Got the creepies from mention of chem Ag toxic gick in class yesterday!

I felt like I needed a shower.

I am teaching US History and I am in the first unit which covers exploration and colonization.  One of the topics we have to cover is the Colombian Exchange, the sort of biological swap that started at the Columbian voyages and continues today (ex. Corn spread from America to Europe and then around the world).  

At any rate I mentioned how it continues today, with my example being Johnson Grass.  A student who worked as a farm hand over the summer piped up about controlling Johnson Grass with ’cides.  I probably should have re-directed hi right there but instead I let him say his bit where he described putting in one tank the big, bad RU broad spectrum ‘cide.  In addition to that were at least 4 other ‘cides (by now I was starting to feel dirty).  Later they would kill insects with another round of ‘cides and finally they would control fungi with still more ‘cides!  

I couldn’t help but think about how sterile the soil must be.  In particular I was revolted by the mention of killing off soil fungi, but added to all the runoff from all those other ‘cides just made me generally feel icky.  I really wanted to tell him that this was inappropriate to mention, but of course, given the setting, it is not.  Still, I can’t help but think about how this was hardly the only farm operation to work like this (I know that most work like this).


Yuck, yuck yuck!!!

Eric

Hi Eric,

It doesn’t get any better as the students get older.   I taught various college classes for 15 years.  The comments I heard were bizarre to say the least. Of course, you can try to gently guide the student, but my experience has been that most guidance is resisted.

When I first bought my property well over 20 years ago, I took several samples from our pond and put them under a microscope.  There were no signs of life.

Eric, I realize you're teaching "US history", so you may feel you can't get away with this:
1. Was your land ever commercially farmed? Is there an area of your land where you can collect an "unimproved" soil sample?
2. Can you discretely get a soil sample from a local commercially farmed land where you know yucky stuff is still currently being used?
3. Take a soil sample from under a several year old wood-chip bed.
4. Can you find anyone with a *really* good microscope, particularly one that can take pictures? Maybe a local college?

If you can, you could maybe spend 10 minutes briefly describing the "history" of your land - and show how it compares to nearby land. You might not see any fast change in attitude, but you could suggest they try a similar experiment on an area of their parent's properties and who knows where it might lead. A little information about how much those 'cides cost vs the cost of wood chips and polyculture would also help - that's the argument Greg Judy makes.

In the meantime, I'm sending you a shower -  a virtual shower of organically grown flower petals!

Thanks for the shower Jay!

Actually, depending on the era, I might be able to do exactly what you mentioned.  There is chemical/commercial agricultural nearby and I could probably sneak away with a discreet soil sample.  Since I have owned my land, I have never applied any ‘cide or fertilizer to my 4-5 acres of field/grass.  I could get a sample from just about anywhere.  I do have good, aged wood chip beds for comparison and I thought about adding into the mix a sample from along my fence line which has been growing wild at least since I bought the property back in 2003.

I might revisit this issue when teaching about Western expansion after the Civil War.  That was a time when the fertility of the Midwestern plains was really tapped by agriculture for decades until it was really damaged by constant plowing, ultimately leading to the dust bowl years of the 1930s.

Eric

Hi John,

Actually, there is an audience that is pretty receptive to the organic and better approach to agriculture at my school.  The sheer enthusiasm for an array of poison is what really got me feeling creepy.  The tricky issue here is that the kid was proud of his work.  He worked very hard.  He worked in the hot sun when others his age would rather stay inside.  And he will see fruits from his labors.  I am actually kinda proud of his work ethic.  I just wished he could see past the chemistry.  We will see what happens in the 1870s.

Eric

Eric Hanson wrote:I might revisit this issue when teaching about Western expansion after the Civil War.  That was a time when the fertility of the Midwestern plains was really tapped by agriculture for decades until it was really damaged by constant plowing, ultimately leading to the dust bowl years of the 1930s.

I recently read the first half of a book called, "What your Food Ate" and they were really supportive of the lowest to no tillage possible as being critical to getting land off drugs. They attributed much of the difference to improved mycorrhiza achieved through not disturbing the land by tilling. Unfortunately, I've heard some farm folk claim that by not tilling, they have to use more 'cides due to weed pressure. Since most weeds are opportunists, I suspect that a good polyculture will help the farmers out-compete those weeds. But even if not, weeds in my healthy soil raised beds are sure easier to pull than the ones in the compacted clay soil that the former owner abused!