Topsoil as Commons

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Discussion

Jay Walljasper:

"We all depend on the soil, like air and water, for basic human survival. Together we have a stake in protecting farmland’s fertility for ourselves and future generations. This is a long established tradition in the U.S. going back to the creation of soil and water conservation measures in the 1930s, and before that to indigenous people’s agricultural practices.

Priceless topsoil floating down the Mississippi River, which creates the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, is a violation of the commons—and of common sense. So is the depletion of nutrients in the soil through intensive commodity and chemical farming. So is the recent surge of speculation in farmland—in the Midwest, in Africa and around the world—which treats bountiful soil as an investment to be bought and sold, not as a source of food to feed everyone." (http://onthecommons.org/magazine/celebrating-all-we-share-three-times-day)