Only Dirt

I'm so glad we have dirt. It's a big part of our lives that we take for granted. People are always making cracks like, “He's older than dirt.” and “They treat him like dirt.” But, I ask you, what could we do without dirt?

Well, let's see. No dirt – no trees. No dirt – no gardens, flowers, apples, grass, or fields. Some people who live in cities seldom see these things anyway, so they may not miss them, but what about cement, iron, wood and other building materials, all made from dirt. Come to think of it, is there anything that isn't made from dirt, including ourselves? I think someone should make a movie about dirt, showing everything we make from dirt and how much we need it. But the truth is, we just don't appreciate it.

We go to the grocery store where the vegetables (which, by the way, were grown in dirt) have been practically sterilized to look squeaky clean for us to purchase. The evil dirt has been removed so as not to contaminate the vegetables. In it's place is a man-made chemical of a dubious nature, sprayed onto the food to either kill bugs, kill bacteria, prevent spoilage or make it look better. The result is that sometimes it sickens or even kills the one who eats it. The truth is that we need a certain amount of dirt in our diet. The practice of eating dirt, called geophagy, can supply nutrients that are lacking in a person's diet. Matt Rosenburg, in his article about geophagy said: “People around the world eat clay, dirt or other pieces of the lithosphere for a variety of reasons. Commonly, it is a traditional cultural activity which takes place during pregnancy, religious ceremonies, or as a remedy for disease. Most people who eat dirt live in Central Africa and the Southern United States. While it is a cultural practice, it also fills a physiological need for nutrients.”

There is a problem today, though, because there is so much of chemicalized, industrialized dirt laying around a person wouldn't know where to start. But I think that a lot of people are getting the idea when they raise their own gardens. But with all the fear going around about bacteria killing people, it's a wonder we eat anything. And when we do eat it, it's been washed, sterilized, peeled, cooked, packaged, cooked again, probably microwaved at least once, and finally we eat it. I find it hard to believe that the food is any better for us at that point. But I guess I'm a little old-fashioned. I think we should leave the peelings and even some of the dirt on that carrot and eat it raw, from our own garden. Then we get a little dirt, a very cheap mineral supplement, as well as the naturally occurring amino acids, fiber and vitamins.

Children eat dirt all the time, when they think adults aren't looking. People need it and crave it. Children simply don't ignore the craving. I've never heard of a child dying from eating dirt. But I've heard of plenty of children dying from malnutrition, and plenty more suffering from diseases caused by eating non-nourishing foods.

I had a doctor tell me once that the best thing we could do for ourselves would be to go to the garden, grab a carrot, brush it off, not too well, and eat it. He said that the minerals, the bacteria and the naturally occurring molds were vital for good health. People pay a lot of money to buy these kinds of 'supplements'. Why not just get them from the source?

I'm afraid it's no use though. People don't want to be responsible. They want someone to give them a pill, a remedy, a something to make them healthy. But health is staring us in the face. We just have to pick it up and eat it.