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As of last Monday, we now know that soil management is one major point in the organic rationale, and it’s not actually cow doo-doo. A couple of years back, CTV (one of Canada’s national television networks) aired a comparison of the nutrient value of a potato today and fifty years ago.

I didn’t know potatoes used to contain Vitamin C. Apparently they basically don’t anymore, so I guess I wasn’t missing anything. At least in one sense. Also, potatoes now have only about half the Vitamin A they used to. There’s also genetic selection by growers to blame, but we’ll tackle that one another time.

Ultimately, the organic concept is not just about how food is grown, or whether it makes better food, but whether it makes a better life overall. In order to be a certified organic grower, for instance, the entire growing chain must be organic, not just the final product. The soil must be chemical-free for a certain period (length of time depends on the certifying body), the seed must be organically sourced, the greenhouse seedlings must be chemical-free, and of course, we don’t use synthetic chemical controls on the food.

Soil management is the core of organic growing. Soil depletion provides one possible rationale for why organic foods don’t weigh in better than synthetically-produced ones in nutrient value, when you look at the long-term changes in food nutrition. So, here’s to dirt. Oh, and cow doo-doo. But sustainability is not just a practice; it’s a cultural movement, one that a lot of Christians have joined. What are the implications?

Lemme know what you think.