Phyto-Remediation: Mother Nature's Patient Smile

A while back, a story broke that I, as a whole food enthusiast, found disheartening.

You see, on May 4th, the New York Post published a story called, "Why NYC's Toxic Community Gardens May Give You Cancer". The story calls into question the safety of all fresh food growing in the 1,500 community gardens in New York City.

Now, what I find so sad about this story is the possible negative impact it has on people looking for more locally-grown fresh food to feed themselves and their families. And not just New Yorkers.

I mean, it kind of makes you afraid to put anything into your mouth--even organic produce--because who knows where it comes from and what it's been growing in. And even if you do know, you're not safe because heaven knows what contaminants are lurking in the soil.

So for these reasons, it's taken me a long time to get up the gumption to write about this topic. Because, basically, I don't like to scare the pants off people. And if I have to, then I want to give my readers suggested alternatives. It's just not my style--or my intention--to spread doom and gloom messages.

But there is hope.

You know, Mother Nature is really very forgiving. Like any good mom, she's willing to help us clean up our messes. And all with a patient smile on her face.

She's created amazing things that we can use in a variety of ways--even environmental cleanup tools. And some of those "tools" are common plants and trees.

Seriously, I'm not kidding.

There is a whole branch of environmental biology dedicated to the task of cleaning up the environmental messes we humans have inflicted on the world.

Click on the short, less-than-2-minute video below to see what Argonne National Laboratory is up to in this field of study:

As it says at the beginning of the video, phyto-remediation is the "clean up of the environment through the use of plants".

Maybe I'm crazy, but I think that's pretty exciting stuff.

But it also gives me hope. Hope that no matter how far we humans have gone in terms of poisoning the environment--and face it, we've gone altogether too far--we can still come back. Come back and clean up our mess.

And what I especially like is that phyto-remediation is not just for large research organizations with lots of money (or government funding) to throw at the problem of environmental contamination.

All of us--you, me, and anyone wanting to grow food--can clean up contaminated soil. All we have to do is exercise a little patience while we use specific plants to clear soil toxins. Plants such as:

Hydrangeas - to remove aluminum
Ornamental kale - to remove lead
Willow trees - to absorb cadmium, zinc and copper
Mulberry trees - that help break down PCBs in soil, and...

Sunflowers - to absorb lead, arsenic, zinc, copper, chromium and manganese.

And you know what?

Sunflowers were used to clean up the radioactive contamination in the soil after the Chernobyl disaster!

So, if sunflowers can clean that up, then they should do a pretty good job anywhere.

In this crazy, contaminated world we live in, it's nice to know that we don't have to feel helpless. We don't have to feel that our small personal efforts are futile. Because really they are anything but. Our efforts--whether big or small--can and do make a difference.

 

So here's my suggestion:

No matter where you live, if you're planning to grow any food in the ground, take the time, effort and expense to have your soil tested before you plant. And if need be, plant some sunflowers. While they're cleaning your soil, those sunflowers will brighten your world. Kind of like Mother Nature's patient smile.