February looks at soil’s impact on urban life
By Diego Flammini, Farms.com
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations declared 2015 as the International Year of Soils where they will raise awareness and educate people about all that soil gives back to them.
Some of the objectives of the 2015 celebrations of soil include:
- Promoting policies and actions for sustainable management and protection of soil and soil resources
- Creating a full awareness of civilians and politicians about the roles of soil for human life
- Recognition of the contributions of soil to climate change, food security, etc.
With January in the rear view, February’s theme is “Soil Supports Urban Life.”
Jim Toomey once again appears in a video produced by the Soil Science Society of America where he talks about how soil still exists underneath all of the urban infrastructure.
“Even though we rarely think about soils in the cities, they help us every day and there’s some things we can do to help soils help us,” Toomey said in the video.
He mentions helping the soil soak up the rain by implementing rain gardens, help soil grow a garden by composting food scraps and yard waste to put back into the soil, and growing vegetables in a personal garden to see how the soil turns seeds into food.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will be holding the Urban Soil Carbon Water Summit on February 25 and will discuss restoring urban soil and reducing drought among other topics.
World Soil Day will be celebrated December 5, 2015.