Soil and public health are intrinsically linked.
95% of our food comes from the soil, and the health of that soil directly contributes to the nutritional value of the food growing within it. Soil also contributes significantly to the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink.
Spending time in nature improves physical and mental health and wellbeing. Gardening, walking or simply sitting in a green space provides a myriad of benefits including reduced stress, anxiety and negative thoughts, and these activities are now being prescribed by doctors to combat various different conditions, as well as factors linked to ill health such as loneliness and isolation.
Soil contains the bacteria Mycobacterium vaccae that is absorbed through the skin of the fingers and palms when gardening, triggering a release of serotonin in the brain: the ‘happy hormone’, serotonin is a natural antidepressant and mood lifter; it also strengthens the immune system and provides a general sense of wellbeing.
Bacteria found in soil is also a primary source of antibiotics and other medicines, as further evidence of soils as a vital human life support system.
