Dirt, It’s What’s for Dinner

by Steven Graber, Resource Soil Scientist
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Dodge City, Kansas

Many years ago, 1984 to be exact, I came home from a long day of playing (Oh, I mean working) in the dirt and opened the day’s paper. On about page 4 or 5 was an article that really caught my eye. One titled, “Custom of eating dirt is declining.” Now being the young inquisitive soil scientist that I was, my interest was piqued.

This was my introduction to “geophagy”, the practice of eating soil. I had never heard of such a thing. You mean that these people actually go out of their way to chow down on their favorite seasoned, raw clay? Now I have been known to now and again taste the soil I am sampling or describing, but not necessarily for the purpose of enjoying the taste of a good old Typic Argiustoll. Just a little pinch between your cheek and gum will help you to determine if there is any sand or grit in it, but that is as far as my desire goes. I often mention this to the school groups I talk to, and receive some pretty astonished looks from students as well as their teachers.

Now the practice of eating soil does have some claimed benefits, aside from just liking the taste and texture of it. Is it that aboriginal innate tendency to feed a special nutritional need in us, or is it something else? For centuries the consumption of soil has been a common practice with pregnant women in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is presumed that the practice of geophagy in the southern United States is a tradition left over from the days of slavery. One of the advantages of eating clay during pregnancy may be the calming effect that it has on the gastrointestinal system during bouts of nausea and morning sickness. White clays are generally composed of kaolin. Many of today’s stomach medications such as Rolaids, Maalox, and the like contain the same compounds as found in white kaolin clays. Why do you think the name of the stuff is Kaopectate?

Now do I propose the consumption of soil as a substitute for the better foods of the world? No. Do I suggest giving a pound or two of spiced clay as a gift to any pregnant woman? Absolutely not. I would rather eat it myself than face that wrath. Give me a good old soil burger any day. Ask any of my students what a soil burger is and they will tell you. As for the rest of you, figure it out for yourselves.

For more information about soils, please contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service office or conservation district office located at your local county USDA Service Center. Also more information about soils is available at www.soils.usda.gov.

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

This article is also available in Microsoft Word format.

Dirt, It's What's for Dinner (DOC; 50 KB)

< Back to Conservation Editions - Fiscal Year 2009 Index

Last Modified: 12/09/2008