NUTRIENTS FOR LIFE OFFERS SCIENCE-BASED INFORMATION ABOUT FERTILIZER

Folks who aren’t in the agriculture industry don’t really think a lot about fertilizer. But when they do, they may not know all the facts. That’s why Nutrients for Life exists.

The five-year-old foundation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., provides science-based information to help educate people about the benefits of fertilizer. It emphasizes the importance of nutrients for healthy plants and crops. Nitrogen, phosphorus and potash are nutrient sources vital to the health of crops.

The foundation informs the public of the role of nutrients in both the production of nutritious, abundant food and preservation of healthy green spaces through the development of educational resources and an outreach campaign, “Fertilizer is Life’s Main Ingredient” to people across the country.

Nutrients for Life also reminds the public that plant nutrients, especially nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, are also required to keep our parks, gardens, playgrounds, sports fields and golf courses green and healthy.

All information developed by the foundation is based on soil and plant science and supported by agronomists, including those at the International Plant Nutrition Institute. The NFLF curricula, Nourishing the Planet in the 21st Century, is its signature educational material for use in middle school and high school.  The curricula has been reviewed by the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex and research organization.

Joan Kyle serves as regional representative in Florida for Nutrients for Life. “My focus with FFVA is to establish relationships with the agribusiness community,” said Kyle. She takes the Foundation’s curricula to schools throughout the state and says grower involvement is very important. “I like to point out that the growers are the ones who provide the food for a hungry world. I want the growers to know that the program exists and to partner with the Foundation to promote it. I’m looking for open doors to introduce educators to our curricula.”

Nutrients for Life publishes educational curricula as well as brochures for the general public addressing misconceptions about fertilizer.

The curricula Kyle speaks of includes plant and soil science material for middle and high school students that has already been distributed to more than 4,000 teachers nationwide. In six lessons, students learn to answer the question of how we will feed a growing population. “We encourage students to develop a science-based answer, using critical thinking skills, about what fertilizer is and the role it plays in their lives,” Kyle said.

In addition to middle and high school curricula, Nutrients for Life has developed educational and outreach material for adults, and even sponsors an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History, called “Dig it! The Secrets of Soil.” The 5,000-square-foot exhibition reveals the complex world of soil and how this hidden ecosystem supports nearly every form of life on Earth. 

All of the foundation’s materials and curricula focus on five basic facts about fertilizer:

-Fertilizers are drawn from nature. They are not man-made.
 The three most common crop nutrients, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium exist naturally. The only problem is they are seldom in a place, or a form, that's readily consumable for crops. What crop nutrient suppliers do is harvest these nutrients from nature and make them absorbable for plants.

-By using fertilizers, farmers are replacing nutrients that are lost at each harvest.
 When plants consume all the food in the soil, the earth needs to be re-stocked.

-The world MUST use fertilizers to sustain its people.
 If we were to try to feed the world without the aid of fertilizer, billions of people would starve. As Nobel Peace Prize winner and “Father of the Green Revolution” Dr. Norman Borlaug explained it, a life without fertilizer isn't really much of a life at all.

-Modern fertilizing helps preserve our habitats and way of life.
 If farmers weren't able to restore the fertility of their soil after each harvest, most of the world's land would have to be devoted to farming simply to keep up with the growing population. But thanks to science, modern fertilizing techniques and best management practices, today's farmers are using significantly less land while feeding twice the number of people as they did 50 years ago.

-Farmers are the best-qualified environmentalists.
 Farmers are people who not only love the land, but rely on it for their living and have managed to feed a growing America using less land than 50 years ago. They are more than farmers. They are everything from chemists to geologists.

“Our goal here in Florida is to educate youth and create a network that will teach the benefits of replacing nutrients in the soil to grow our food crops to feed the growing population,” said Kyle.

To learn more and download brochures, videos and much more, go to Nutrients for Life’s Web site (www.nutrientsforlife.org). And help Kyle spread the word. “If you have children in middle or high school, let their science teacher know that Nutrients for Life has teacher-tested and approved soil science lessons available for free as well as grants to buy lab equipment,” said Kyle. “And download the educational tools that will walk you through ways to correct the most common misperceptions about crop nutrients. Spread the message to your community, family and friends.”

When people are informed, Kyle said, they become empowered. “They can go to a meeting where important decisions are being made and have science-based facts in front of them to make a convincing presentation,” she said.

Kyle is always looking for feedback about the foundation’s efforts. Her contact information is jkyle@nutrientsforlife.org or (352) 242-0657.