Kristin Ohlson is a writer based in Portland, OR. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Salon, Discover, and elsewhere. Her article about burning coal mines was collected in Best American Science Writing 2011. She is also the author of Stalking the Divine, which won the American Society of Journalists and Authors' 2004 Best Nonfiction Book award, and coauthor of New York Times bestseller Kabul Beauty School.
“This will surely be called an important book. Ohlson conveys her
information in the lively manner of writers such as Michel Pollan
and Rowan Jacobsen, making complicated ideas easily accessible to
the reader, so that we see the ground at our feet not as dead dirt
but rather as, in her words, a "coral reef" teeming with life, a
‘massive biological machine' on which the health of our species
depends. We're lucky to have this account.” —Michael Ruhlman,
author of The Soul of a Chef
“On the long list of things we have to do to fight climate change,
learning to pay attention to soil again is near the top. It's not
just dirt, it's not just something that holds plants upright--as
this book points out, it's pretty damned vital.” —Bill McKibben,
author of Earth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet
“I was barely a dozen pages into The Soil Will Save Us when I felt
the ground shifting under my feet--the literal ground, as in the
composition of the rich humus of old-growth forests compared to the
exhausted, scorched, and ruined ancient fields of global
farming--and the psychic ground.... This is a remarkable book,
which tells--with a light touch and a breezy, readable manner--a
story of modern science of the most crucial importance.” —Melissa
Fay Greene, author of Praying for Sheetrock and There Is No Me
Without You
“At last, soil has been included in the conversation about food.
And you don't need a degree in soil sciences to see how the web of
life below the surface that infuses soil--is soil--is strongly
affected by the various webs of life that occur aboveground, for
better and worse. . . . This book is eminently readable,
well-researched, and important."--Deborah Madison, author of The
New Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone "The Soil Will Save Us is a
convincing argument that those of us who care about the environment
have to start from the ground up--that is, if we are going to give
a better world to our grandchildren, we're going to have to develop
a deep interest in dirt. Fortunately, all you need to become
fascinated by dirt is a book like this, which reveals just how
intricate and important it is.” —Nathanael Johnson, author of All
Natural
“The author has a clear storytelling style, which comes in handy
when drawing this head-turning portrait of lowly dirt. But dirt--or
soil, if you prefer--takes on character in Ohlson's hands, and
readers will soon become invested in its well-being, for soil is a
planetary balancer, and from its goodness comes the food we
eat....Ohlson ably delineates this promising situation: Vital soil
may well help address climate change, but it absolutely will
provide for "more productive farms, cleaner waterways, and overall
healthier landscapes.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Kristin Ohlson's examination of how farming and forestry
techniques might mitigate, if not resolve, global warming. We
generally think of climate change as a story of sky -- of emitted
gases, of atmospheric carbon levels, of storms. Author Kristin
Ohlson would like to direct our gaze earthward, to take a long,
hard look at the dirt beneath our feet. We may have overlooked a
solution there...This is a hopeful book and a necessary one. The
Soil Will Save Us is not the last word on this subject but is a
fast-paced and entertaining shot across the bow of mainstream
thinking about land use. May a million new farms bloom.” —The Los
Angeles Times
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