The Salts of the Earth

What three elements have to do with colonialism, climate and world food

Our existence depends on the cycle of the elements. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are three of the most important ones. But we have disrupted their flow and jeopardised the very basis of life all over the planet.

What influence do these drugs, about which we know very little, have?

In her search for answers, biologist Kerstin Hoppenhaus follows these elements around the world and through time, from individual cells to ecosystems, from over-fertilised fields to politics. She shows that the history of these three elements is one of industrial progress as well as ecological shortsightedness, colonialism and global networks.

A fascinating insight into unexpected connections, which captures an understanding without which a sustainable future is not possible.