one green planet
one green planet

A team spearheaded by the University of Nottingham and its Future Food Beacon is discovering more about the relationship between soils, crops, and nutrition deficiencies of both based on geographic location. In partnership with researchers from Addis Ababa University (AAU) in Ethiopia and Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) in Malawi, the group has been working on the GeoNutrition project. 

In their article published in Nature, scientists found that the nutritional quality of diets in Ethiopia and Malawi vary greatly depending on where a person lives. Through no personal fault, people might have micronutrient deficiencies based purely on location.

Dr. Dawd Gashu, one of the co-lead authors, said, “Nutritional surveillance work on the quality of staple cereals is an important part of wider public health policies to address micronutrient deficiencies and we hope that this type of work is now adopted in more countries.”

The research analyzed 3,000 cereal crop samples from farmers’ fields in Malawi and Ethiopia. Crucial nutrients including calcium, iron, selenium, and zinc all appeared in varying quantities depending on the location. This work is crucial to addressing hunger, inequality, and agricultural planning in different landscapes.

Dr. Patson Nalivata, another co-lead author, shared, “By learning more about how the nutritional quality of cereal grains is linked to soil types and landscapes, as we have in this study, we are now better able to advise farmers how to choose and cultivate more nutritious crops.”

Read more about nutrients, including 7 Ways to Keep Your Garden Soil Rich in Minerals Naturally Without Buying Products! and Southern Madagascar Faces Serious Drought Related Famine.

Reducing your meat intake and eating more plant-based foods is known to help with chronic inflammation, heart health, mental wellbeing, fitness goals, nutritional needs, allergies, gut health, and more! Dairy consumption also has been linked to many health problems, including acne, hormonal imbalance, cancer, prostate cancer and has many side effects.

For those of you interested in eating more plant-based or even giving one of these vitamin-rich citrus meals a try, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App — with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest plant-based recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy! And, while you are at it, we encourage you to also learn about the environmental and health benefits of a plant-based diet.

Here are some great resources to get you started:

For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter! Lastly, being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content. Please consider supporting us by donating!

Being publicly-funded gives us a greater chance to continue providing you with high-quality content.Click here to Support Us