After reading the book Dirt: Erosion of civilizations, I was able to take away multiple aspects of the cultural and social history of soil. The book surrounds Montgomery’s informative perspective, which is a geomorphologist himself. He begins with a brief introduction to basic soil science, going back to Darwin's work on earthworms and explaining the O, A, B, and C soil horizons and the processes of soil formation. When we think of dirt, we don’t think much in depth. However, the soils has untold and unspoken value. Soil has a direct correlation with the society living above it. It might be considered valueless to some but potentially valuable to other. Not only this, but it goes beyond just being dirt because it plays a huge importance in …show more content…
The author definitely reiterates on the key issues of us running out of dirt we cannot afford to lose. Some of these main issues include reform of agriculture for industrialized and developing countries, the impact of soil destroying practices on local economies, and the need for government interventions.
Some steps that we as a society can take to improve our soil is to reform agricultural practices in both industrialized and developing countries to retain soil fertility which is a renewable resource only at a glacial pace. Another crucial thing we need to keep in mind is the need for government intervention before its too late. Our society needs strong government to take leadership roles such as setting our societies long-term priorities in soil stewardship since market forces, while effective as drivers in other social institutions, do not work in agriculture. Montgomery suggests to us that there really are no easy answers to the agricultural problems facing humanity, but we must grasp the importance of soil. We must keep in mind that we do not own our soil, but are simply borrowing it to use. Just like Chief of Seattle have said, “ We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors – we borrow it from our grandchildren”. This really reinforces the fact that we should return the soil to the same condition when we borrow it or else its considered stealing. Our main fundamental obligation is to provide the same opportunity to the next generation, meaning that enhancing our own life is a second. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that seeks to be informed and engage on the natural and cultural history of soil that sweeps from ancient civilizations to modern