Love Your Neighbor: Texas philanthropist makes remineralization part of his Christian mission

‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ is not only the Second Great Commandment as cited by Jesus Christ in the New Testament, but it’s the mantra by which David Munson operates — both when he’s booking guests on his Dallas-Fort Worth-area TV show, as well as when he advocates on behalf of remineralization to politicians.

David Munson promoting RTE on his UAN television program.

“There’s a fight between good and evil going on in this world,” he says. “You can either be on the good side or the bad side. You can either be working to make the world a better place, or you could be pulling it down and mining it and just living for immediate pleasure.”

As for his digital program (available on the UAN website), Munson’s Christian faith has him interviewing people who through their good works and charity strive to contribute to a better world for all. When it comes to his passion for remineralization, Munson says, it too falls under the neighborly love theme, because people need healthy, abundant food, and they need a clean environment, which rock dust can help achieve by promoting soil carbon sequestration.

“It solves the rising carbon dioxide problem as it solves the soil depletion problem. By increasing the ability of soil to soak up water and air, pollution is minimized as is soil runoff. My goal is to promote soil remineralization and soil revitalization to solve the carbon dioxide crisis and to ensure humanity doesn’t starve to death in a few decades.”

Munson first became aware of remineralization after his family bought a commercial ranch in the 1980s along the Red River in northeastern Texas.

He says: “It had a mixture of river bottom soil, which was fertile, and native upland soils that were depleted, demineralized and infertile. I saw how important soil is to productivity, going from soil that would grow huge, abundant crops to depleted lands with very little topsoil and infertile subsoil that basically grew almost nothing.”

A mechanical engineer by trade, Munson started studying soil fertility and remineralization, applying concentrated rock dust like limestone and dolomite and other rocks, based on soil tests of what nutrients his soils were lacking.

“We boosted our production dramatically by balancing soil nutrients and trace elements in the soil on the ranch,” he said, adding basalt rock also carries some unique, beneficial remineralization qualities that are almost intangible. “I think one of the reasons people have seen big increases by using basalt rock dust in remineralizing soils is magnetism.

“Magnetism is kind of an unusual force that works in the world, and we don’t really understand all the ways life interacts with magnetism. But we know with these soils that when they’re high in paramagnetic qualities and have a mild magnetic attraction, they grow some of the best foods, and basalt is high in paramagnetism.”

A different kind of environmentalist

While passionate about soil and environmental issues, Munson might not be what everyone would consider as a ‘typical environmentalist.’ He is, after all, co-owner of some partially-developed natural gas reserves, and he believes that development of natural gas as a cleaner, lower-emissions hydrocarbon alternative to coal is vital to combating climate change while also ensuring stable, plentiful and independent access to energy for the United States.

Biogas plant near Wremen, Germany. Munson advocates the use of biogas for energy production.

Unlike coal, he notes, natural gas-fired power plants can easily be turned on and off to accommodate renewables such as wind and solar, which only provide electricity when the wind actually blows or the sun is shining.

As for combating climate change, Munson clearly sees remineralization as the preferred method. He has decided to devote substantial energy to supporting Remineralize the Earth, both in terms of raising money and advocacy.

“I’ve reached out to other people to donate, I’ve donated myself, and I’m working hard to build more support for the organization,” he says, noting he has also spoken with politicians, including recently meeting with the staff of Sen. Ted Cruz to discuss remineralization options. “I have had meetings with several congressmen about remineralization, trying to build support through legislation in the future. We’ll see what I can accomplish.”

He adds: “People want to protect the soil and save the soil, and I think it’s possible to change the dialogue. Even for people who are not as convinced that global warming is as big a threat, it’s still a risk.”

Making the world a better place

Remineralization is an important part of Munson’s Christian mission, and he has discussed the topic repeatedly on his regular broadcast, as well as with politicians, farmers and everyday people with whom he comes in contact.

David Munson standing in a cornfield he used to farm.

“I’m speaking with people I meet with about [remineralization], and I’m trying to work with some landowners in the North Texas area to do trial plots,” he says. “I have one man doing a very small-scale rock dust plot, and I want to work with some commercial farmers to do trial applications to their fields of significant size. I’m trying to raise money and gather donations for the cause.”

The Texas philanthropist hopes others will join him in reaching out to their legislators to advocate on behalf of rock dust, as well as financially supporting the cause by donating to such groups as RTE.

“We desperately need broad-based support,” he says, adding the remineralization movement desperately needs people to share information and build awareness of rock dust’s potential as a tool for soil carbon sequestration that helps produce abundant, nutritious crops in the process.

“This is a very positive message about empowering people to grow more food and do more things.”

Carter Haydu is a writer, reporter, and journalist based in Alberta and Saskatchewan. He works for JuneWarren-Nickle’s Energy Group, with regular articles appearing in the Daily Oil Bulletin. He is a freelance columnist with the award-winning Quad Town Forum weekly newspaper, based in Vibank, Saskatchewan. He also contributes content for a series of magazines in and around Regina and Saskatoon. He received a BA in Political Science and Philosophy from Augustana University College in 2001 and a diploma in journalism from Grant Macewan College in 2005.