Fertility Right

Rabbi Adam Fisher of Temple Isaiah in Stony Brook, L.I., decided that his temple's lawn was as good a place as any to begin righting a great wrong.

The rabbi read not long ago that a severe fertilizer shortage is one cause of famine in sub-Saharan Africa and India. He was shocked to learn that Americans annually keep their lawns and shrubs verdant with the help of 3 million tons of fertilizer, slightly more than the entire supply that was available to India to grow food during 1973.

"I said, wait a minute, how can a person in good conscience pour all that fertilizer on his lawn?" Fisher recalls. He drafted a resolution to the temple's board of directors, asking them to cut back on the temple's use of fertilizer and urge members of the congregation to do likewise. Fisher does not really expect homeowners to cut their fertilizer usage, and he holds out only limited hope that a letter-writing campaign urging a similar course of action on the Government will bear much fruit. At best, the savings in fertilizer would make only a dent in the world's food problems. But it is reassuring that small acts of conscience can still take root and prosper.

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