With topsoils disappearing and temperatures rising, about 2/3 of the world is desertifying. Many would argue soil degradation is the most critical environmental threat to humans". But I wish people with platforms like documentary films or acting stardom would start framing issues with words that suggest physical work, like "repair" or fix or even "care for/take care of" (i.e. Kiss the Ground is a new, feature-length movie that explores key soil health and regenerative agricultural principles, and features interviews with a wide range of authors, experts, farmers, researchers and scientists. But its the reality we face. In March and April, he says, farmers are tilling. This is a major oversimplification of our complex and varied farming system.
There was a huge opportunity for the filmmakers to ask open-ended questions and seek new avenues of thought and action, but they went the safe route of trying to be inspiring. Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture & Society, 4(3), 8. Grazing management impacts on vegetation, soil biota and soil chemical, physical and hydrological properties in tall grass prairie. Starring: Woody Harrelson. Check out Kiss the Ground website, where you will find other ways to be involved and even learn how to Become a Soil Advocate! There are a few clues within the documentary that speak to this but they are by no means overtly clear to the viewer. By 2050, it is estimated that 1bn people will be refugees of soil desertification. Plus FCRNs paper simply ignored the existing peer reviewed science with its claim that no such science exists. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is . Yes, theres no doubt ruminant poop can help improve soil quality, butthere are many types of regenerative agriculture that do not involve animalsoranimal manureand others that act as sanctuaries using animals on their land without sending them to slaughter. His response: holistic management does not permit replication, and youll find the scientific method never discovers anything.. Check out their simple yet profound Soil Story: So sadly neither does the author of this review. Ill summarise the main points for you in this article; what the issues are, why soil is the answer, and how you can help to save you having to invest the time to watching it yourself. Other soil-based carbon capture solutions like composting are crucial to regenerative agriculture. Biodiverse cover crops to feed the soil biology and protect the soils. Please check your entries and try again.
About Kiss The Ground - Kiss the Ground Farmers need to learn how to regenerate and take care of the soil. So ifKiss the Groundhad taken a more evidence-based approach and included dietary recommendations what would it have looked like? Regenerated healthy soil greatly increases the carrying capacity of land, so the amount of land needed for regen grazing isnt an issue. There is one hyperlink in error. I promise its way easier to mail one ballot than to cut meat out of your diet or petition your city to collect compost!
Gabe: HaHa! Here are five things I learned from Kiss the Ground. The difference is immense and plain for anyone to see. There are no simple solutions to complex problems. Share this article or talk about the importance of soils to your friends. The review is plain evidence that we see what we believe and the reviewers beliefs greatly clouded their vision. In COP21 in Paris, 2015. Our farming systems have moved too far out of alignment with mother nature. doi:10.1093/jas/skx060 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jas/skx060, Stanley, P. L., Rowntree, J. E., Beede, D. K., DeLonge, M. S., & Hamm, M. W. (2018). And when it comes to the Savory Institute and Savorys claims Dr Garnett states that they are generally anecdotal, based on surveys and testimonies rather than on-site measurements. Regenerative agriculture combines 4 practices. Jemima is the Head of Editorial of Plant Based News. Having dedicated many years to researching and communicating the science behind an optimal diet for humans, I understand first hand how our health isinextricably tied to the planets(as detailed inmy upcoming book). Sign up for the latest courses, learning resources, news and events. San Francisco have an amazing system, and are the most sustainable city in the US! I am alive!. Its not just about more trees, the carbon that can be stored in healthy, organic material rich soils is much greater. The long term prognosis for our survival with business as usual is very, very poor , Topsoils are disappearing and the land is desertifying, Regenerative farming principles explained, Examples of regenerative farming restoring land. It only takes a quick read of theDrawdown Reportto realize that this is absolutely unfounded its going to take an enormous amount of solutions to radically transform our energy and food systems to reverse climate change, and holistic grazing, while certainly better than intensive farming, is not the miracle carbon-sequestering practice that those watching are led to believe. Its a story about hope and solutions. If we want to lower our environmental footprint the single most important thing we can do iseat more plants. As a side note, the documentary routinely employed uses numerous fear-mongering tactics to scare the viewer into grasping for whatever solution comes next. Ryland Engelhart is a philanthropist. Thanks for a well-referenced and easily readable article this seems like a great resource to send to people. It turned out to be more involved than I imagined. By taking carbon dioxide from the air, and sending it down to soil microbes in exchange for nutrients, plants can not only remove carbon from the atmosphere, but store carbon in the soils. While the film can at times feel like a jumble of connected concepts and issues with an occasional celebrity cameo, the documentary is overall optimistic. Unless we save our soils, we have 60 harvests left before global starvation. Something went wrong. Several scientists featured in Kiss the Ground are clear that simply reducing carbon emission wont be enough to save the planet. In the 1930s the Dust Bowl was created. Awesome! (Though theyre still good ideas.). And of course, havinginterviewedthe co-founders ofKiss the Ground, Ryland Engelhart and Finian Makepeace, in early 2020, I was particularly excited to watch theKiss the Grounddocumentary(and I recommend you watch it too if you havent already). Science experts and celebrity activists unpack the ways in which the earth's soil may be the key to combating climate change and preserving the planet. Is it possible that some of the great empires that seemingly vanished, like the Myans and Incas, did so because they over farmed, and could not feed their rising populations? No big deal.
Did Biden Call for a Military National Draft? | Snopes.com Ryland co-founded Kiss the Ground in his living room with a friend ten years ago. So the the more microbes, the more necromass and the faster SOM including soil organic matter is built.
Kiss the Ground Film | Official Website The rest of our topsoils are projected to be lost within 60 years. Regardless of the above claims being scientifically supported or not (well come to that) if one is to advocate for a shift to holistic grazing this will inevitably result in a dramatic reduction in global meat supply. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 71(2), 156-164. doi:10.2489/jswc.71.2.156 http://www.jswconline.org/content/71/2/156.abstract, Rowntree, J., Ryals, R., Delonge, M., Teague, R. W., Chiavegato, M., Byck, P., . My hubby is from Alberta, the beef province of Canada and he was telling me about how land intensive pasture raised animals are. Modern agriculture was not designed for the betterment of the soil, instead for the short term maximisation of yield. The key points in Kiss the Ground. Kiss the Ground features successful composting programs in San Francisco, Detroit, and Haiti. The trouble is, our farmers are not taught this; our growers know nothing about how the soil works or the basic ecological principles. The message gets across, but the film downplays a meaningful call to action. Until recently, however, the roles of soil and grazing animals have been missing pieces of the climate puzzle. All of us make critical decisions every day as we manage our lives and we dont consult the literature when making those decisions.
2023 Farm Bill | What is it and Why it matters? - Kiss The Ground But the agreement is that all of the richest grasslands in the world have large grazing animals. This is the central statement of Kiss the Ground, an eco-educational Netflix documentary directed and produced by Josh and Rebecca Tickell.On-the-ground agricultural practices carried out by millions of individual farmers directly affect the health of the soil, and by extension, global atmospheric carbon levels and the pace of climate change. The natural carbon cycle involves carbon release by animals consuming plant and other organic materials and releasing the carbon as carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. I thought it was odd that this was left out. The first point that I think deserves our attention, before getting into the science on the reversal claim, is the way the producers wanted you to see holistic grazing. By 2014 there was no vegetation left across an area the size of Belgium! They are both such impactful leaders in this movement because they are called to bring these concepts to farmers and ranchers everywhere. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. These will be using less chemicals and therefore come from healthier soils than normal veg; hugely better for soil biodiversity, natural biodiversity and your health. The documentary tiptoed around this, failing to make it explicitly clear that the food on our plate has to change, while seemingly wanting us to believe that holistic grazing on its own can reverse climate change. Its not too long, but youll learn a lot from it.
(Source: Maggie Eileen Lochtenberg, freelance artist and transformational witch. Simple reducing emission does nothing to decrease the greenhouse gases that are already in our atmosphere. Eating less meat, of all types, is. Kiss the Ground brings together a diverse coalition of scientists, farmers, and advocates to share this story, showcase the benefits of adopting regenerative agriculture, and build a movement aimed at renewing the planet's ecosystems. With no plants to transpire and create the water vapour which condenses to rain, local rainfall also fails, turning the area to desert. Clearly this is something that needs our urgent attention and resolution! As an employee of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, he travels around the country educating farmers on more sustainable farming practices. Regardless of the labelthat we choose to adopt, eating this way will nourish the soil, reduce emissions from agriculture, and at the same timereduce the burden of chronic disease in our communities. Consumers need to do their part by supporting pastured proteins. The movie didn't even include an indictment of current US politics or President Trump, which is notable by its absence considering the film was released so close to election time. Shop organic where you can. Hailing from Newcastle, Australia, she predominantly writes about climate and animal rights issues, alongside her work in psychology. Directors Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Writers Johnny O'Hara Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Stars This is bio sequestration using plants to capture and store carbon. Links to some of the recent research supporting HM, Teague, W. R. (2018). Your email address will not be published. Unfortunately, overtly telling people they need to cut down on their meat consumption for this change in agriculture to work isnt going to help with the documentarys popularity. Carrie Richards is not giving up. A Case Study in a Cambodian Orphanage. Learn how your comment data is processed. Still, its hard to ignore that the filmmakers featured almost exclusively rich, white American celebrities in a film about global systems change released in the middle of a national reckoning about our ability to be a diverse and equitable society. Unfortunately not as much as I had hoped. For millions of years the world has self-healed and self-balanced. In fact, if we look at the solutions outlined in theDrawdown Reportand their potential to draw down carbon from our atmosphere, shifting to a diet that favours calories from plants is twice as powerful compared to shifting to silvopasture and four times as powerful compared as shifting to managed grazing two forms of regenerative agriculture that involve livestock. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The Lhos plateau in China is where settled agriculture first began. By Integrating animals grazing the cover crops for their manure and the beneficial effects of their hooves. | Plant Based News Ltd, PO Box 71173, London, SE20 9DQ, United Kingdom. Despite the documentary not spelling it out, its very clear. Heres below are just a handful of recent PEER REVIEWED papers supporting HPG. We need to talk about agriculture in a way thats meaningful to people with boots on the ground and enumerate specific steps that lead to material change. After turning her attention from Accounting and Project Management in London, she's returned to her scientific roots and now spends her time researching eco-options and trying to understand the truth about the eco-issues we're being increasingly presented with. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Data from almost40,000 farms, and 119 countries, clearly shows us that a plant-based diet results in less greenhouse gas emissions, less pollution, less ocean acidification, and uses less water and land land which we can therefore free up and convert to forests to rapidly sequester carbon from our atmosphere. Your email address will not be published.
'Kiss the Ground' review: The soil may save us, but it's not that To me, it undermines the articulate, informative explanations offered by the professionals with actual working farms and advanced degrees who are given the floor for much of the film. Gabe: That each and every person needs to step up and make a differencethat they can make a difference by purchasing from farmers and ranchers who practice regenerative ag. Desertification is the process of land turning to desert. Minimising the amount of mechanical disturbance, with no tilling/ploughing. And so, with these words, Harrelson immediately draws us into "Kiss the Ground," a documentary focusing on growing our food in a way that builds and protects our precious soil and also draws back into the ground the carbon dioxide that is causing climate change. I was interested in clicking through at there are many types of regenerative agriculture that do not involve animals for more information, but that currently just links back to this article. Savorys claims dont stand up when you put them under the microscope. how to make a chi ball visible for beginners Keagy's Best Price Plumbing This seems like pretty important information that was left off the table. Kris: I see the soil as the real star of the movie and have said many times I am honored to be able to speak on behalf of the soil. Due to its immense scale, and ability to sequester (store) greenhouse gases, it could be the one thing that can balance our climate, clean our water and feed the world!