Digging Into Soil Health Is Good Business
Originally published by Quantis
With its important role in sequestering carbon, soil is gaining recognition as a tool for mitigating the growing threat of climate change. As a result, agriculture-based industries, such as food, textiles and to some extent cosmetics, are digging into the health of soil — the key to sequestration. These industries are engaging with sustainable agricultural practices designed to regenerate and enhance this critical natural resource.
Of course, carbon sequestration is only one small piece of a much larger, more complex puzzle — one that has stirred up a lot of debate: Scientists and life cycle assessment (LCA) experts regularly butt heads over just how much carbon can be sequestered in the soil. With more than 19,000 known soil types in the United States alone and a wide range of farming practices in use, it’s not hard to see why. There is one thing, however, that most people can agree on: There are benefits to improving soil health beyond carbon sequestration and there are opportunities for diverse actors across the value chain to tap into them now.
