usable form. These sugars would go down into the roots and mix with the 35,000 bacteria, 5,000 fungi, and carbon from the atmosphere in order to encapsulate a metallic carbon, forming an organic (plant-derived) mineral. Only a land plant when the Biogeochemical cycles and everything is intact can convert an inorganic mineral into this bioavailable form.
Then you have what is called the fungal hyphae, which is the “wood wide web,” and that is the connection which links this symbiotic relationship all together. Here is where the carrots love tomatoes, peas loved corn, spinach loved apple trees, etc. If a tree were to get hit by lightning and loose its top half, the fungal hyphae says, “Hey! Homeboy got hit with lightning over here. He isn’t going to be able to produce any polysaccharides. He is gonna go down… He has a whole group of trees (brothers over here) intertwined in his roots. If we lose him, we are going to lose this whole section over here! So, we are going to donate polysaccharides to this stump, in order to keep it alive because we need its root matrix.”
So, in this symbiotic relationship, there was nothing added and nothing lost. A plant would bring up inorganic minerals and convert it to a usable form (organic mineral). The plant would mulch itself and the humic acid in the soil would contribute to the decomposition process, changing it back to inorganic. The plant would bring it back up again, turn it into food (organic mineral). An animal would eat it then excrete it, back to inorganic. A plant would bring it back up, an animal would eat it. Once the animal dies, it goes back to inorganic all over again.
Every breath, every urination, every feces, every corpse, everything was recycled and there was nothing else to be added and nothing was ever lost! It was a perfect orchestration of God’s creation. Everything lives symbiotically, you had the “wood wide web”, the biogeochemical cycles, the fungal hyphae, the biota, the plants and animals in specific regions, you had your biosphere (the inhabitable portion of the atmosphere) which includes the atmosphere, ecosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, in other words ecosystem… and in this perfect orchestration there was nothing added and nothing lost. Do you get that picture?
However, our modern world has disrupted this delicate balance.
Sometimes people don’t like to hear the truth…
Many years ago when in Canada, I remember when I first started digging into food and specifically how food is grown where the food was grown. What I found was that much of our modern diet, from the grocery store anyway, comes from the equivalent of an agricultural grow op. Fruits and vegetables grown and bred to be shipped across the world and to appear pretty, not be healthy. Most were sprayed with a preservative to ensure they would fair well (look well) after shipping and transport.
What’s happened as a result has been devastating to our food systems and resulted in subsequent sweeping food insecurity across the Western world.. The fruits and vegetables our grandparents ate growing up aren’t what we eat now! There’s a reason many of us are constantly seeking a snack or needing an afternoon bump to keep us feeling full. It is no wonder chronic disease is on the rise. Our food just isn’t as nutritionally dense as it used to be.
I hate saying that fresh fruit and veg are “bad” but the fact of the matter is that our food is quantifiable LESS nutritionally dense than it was years ago. We’re not getting the micro and phytonutrients that our bodies need. Yes, believe it or not, you need more than macros: carbs, protein, and fat.
Unfortunately, as our food system has degraded, we are simultaneously witnessing a rise in corporate greed that is putting an even greater barrier, both figurative and literal in some stores, between people and proper nutrition. It is no secret that price plays a huge role as well. When a box of Kraft Dinner costs the same or even less than a single fruit or vegetable, something is terribly wrong with the system. The accessibility and affordability of nutritious whole foods have become severely compromised, creating a significant obstacle for many individuals to maintain a healthy diet.
So what’s the answer? If the problem is systemic, it means we need an overhaul, and some people are doing just that, overhauling the system. If every community, and I mean EVERY community, had a small farm or small gardens that we all shared, along with a community greenhouse, how quickly could we eliminate the need for much of our imported foods from around the world? How quickly could we eliminate the need for greedy grocery stores? By empowering local communities to grow their own produce through collaborative efforts and shared resources, we could potentially disrupt the grip of corporate control over our food supply and reduce our reliance on imported goods, ultimately making nutritious, locally grown foods more accessible and affordable for all.
The true cost of burning fossil fuels is staggering. Each year, billions of tons of toxic byproducts are released into the atmosphere, including over 20 billion tons of carbon dioxide, 130 million tons of sulfur dioxide, and millions of tons of other harmful substances. Our current agricultural model further exacerbates this problem by destroying the fungal hyphae, root matrix, and pre-existing biota for the sake of mono-crop chemical farming.
The devastating effects of this disruption are evident in our food systems. The fruits and vegetables we consume today are far less nutritionally dense than those our grandparents ate. Studies have shown a significant decline in nutrient content over the past decades (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6682904/). This nutritional deficit, combined with the rise of corporate greed in the food industry, has created a perfect storm of food insecurity and chronic disease.
The solution lies in overhauling our entire food system. Imagine if every community had small farms, shared gardens, and community greenhouses. By embracing seasonal eating, reviving traditional food preservation techniques, and empowering local communities to grow their own produce, we could disrupt the corporate control over our food supply and move towards food sovereignty.
The secret to nutritious and flavorful food lies in the health of the soil microbiome. Microbe-grown food not only yields delicious produce but also maximizes its nutrient value. This approach aligns with nature’s rhythm, harnessing the collective efforts of countless living creatures in a symbiotic relationship that benefits both plants and humans.
While industrial farming taps into only 25% of the photosynthetic potential of plants due to degraded soil life and chemical interventions, studies have shown the potential of organic and microbe-based farming methods to not only maintain or improve yields but also offer long-term economic viability (https://genomemedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13073-020-00782-x).
The aim is to redirect our gardening efforts to contribute positively to nature’s energy rather than depleting it. By growing our own food and supporting local, organic farming practices, we can take a significant step towards addressing the problems in our current food system.
The challenges are immense, with only 0.8% of the world’s total crops grown organically without genetic modification. The desire for swift development of resilient crops with enhanced nutritional value has led to the widespread use of potent pesticides and genetically engineered organisms, with potentially serious long-term health consequences.
As we face a growing population, changing climate conditions, and constrained food resources, it’s crucial that we reevaluate our approach to food production. By embracing microbe-grown food and sustainable farming practices, we can work towards a future where our food systems work in harmony with nature, providing nutritious sustenance for all while preserving the delicate balance of our ecosystems.
