4 ms·

I had never heard that animal corpses were used in a large scale industrial farming fertilizer so I just looked through the most common soil fertilizers, at lea

I had never heard that animal corpses were used in a large scale industrial farming fertilizer so I just looked through the most common soil fertilizers, at least in the U.S. I don't believe a single one of them uses animal corpses. It seems that the common types of fertilizer[1] are: - anhydrous ammonia (Nitrogen pulled from the air[2]) - urea ammonium nitrate (Nitrogen pulled from natural gas and plants[3]) - granular urea (Nitrogen pulled from natural gas and plants[3]) - ammonium nitrate (Nitrogen from mixing ammonia [5] and and synthesized nitric acid [4]) - diammonium phosphate (Nitrogen from ammonia and phosphoric acid [6]) You may be correct that small farmers use animal corpses, and you may be correct that using artificial nitrogen is bad for the soil, but 97-99% of the plant foods grown in the U.S. appear to use non-animal based fertilizers. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong about the science of this. [1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-explosion-ammonia/factbox-types-of-fertilizer-their-uses-and-hazards-idUSBRE93H11S20130418 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-explosion-ammonia/fac... [2] http://www.greenvalleychemical.com/Green_Valley_Chemical/Anhydrous_Ammonia.html http://www.greenvalleychemical.com/Green_Valley_Chemical/Anh... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea#Production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea#Production [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate#Production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonium_nitrate#Production [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_production https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ammonia_production [6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diammonium_phosphate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diammonium_phosphate

fao_ 7y ago
> you may be correct that using artificial nitrogen is bad for the soil > but 97-99% of the plant foods grown in the U.S. appear to use non-animal based fertilizers. Congratulations. You managed to ignore the entire point of my argument by hyper-focusing on one small part of it and posting something that literally means nothing (The fact that the majority of the US agricultural industry does something does not inherently prove that that is beneficial to the consumer, to the soil, or to the planet). it is true that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today. The main culprit in this disturbing nutritional trend is soil depletion: Modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows. Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant carrot is truly less good for you than the one before [...] What can be done? The key to healthier produce is healthier soil. Alternating fields between growing seasons to give land time to restore would be one important step. Also, foregoing pesticides and fertilizers in favor of organic growing methods is good for the soil, the produce and its consumers. Those who want to get the most nutritious fruits and vegetables should buy regularly from local organic farmers. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...) See also: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fertilizers-harm-earth/?redirect=1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fertilizers-h... https://www.environment.co.za/environmental-issues/how-do-fertilizers-affect-the-environment.html https://www.environment.co.za/environmental-issues/how-do-fe...

fao_ 7y ago

> you may be correct that using artificial nitrogen is bad for the soil > but 97-99% of the plant foods grown in the U.S. appear to use non-animal based fertilizers. Congratulations. You managed to ignore the entire point of my argument by hyper-focusing on one small part of it and posting something that literally means nothing (The fact that the majority of the US agricultural industry does something does not inherently prove that that is beneficial to the consumer, to the soil, or to the planet). it is true that fruits and vegetables grown decades ago were much richer in vitamins and minerals than the varieties most of us get today. The main culprit in this disturbing nutritional trend is soil depletion: Modern intensive agricultural methods have stripped increasing amounts of nutrients from the soil in which the food we eat grows. Sadly, each successive generation of fast-growing, pest-resistant carrot is truly less good for you than the one before [...] What can be done? The key to healthier produce is healthier soil. Alternating fields between growing seasons to give land time to restore would be one important step. Also, foregoing pesticides and fertilizers in favor of organic growing methods is good for the soil, the produce and its consumers. Those who want to get the most nutritious fruits and vegetables should buy regularly from local organic farmers. (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-and-nutrition-loss/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/soil-depletion-an...) See also: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fertilizers-harm-earth/?redirect=1 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-fertilizers-h... https://www.environment.co.za/environmental-issues/how-do-fertilizers-affect-the-environment.html https://www.environment.co.za/environmental-issues/how-do-fe...