Samir Shukla
Walkathons for Awareness of Soil Crisis Happened in 60 Cities for the 1st Time in North and Latin America.
Where do you look when you walk? Perhaps you gaze at other people, or the landscape, or the road ahead.
On Father’s Day weekend, June 18-19, 2022, the Save Soil movement asked everyone to look down instead – at the soil. Sixty cities across North America and Latin America hosted coordinated walkathons to raise awareness of a silently brewing crisis: soil degradation.
Several walkathons were organized in the Carolinas, including in Charlotte on June 19 at Clanton Park. Nearly 200 people showed their support by coming and participating in walkathon to spread the awareness of the importance of soil in the wellbeing of the humanity. Barbara Bleiweis, Supervisor and Chair, Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District and Renee Garner, Board of Commissioners, Matthews NC, were the guest speakers and they emphasized the importance of saving soil and were happy to be included in the Save Soil movement.
All food comes from a single source: the soil. Frequently likened to a thin layer of skin covering the earth, soil contains an ecosystem of innumerable species that anchor all life on the planet. Simply put, without soil, growing food for human consumption would be impossible.
However, over the past 150 years, more than half of all planetary soil has been lost. Currently, according to scientific data, 50 percent of U.S. soil and 75 percent of European soil lack sufficient organic content. It is predicted by scientists that by 2045, the world’s population will grow to 9.3 billion people, yet the world will produce 40 percent less food than it is producing now.
Saving the Soil goes beyond addressing our food needs and addresses 12 out of 17 of the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.
If this rate of soil degradation continues without immediate and decisive action, much of the earth’s remaining cultivable soil will become degraded in a matter of decades.
Save Soil, an initiative launched by global leader and visionary Sadhguru, is a worldwide effort to reach and educate over 3.5 billion people around the globe, by rallying citizen support and advocating policies that support soil health.
The approach of this movement is unique in that it fosters involvement through inclusiveness, joy and inspiration. By mobilizing people now, change is possible. Indeed, Save Soil’s overarching goal is to increase the organic content of the world’s soil by three to six percent, which is an achievable target if the world acts now.
Sadhguru embarked on an 100-day, 30,000 km journey after launching the global Movement to Save Soil from extinction since this March. His journey began in London on March 21 and culminated in southern India in late June.
A wide variety of public figures, from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to leading primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, from author Deepak Chopra to Salesforce’s Marc Benioff, are supporting Save Soil and its goals, giving voice to what has, to date, been an entirely silent ecological disaster.
The Save Soil Movement has also garnered support from millions of volunteers worldwide.
Thousands of people across the Americas and walked to raise awareness for Save Soil. The next decade is humanity’s chance to overcome the soil crisis, and it can be done by becoming Earth Buddies (go to savesoil.org to register to become an Earth Buddy), by writing to local government, influencers, posting in social media with #savesoil and by spreading awareness of soil degradation to others.
For more details, visit consciousplanet.org.
