"What a waste of delicious beet juice," said absolutely nobody when presented with the news that New York is joining the list of places testing out beet juice as an anti-icing precaution. Apparently the King of the Vegetables is also the Plow King's little helper.
For the last few years more and more areas have been using beet juice mixed with brine on roads to help prevent icing—and this year New York State is planning on pouring 50,000 gallons of the brown-not-purple stuff on the New York State Thruway. After all not only is it natural and less corrosive than other methods, it is also local! Just ask Long Island's East End Organics which promises to help you "BEET the snow and ice this winter." Get it?
All joking aside, it turns out that beet juice is a pretty useful tool to fight icing as it can be put out in advance (reducing overtime), is less corrosive to roads and machinery (saving money), and it also is safer for animals. But just to be clear, beet doesn't eliminate the need for salt—it works with it. Finally, a natural solution to a problem that Dwight Schrute can get behind.
