Quality food production and food security have several components, including the production of sufficient amounts of food, adequate nutrient content in the food products, and the exclusion of potentially toxic compounds from the food products. The soils in which plants grow play a role in all of these areas, and they also influence human health in more ways than most realize.

One major way that soils influence human health is through their ability to act as natural filters by removing contaminants from water and thus preventing water-borne diseases. The contaminants, including sewage, are removed by soil through physical capture as the water moves through pore spaces, through chemical sorption to solid surfaces, and through bio-degradation carried out by microorganisms living in the soil.

Secondly, approximately 78% of the average per capita calorie consumption worldwide comes from

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