a chemical sort of green

a day jaunt to terre haute entailed a ride down a long stretch of the forgotten and lightly traveled highway 41 through rolling vistas of agricultural land on the far eastern side of indana...miles between towns with little scenery ( although there was enough to keep me occupied...it plays to my interests )...there was some green among the various shades of brown out there...winter rye or winter wheat...both those are greening up in the community garden and my back yard despite the apparent masquerade of spring as winter...but the road provided evidence of another sort of green that is in the offing...on the way back north out of terre haute what wandered by us on the road but a tank truck carrying anhydrous ammonia...king of industrial fertilizers in the corn world...millions of tons of this will be used on cropland in the coming months as corn production gears up...if you don't believe farmers have become chemical workers have a look at the msds for anhydrous ammonia at this address http://www.unitedsuppliers.com/MSDS/tabid/78/Default.aspx click on the msds for anhydrous ammonia from c f industries...it is enlightening...a bit further north in kentland i saw a lot at a farm supply store filled with individual tanks of fertilizer ready for distribution to farms in the area...industrial agriculture disrupts nutrient cycles, mining them form the soil and requiring chemical replacement in what wes jackson calls, "chemo-therapy for the soil"...we need to retake control of our food...we need to disrupt deleterious practices...we need to be more organic...see you in the garden.