Nutrients For Life Foundation To Fund New Smithsonian Exhibit On Soils.

New display at National Museum of Natural History expected to draw over millions visitors a year.

Washington, D.C. — To help increase public awareness about the important role nutrients play in soil fertility, the Nutrients for Life Foundation along with Fertilizer Institute announced that they will be a major sponsor of a new Smithsonian Institution exhibit. The 5,000 square foot exhibit is expected to open for public viewing Summer 2008, around the corner from the Hope Diamond, in the Institution's Museum of Natural History.

“The purpose of the exhibit will be to enhance visitors' understanding and appreciation of the myriad ways soil is essential to our lives,” said Ford B. West, President of The Fertilizer Institute. “We want to foster the public's understanding of soils' role in human health, economic strength, environmental health and food security.”

“In particular, we want to stress the consequences of soil degradation,” Ford added, “not only how it affects agriculture productivity, but how it can upset our fragile ecosystem. People can't make new soils, we can reclaim them, but it's costly and time-consuming. So it's important to show people how to prevent soil degradation.”

A core feature of the exhibit will be the display of 53 state soil monoliths (one from each state and the three territories). The monoliths will showcase the amazing variety and aesthetic appeal of soils from across the country with their vast array of colors, textures and structures. In addition to the monoliths, interactive panels, games, videos, activities, experiments, artifacts and educational displays will demonstrate to visitors the vital link between soil and the health of our environment and mankind.

After a two-year run in the Natural History Museum in Washington, the exhibit is expected to tour the United States as part of the Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibit Service for three to four years.

In addition to the Nutrients for Life Foundation and The Fertilizer Institute, other exhibit sponsors include the Soil Science Society of America, the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management and several U.S. Department of Agriculture agencies, including the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Nutrients for Life Foundation is a tax-exempt organization as described in Section 501( c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is incorporated in the State of Delaware. The Foundation was formed to disseminate educational information to the general public, including policy makers, about fertilizers, modern agriculture and the role plant nutrients serve in improving people's lives.