by Bleep » Mon 04 Sep 2006, 14:30:13
To me it's not about the taste, it's about the nutrition or the lack of it and the results in terms of illnesses.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200301.txt]Title: An Agricultural Testament (1943) (link)[/url]
Author: Sir Albert Howard
...Artificial manures lead inevitably to artificial nutrition,
artificial food, artificial animals, and finally to artificial
men and women.
The ease with which crops can be grown with chemicals has made the
correct utilization of wastes much more difficult. If a cheap substitute
for humus exists why not use it? The answer is twofold. In the first
place, chemicals can never be a substitute for humus because Nature has
ordained that the soil must live and the mycorrhizal association must be
an essential link in plant nutrition. In the second place, the use of
such a substitute cannot be cheap because soil fertility--one of the most
important assets of any country--is lost; because artificial plants,
artificial animals, and artificial men are unhealthy and can only be
protected from the parasites, whose duty it is to remove them, by means
of poison sprays, vaccines and serums and an expensive system of patent
medicines, panel doctors, hospitals, and so forth. When the finance of
crop production is considered together with that of the various social
services which are needed to repair the consequences of an unsound
agriculture, and when it is borne in mind that our greatest possession is
a healthy, virile population, the cheapness of artificial manures
disappears altogether. In the years to come chemical manures will be
considered as one of the greatest follies of the industrial epoch.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '[')url=http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200311.txt]
Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease (1945) (link)[/url]
Sir Albert Howard, C.I.E., M.A.
...skip...
Perhaps the most significant of the first set of examples which supported the view that soil fertility is the real basis of public health is that of the people of the Hunza valley to the north of Kashmir in the heart of the Karakoram Mountains with Afghanistan on the west, the Russian Pamirs on the north, and Chinese Turkestan on the east. Several accounts of the remarkable health of this ancient people have been published based largely on the observations of McCarrison, who at one time was Medical Officer to the Gilgit Agency. In his Mellon lecture delivered at Pittsburgh in 1921 on 'Faulty Food in Relation to Gastro-Intestinal Disorder' he referred to the remarkable health of the Hunzas in the following words:
'During the period of my association with these people I never saw a case of asthenic dyspepsia, of gastric or duodenal ulcer, of appendicitis, of mucous collitis, of cancer. . . . Among these people the abdomen oversensitive to nerve impressions, to fatigue, anxiety, or cold was unknown. Indeed their buoyant abdominal health has, since my return to the West, provided a remarkable contrast with the dyspeptic and colonic lamentations of our highly civilized communities.'
The remarkable health of these people is one of the consequences of their agriculture, in which the law of return is scrupulously obeyed. All their vegetable, animal, and human wastes are carefully returned to the soil of the irrigated terraces which produce the grain, fruit, and vegetables which feed them. But there is another replacement in addition to the organic factor. The irrigation water used on these terraced fields comes from the Ultor glacier and is rich in silt. In this way the mineral constituents of the soil are constantly being replaced. How far is the health of these people due to this additional factor? It is impossible to say at the moment. But a growing body of evidence is coming forward in support of the view that to obtain the very best results we must replace simultaneously the organic and the mineral portions of the soil. If this should prove to be a general principle, it would help to explain the remarkable health and endurance of many of the hill tribes to the west and north of India where something approaching the Hunza standard is the general rule. In any future investigation of the need for replacing the minerals of the soil Hunzaland is the ideal starting point, as it is a ready-made control station for such studies. Readers interested in this people should begin with 'The People of the Hunza Valley', which has just been published as a supplement to No. 9 of the News-Letter on Compost (June 1944).
...skip...
THE SINGAPORE HEALTH DEPARTMENT COOLIES Rydal Mount, Potters Bar, Middlesex. 7th September 1942.
Dear Dr. Picton,
You have asked me to give you an account of my observations on the health-giving effects of eating freshly grown vegetables grown on soil nourished with compost. The compost to which I refer was made according to the Indore method; an account of how this compost was prepared is published in the News-Letter on Compost, No. 2.
From January 1940 until January 1942 I had a unique opportunity, due to war-time needs, of watching the progress of a campaign for growing vegetables and seeing that they were eaten by a labour force of nearly 500 Tamil coolies. These men were employed by the Singapore Health Department in various parts of the island of Singapore. As soon as England became involved in war, it became possible to allocate an area totalling in all about forty acres of vegetable allotments on favourable terms to the men engaged on sanitary duties. My labourers were granted these allotments on condition that they prepared compost and used the vegetables and fruit grown therein for themselves and their families only. Sale of the produce was not allowed. Thus it was ensured that these goods were used at home. The local Agricultural Department lent their inspectors and staff to teach the men how best to grow vegetables and demonstrations in cooking and preparation of the foodstuff were organized for each of the labour settlements. Compost making was started on a large scale and during the months previous to the opening of the campaign a supply of over a thousand tons of compost was ready to launch this great experiment.
During the course of the ensuing months apathy and indifference on the part of the labourers gave way to interest and enthusiasm, as soon as it became apparent how well plants would grow on soil rendered fertile with compost. A number of vegetable shows were arranged, at which the healthy produce of fertile soil was exhibited and prizes were awarded. Within six months the accumulated stocks of compost were used up and more active steps were taken to augment the supply, as well as to satisfy the growing demands of other enthusiastic gardeners inspired by the achievements of my men.
At the end of the first year it was obvious that the most potent stimulus to this endeavour was the surprising improvement in stamina and health acquired by those taking part in this cultivation. Debility and sickness had been swept away and my men were capable of, and gladly responded to, the heavier work demanded by the increasing stress of war. But for the onslaught by the Japanese which overwhelmed Malaya, I should have been able to present a statistical record of the benefit resulting from this widespread effort of vegetable culture on compost such as would astonish the scientific world. The results were all the more dramatic in that I had not expected this achievement.
The numbers taking part in this venture were so large as to preclude any possibility of mistake.
It might be argued that the improvement in stamina and health amongst my employees was due to the good effect of unaccustomed exercise or in the increased amount of vegetables consumed. Neither of these explanations would suffice to explain the health benefit amongst the women, children, and dependents of my labourers, who shared in this remarkable improvement. Shortly before the tragic disaster which has brought Singapore within the hateful grasp of the Japanese invader it became apparent that the health of men, women, and children, who had been served consistently with healthy food grown on fertile soil, was outstandingly better than it was amongst those similarly placed, but not enjoying the benefits of such health-yielding produce. An oasis of good health had become established, founded upon a diet of compost-grown food.
This has served me as an inspiration to carry on with this work in whatever part of the world it may now fall to my lot to serve mankind.
Yours sincerely,
J. W. SCHARFF
(NOTE TO MODERATORS: THESE TEXTS ARE OUT OF COPYRIGHT, THE COPYRIGHT EXPIRED IN THE PAST, THEY CAN BE POSTED ANYWHERE LEGALLY, Please see Project Gutenberg for details)
