Why soil matters?

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21 Why soils matters - A european perspective
Joszi Smeets and Michael Hammel gave the final words at this event.
As an encounter between 2 generations talking about soil,
they expressed their views following the discussion that took place.
Conclusions
Joszi Smeets
stressed that our living soil and the
relationship that we have with our soil
is one of the most deeply-rooted issues
of our time. She pointed out that soil is
at the origin of the most complex
ecological but also social issues of our
time: when one does not have any
fertile land or hopeful future,
sometimes the only viable alterna-
tive is to flee to the extremes.
Joszi Smeets also highlighted how young
people do not necessarily know a lot
about soil, but they would care if they
knew. She addressed the audience and
speakers, stressing that if we want young
generations included in this soil discus-
sion, we need a different approach to
reach them. Young people are more
visual, they are faster, and they wish to
have the freedom to take action. They
will also be more positive in their
approach to soil, as they need motivation
to overcome the difficult context and
situation for the state of our soils today.
Finally, Joszi highlighted how much
young people are unafraid of building
alliances with so-called enemies and
are more likely to confront views and find
potential common ground with stake-
holders who do not necessarily share the
same views.
Michael Hammel, took the floor, to
highlight how much Joszi’s speech
reflected that the torch has been
passed to future generations.
Michael recalled that we have lost half
our fertile soil in the last 150 years
due to soil erosion. According to
Michael Hamell, in the 20 years since
the European Commission started its
work on protection of soil at the
request of the European Parliament,
we have lost the potential of 5
million tonnes of grain production
through the taking of land. This loss
reflects how Europe has failed to join
up the issues of urban planning and
agriculture in its effort to protect soil.
The link between the two has not been
stressed enough.
Michael quoted the definition of
modern agriculture by Al Bartlett, in
1978: ‘Modern agriculture is the use
of land to convert petroleum to
food’
But today land as well as petroleum is
under threat. This should be sufficient
reason for concern about the current
logic behind so-called modern agriculture.
The other side of the coin, the
alternative to this declining model is
agroecological agriculture and the
building up of carbon sinks across the
world within the context of adapting to
and mitigating climate change.
But how can we then prove that the
agroecological route and the building-
up of carbon in soil is a durable
solution that will feed the world? If we
wish to win this battle, we need to
make sure that there is a broad
understanding that what we are doing
for the protection of soil and land is the
right thing. We need to change the
way agriculture and land use have
developed and the general
perception of it.
Michael stressed that in his work in DG
ENVI, he has not been encouraged to
do so, and it seems that, in their view,
this urgency has still not arisen
This is why Michael believes that now
the next step is to spread the message,
to build conviction with politicians at all
levels, so that they cannot remain
careless about the future of our soil, not
only for our food but overall, for the life
of future generations on this planet.
The next step is to
build the
conviction of politicians
locally, nationally and
internationally, that soil is
so important that we
cannot ignore it’.
Michael Hamell
Youth don’t know about soil but they
would care if they knew...It takes a different
approach to reach young people......Give them
the freedom and trust to take action’
Joszi Smeets