By Claudia Mina, year 12
On Friday the 1st of April 2022, the Economics Society gathered to view a presentation delivered by Cecilia Zoe dell’Osso and Jonah O’Toole regarding the deterioration of the quality of soil and how this impacts not only the environment but also the economy.
The presentation began with a highly informative description delivered by Cecilia Zoe of soil and its importance within our environment. It was explained that soil is composed of sand as well as organic minerals and that it is of great importance because it contains 25% of our planet’s biodiversity. Soil is also essential because it absorbs carbon dioxide, subsequently purifying the air we breathe. The carbon stored in soil is three times the amount that is stored in living plants.
However, the quality of our soil is decreasing, with eight times less vitamin A in one orange compared to our grandparents, a 60% drop in the protein content of Indian vegetables and an 87% drop in the mineral nutrients of US vegetables. Jonah cleverly used these facts as an analogy for inflation: while the quantity of money remains the same, its value and purchasing power decreases. Similarly, while oranges have not changed dramatically in size or appearance, their nutritional value has decreased significantly.
Cecilia Zoe and Jonah then outlined the effects created by the worsening quality of soil. They persuasively illustrated their argument by showing that the majority of Sustainable Development Goals would be benefitted by a higher quality of soil. They used customised graphs depicting Cost-Push inflation and unemployment rates of farmers to elucidate their line of reasoning. Infographics dispersed throughout the presentation confirm the importance of soil, while capturing the attention of the presentation’s beholders with clear and convincing real-world examples.
Not only did the presenters include specific consequences of the deterioration of soil, such as the lowered nutritional value of vegetables and fruits, but they equally created a timeline to demonstrate the gradual decay of soil’s quality. For example, they warn that the production of food could fall by 30% in twenty years if the extinction of soil is not prevented, and that 90% of the Earth’s soil could be degraded by 2050 if we do not change our behaviour today.
Most importantly, Cecilia Zoe and Jonah concluded their presentation with suggestions to prevent the exacerbation of this issue. For example, Cecilia Zoe cites the use of pesticides as being heavily detrimental to the quality of soil, and encourages members of the Economics Society to discontinue their use of such chemicals, stating: “The best thing for soil is to leave it alone”. They equally mention a number of organisations which advocate for the protection of soil, such as WWF Agriculture or the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Overall, the presentation delivered by Cecilia Zoe and Jonah was highly informative, and a refreshing take on the increasingly important issues afflicting our environment. Economics Society members were grateful for their insight and hope to see more presentations from them soon.
