Global population is projected to increase from 6.8 billion to 9 billion people in 2050- all sharing the world’s food supply.

Can global food output using conventional farming practices meet forecasted consumption and nutritional demands? The short answer is no, unless we take action NOW.

We must enhance current agri-food methodologies to both increase volume and provide higher nutritional outputs to successfully meet our future needs.

It will require 14.1 million square miles of arable land to feed 9 billion people. The problem is that Earth has less than half this amount available to grow crops. Only 6 million (11% of the Earth’s surfaces) are arable to seed due to erosion and urbanization and this figure is continuously diminishing. The United States alone loses 2.5 million acres of farmland yearly.

Only 100 years ago, soil was rich and fertile with a natural balance of all the necessary micronutrients. Agricultural output was low compared to present standards, but the demand was met. As population grew, the need for greater yields followed.

It was not until the 1920’s with advancements in agricultural chemistry that synthetic fertilizer was developed in mass scale. The advent was based on three minerals or macronutrients that plants need most: nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (NPK). At first, applying large amounts of NPK garnered fantastic results. Food supplies rose drastically to satisfy demand.

Years later, during the 1950’s, there appeared to be a serious issue. The traditional practices of harvesting crops had unintentionally drained the vital micronutrients from the soil at a rate of 30 times faster than nature could replenish. The 87 natural minerals that were abundant throughout the last century had been strip-mined, causing plants to become weak and unhealthy which significantly reduced nutritional values. Unlike the natural process of converting thousands of year’s worth of decaying plant matter and weathering rock into fertile topsoil, NPK fertilizers had to be added to offset mineral degradation. The inherent tradeoff had serious repercussions. By not replacing vital micronutrients, which keeps topsoil fortified and moist: pests, fungi, and diseases were invited. This in turn caused the rise of pesticides and herbicide use to double in a 40-year period.

NPK had to be applied to stimulate and improve yields. From 1960 to 2000, fertilizer use increased 800% worldwide. Every year more fertilizer was needed to enhance and maintain agriculture productivity rates. However, for the past decade, agricultural output has been flat, yet fertilizer, chemical, and fossil fuel inputs are steadily rising. More resources are required to produce the same yield while the nutrient quality in plants and soils continue to decline.

Continual harvesting without nourishment removes the necessary micronutrients needed for optimal plant growth. Adding back only NP&K macronutrients creates nutrient-deficient soil. Consequently, plants only receive what they need to survive and little of what they require to thrive. For instance, if zinc is not available in the soil, nitrogen, phosphate, or potassium will not substitute. Plants can only absorb those nutrients that are made available to them, and NPK cannot accommodate for the deficit. If required, the plant will go without a complete micro nutrient buffet but will reject excessive NPK applications to increase output.

The agricultural pollution caused by chemical fertilizer runoff is widely reported. When the macronutrients are applied in excess of plant needs, they can pollute surface and groundwater, which eventually lead to rivers and the ocean. When fertilizers enter the water, consequences are severe. Whether through runoff or leeching, water contamination affects the whole ecosystem.

Of the NPK trio, nitrogen and phosphorous destroy the environment most rapidly. High traces of nitrates found in water harm humans and animals alike. Whereas the excess phosphates find their way into bodies of water and suffocate the living organisms by pulling out the oxygen giving way to algae blooms and dead zones.

In general, the mass ecological damage caused by synthetic chemicals used to deter pests from undernourished plants is equally as devastating. In the same way as excessive fertilizer use, pesticides, herbicides and fungicides enter our waterways and compromise the environment. They do this by killing natural vegetation through run-off and by entering streams and rivers to contaminate fish, who in turn contaminate the larger land animals who feed on them.

For more than 50 years, agri-food systems have produced foods and plants that lack critically needed nutrients, and as a result, these foods and plants cannot meet the nutritional needs of humans or livestock. Our soil is starving. The periodic table has 90 natural elements, but 87 of these vital elements are missing from most fertilizers. What sparse amount is left in the soil only diminishes further every year. We cannot put three in and expect the results of the full 90. The more nutrients soil contains, the moister it stays, reducing erosion and giving plants the full spectrum of nutrients to choose from. Thus, a plant is allowed to reach its full design potential.