This month’s International Year of Soils theme is Soils Support Agriculture. The soil is the ultimate source of nutrients our bodies need. The vitamins and minerals that are a necessary part of our diet come from plants that have, in turn, gotten those same vitamins and minerals from the soil. Soils support agriculture by serving as the foundation of where we grow food.

Writing Contest

Each year, the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom sponsors a writing contest for youth. Their goal is to promote reading, writing and the arts, while also furthering the understanding of agriculture in our lives.

As a part of our Writer’s Workshop, I encouraged all of my students to submit an entry. Much to our delight, we recently learned that my son’s story was selected as a regional winner.

Papa’s Oranges

The young boy looked out the window and could see nothing but trees for as far as he could see. He knew he wasn’t at home. He glanced at the clock next to the bed, it was 7:00 a.m. The only thing he remembered was that he fell asleep in the car going to visit his papa. “I guess this is it,” the boy said to himself.

Every tree he could see was covered with oranges. His mom had said that his papa had a large orchard so he guessed this was his house. He jumped out of bed, threw on his shoes, and ran outside. “Mom, Dad, and Papa must not be up yet,” he thought.

He kept running until he could not see the house very well. He reached up and picked one of the oranges. He peeled it, the juice overwhelmed his taste buds. He wiped his face with his sleeve as the juice dripped down his chin.

“Is it good?” asked someone from behind him.

The boy jumped in surprise. “Yes, very.” The boy noticed it was his grandfather. “I thought you were asleep!” the boy cried.

“Well I am going for a walk. Would you like to join?” asked his grandfather.

“It would be my pleasure.”

They started walking even further into the orchard. Only then the boy saw what his papa was wearing. He had on a brown Fedora that was placed a little back on his head. He wore a tan shirt with a weathered leather jacket, long brown pants, and for some reason a whip was coiled on his hip.

“What’s that for?” the boy asked, pointing.

“Oh, my whip? It’s for Yankees – people that poison trees and pick all the fruit,” his papa answered with a grin.

They boy asked more questions as they continued to walk. “When I was pealing the orange, why was it so hard?”

“Well, you were in the juvenile patch so the orange peels are thicker. Those trees can grow to be 20 to 30 feet tall. Orange trees can bear fruit they reach their full height. Right ahead of us is the mature patch,” answered his papa.

As they continued to walk, his papa kept on talking about how the oranges grow. “I grow two kinds of oranges. Washington navels for an early season harvest and Valencia for a later season harvest.”

“How do you know when to harvest them?” the boy asked.

“Oranges develop their sweetness over time on the tree. I like to taste them each week. That’s how I know they are ready.”

“I love oranges, Papa. I like helping you, too.”

“I was thinking that when I retire you could take over,” his papa said as they returned to the house.

“You are joking!” the boy said disbelievingly.

“No, I am not. Are you interested?”

“Yes!!” the boy yelled.

“I thought you would like to have it.”

The boy then ran inside to tell his parents.

Lesson Plans

The Chemistry of Fertilizers – California Foundation AITC ~ Hands-on experiments, activities, practice problems, discussions and writing assignments are incorporated as students learn to break compounds into ions, make a fertilizer and test several fertilizers for phosphate content.

Chemistry in Plant Nutrition and Growth – Alaska AITC ~ Lesson plan with information, tables, diagrams, and questions about plant nutrients in soil.

Soil Sam – Illinois AITC ~ Students make a “Soil Sam” with a baby food jar to hold the soil and grass seeds planted to grow “hair”. Includes suggested additions to learn about fertilizers.

Soil is a complex mixture of minerals, water, air and organic matter that performs many critical functions. In the United States, more than 80 percent of the population lives in cities or suburbs. While the downtown areas of cities are covered with asphalt and concrete, there are still lawns, trees, gardens, and parks. Under all this city space, even under the concrete, is soil.

Soils Support Urban Life

Before we began using pipes, drains, pumps, and other infrastructure to manage stormwater, nature provided the “green infrastructure” to slow, filter, and move water to where it belonged. In forests and wetlands, water is still managed naturally. The foundation of this network is the soil. It is the drain, the pipe, the pump, and the water treatment plant all in one.

As urban areas have grown and we’ve continued to pave over our soils, demands on both natural and manmade stormwater management systems have increased. The last few decades have brought a shift from traditional “capture, convey, and treat” drainage systems. Instead, many cities are beginning to focus on more sustainable systems to manage storm water runoff.

Often referred to as “green infrastructure”, these sustainable systems include rain gardens, living roofs, and the growing trend to plant vegetation native to the region. These practices can delay the arrival of water that reaches the sewer system and thereby reduce flooding.

The biggest benefit green infrastructure, however, is the potential reduction of pollutants entering the storm water system. Pollutants like nutrients (from fertilizers), road salt, and bacteria, can negatively affect aquatic life and public health. Green infrastructure captures these pollutants, especially those that might run off at the beginning of a storm.In both of the cities I have called home in the past few years, a few public buildings have even converted their roof tops to green space. These green roofs not only help to reduce pollutants but provide habitat for pollinators and small birds. In addition, they can provide learning spaces to learn about native plants and sustainable agricultural practices (drip irrigation, etc).

Bring it Home

The Soil Science Society of America recommends that urban dwellers consider rain gardens for their yards and compost their appropriate food wastes. Help the soil serve you by making rain gardens, making and using compost, and making an urban garden. Here are several resources and lesson plans to get you started:

Do the Rot Thing – Download this free composting curriculum to bring the science of composting into your curriculum
Build a Two-Can Bioreactor or small-scall indoor composting unit, or on a smaller scale consider a …
Soda Bottle Bioreactor that will enable students to design and carry out individualized research projects, comparing variables such as reactor design, moisture content, and nutrient ratios of mixtures to be composted.
Soil Science – Learn about basic soil science, and then explore some unique characteristics of soils found in urban areas.
Exploration of Run-off and Infiltration – In this unit, students design and conduct experiments on runoff and infiltration, either outside or in the classroom
Nourishing the Planet – Download the free soil science curriculum to help students realize the challenges of feeding a growing world
Dig It! Secrets of Soil – Visit the Smithsonian exhibit’s website to access 10 online interactive learning modules

Dear Bill Marriott,

My name is Eva Varga and together with my husband and two young children, we recently enjoyed staying at three of your hotels during our family holiday in China (Marriott Hotel City Wall in Beijing, Courtyard Xujiahui in Shanghai, and the Renaissance Harbour View in Hong Kong). We love the Marriott brand and as reward members, we have enjoyed our stay at many other locations around the world.

Our thoughts on the environment & sustainability

While staying in Beijing, we enjoyed watching a short documentary on Marriott’s efforts to contribute to the local economy and sustainable agriculture. The focus of the piece was on apiculture in China and it was of particular interest to us as we hope to someday have hives of our own. While I was personally interested in the story, I was most delighted to hear of Marriott’s interest in sustainability and the local communities in which it serves.

As many travelers are aware, it is unsafe to drink tap water in China and it is advised to purchase bottled water. While I appreciated that Marriott provided bottled water to its guests, I was saddened when I thought about the quantity of plastic that is consumed as a result. The impact of our consumption of plastic alone is concerning enough, but what really struck me was that the water provided was bottled by Nestlé.

It struck me as odd that Marriott – a company that markets itself as one dedicated to the environment – would choose to partner with a company like Nestlé, whose CEO has stated that drinking water is not a human right, but a privilege. The atrocities committed by Nestlé are not limited to drinking water, however. Large multinational beverage companies are often given water-well privileges (and even tax breaks) over citizens because they create jobs, which is apparently more important to the local governments than water rights to other taxpaying citizens. It is bad enough that they are depleting our natural resources of water, but they also promote GM/GMO foods, investing money to thwart labeling of such products.

In the 1970s, Nestlé was accused of getting third world mothers hooked on formula, which is less healthy and more expensive than breast milk. To save money, mothers diluted the formula with water, often with contaminated water, thus preventing their child from absorbing the necessary nutrients. As a result, millions of babies died from malnutrition. Poor labeling, mostly due to poor literacy rates, was also a contributing factor. The allegations led to hearings in the Senate and the World Health Organization, resulting in a new set of marketing rules.

Considering the negative press and global reputation of Nestlé, I strongly urge Marriott to reconsider using Nestlé products. While the need to provide safe drinking water is important, I hope Marriott will seek out alternatives. Perhaps installing purifiers in each room or providing a reusable (aluminum) water bottle filling station on each floor.

Sincerely,

Eva Varga

Nestlé Products to Boycott

Sustainability Archives - Eva Varga

Soils Support Agriculture: Ideas to Integrate Writing

Writing Contest

Papa’s Oranges

Lesson Plans

Soils Support Urban Life: Do Your Part with Rain Gardens & Composting

Soils Support Urban Life

Bring it Home

An Open Letter to Marriott

Our thoughts on the environment & sustainability