All of these issues and more can be addressed, at least partially, by regenerative ag. care as a social process). On one hand, the use of celebrity ambassadors is an unsubtle but effective tactic to draw casual viewers and followers. Unfortunately, there are still very few about, especially in the UK. Rousing speeches have their place in communicating the gravity of the situation to the public, funders, and policymakers, but its not a framing that suggests concrete action, or even a plan. Unless we save our soils, we have 60 harvests left! Regenerative farming restores soils; storing carbon and reducing the need for chemical help to improve yields by harnessing natural processes. It also doesnt spend most of its time talking about whos to blame, and its actually mostly about looking for solutions for our futures, and did include suggestions about what we, as ordinary people, can do. Share this article or talk about the importance of soils to your friends. Real change requires drawdown: year to year reduction in carbon dioxide levels. Kris: When I was working as the Chief Scientist with the Rodale Institute, I was asked to be interviewed by the Kiss the Ground team who were also interviewing Maria Rodale. All farmable soil could be gone in 60 years. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. I approached this film with professional interest, not just as a News Fellow with Stone Pier Press, but as someone trained in biology at college, regenerative farming at the Rodale Institute (three of the films agricultural experts work/ed here), and food systems at graduate school. Overlaying it, a swirling heat map of global atmospheric carbon, changing from dark red to cool blue over the course of a year. View and change your settings here, Regenerative Farm Map Regeneration International, Donate Regeneration International | Organic Consumers (netdonor.net), Compost Toilets in Africa: Human Feces as Fertilizer | Thrive4Good (thriveforgood.org). There is enough evidence to support regenerative agriculture being a more environmentally friendly form of agriculture to how we are currently farming, but on the other side, I am also weary whenever a solution is proposed as a panacea for tackling climate change what is arguably one of the most complex problems that the human race is faced with. 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. It was very much positioned as absolutely crucial to confronting this climate emergency we find ourselves in. All of us make critical decisions every day as we manage our lives and we dont consult the literature when making those decisions. Heres my critique of that paper: https://lachefnet.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/its-the-soil-biology-stupid/ This paper includes a number of these soil science papers. Carrie's ranch is comprised of 6,500 acres, Thank you to the @apnews for sharing an art. Dont get me wrong. No big deal. Sounds pretty ambitious to champion this form of animal agriculture as a climate solution without strong empirical evidence? If we look at where many of the 20 or so great civilisations have been, many are now desert Could this be our future if we carry on down this path? Personally, I thought this was one of the better Netflix documentaries, mainly because, whilst theres a lot of negatives about where the world is heading, the overall message is one of hope. Remember that the decision to depopulate the elephants when Savory was with the game department was a result of the current science among wildlife researchers. 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. The difference is immense and plain for anyone to see. Theres also a lot of new recent PEER REVIEWED soil science that demonstrates this. 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. We started ploughing/tilling because it was easier for us to upscale. I thought it would be just another news release or another interview. Its clear to see that levels of CO2 in the atmosphere above the main agricultural areas increase significantly in the main tilling/ploughing months, and then as plant cover increases in the fields, it drops! We recently caught up with @mcgrathfamilyfarm. Many would argue soil degradation is the most critical environmental threat to humans". The basic principles are: minimal tilling/ploughing, using cover crops, involving livestock in managed grazing, organic practices avoiding chemicals, composting, crop diversity and using trees and perennials as protection. Great news! Neither does the author. Awesome! For people who have an hour and a half to watch something like this, For people who are time strapped or not sure that this is their kind of thing, The way we are feeding ourselves is undermining the very ecology were dependent upon. The basic premise of Kiss the Ground is that the destruction of soil is contributing to the severity and intensity of climate change. Our farming systems have moved too far out of alignment with mother nature. The farmers are now starving or have moved on as the soils wont grow anything anymore, they have become dirt. The first clue is when the documentary makes mention of the natural history of Bison roaming the United States. The long term prognosis for our survival with business as usual is very, very poor . The rest of our topsoils are projected to be lost within 60 years. #2 - The planet is desertifying (more land is becoming desert), #4 - Our modern farming methods are killing the soils, #5 - Nature has invented the most sophisticated carbon capture method - photosynthesis, #6 - Soils are a huge potential carbon store, #8 - Regenerative farming can reverse climate change, The way we are feeding ourselves is undermining the very ecology were dependent upon. But its the reality we face. We can all make some simple changes for massive benefits to our health and footprint. Its a practice that requires a level of care you have to commit to every time you go into the field. 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! Using livestock is thought to make this process 7 times faster! There are also clear spikes in the CO2 levels in the atmosphere during the ploughing/tilling months with the lowest levels coinciding with maximum plant coverage before harvest. Ray: That a large audience will come away with a basic awareness about the transformative power of our living and life-giving soil. Our current farming methods are simply not sustainable. Any plans to hire an agent or move to L.A? For me, its a plant-exclusive diet and for you it might be eating plant-based before dinner often the perfect place for people to start. Enteric methane is broken down in a short period of time, and microbial methane is the same carbon cycling and recycling over and over. 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. Industrial agriculture (left) causes desertification through tilling and synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. ), Pollinator garden/market flowers at Copper Cricket Farm. Local water cycles produce 40% of our rainfall. Why? Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. Monocropping further exacerbates the issue, as the same crop is grown year on year, for miles in the case of US farms, microbial diversity cannot increase. Were trapped on a planet to which we've already done irreparable damage. If youve tried and failed before youre definitely in the right place change is hard, but doable with the right process and support! By 2050, it is estimated that 1bn people will be refugees of soil desertification. Copyright 2021 Understanding Ag, LLC | Website by RVT Solutions. The lazy author of this review makes the same mistaken claim. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Eating less meat, of all types, is. I was also pleased the documentary shone a light on food waste and composting these are two things that many of us can introduce into our daily lives with minimal barriers to entry. Bundchen and Brady point to the health of the soil as directly influencing the health of the plants we eat and our health as well. I promise not to sell your information, and if you don't like what I send, you can easily unsubscribe at any point. But tilling is incredibly intrusive to the soil structures, destroying the balance of microbial life which create organic matter and help the plants get the nutrients to grow. 1 Claims that holistic grazing can reverse climate change. 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. There is not enough money in the world to get me to move from Gods country, North Dakota! Ganretts white paper doesnt even mention soil microbiology. As the plants struggle to grow following the removal of organic material year on year, and in the absence of their supporting microbial populations, our farmers resort to chemical fertilisers. There are sites where this has been done, and what was desert is now lush grassland with grasses growing taller than people. We all know that science has its failings. So really, the idea of conservation and restoration, needed to be absolutely front and center ifKiss the Groundtruly wanted to educate the masses about how agriculture can help tackle climate change. Shop organic where you can. Directors Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Writers Johnny O'Hara Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Stars Tilling, the process of pulling up the soil to plant seeds, is destructive to the soil. For millions of years the world has self-healed and self-balanced. But the #1 US crop is GMO corn, sprayed with Glyphosate, which is now found in their drinking water and kills the microbes in our guts. You can make change and make a difference, even if you have struggled in the past to make change and feel like a failure. Even though we werent farmers, scientists or experts we knew that together, we could still make a difference! https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/potential-mitigation-of-midwest-grass-finished-beef-production-em, Machmuller, M. B., Kramer, M. G., Cyle, T. K., Hill, N., Hancock, D., & Thompson, A. It is a strategic use of fame and visibility, and the filmmakers and stars are clearly aware of the cultural impact of their appearances in the film. Heres the big picture: a wide-screen projection of the surface of the Earth. The French Minister for agriculture proposed a 4 in 1000 plan, to increase the organic content of our soils by 0.4% per year. 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. In short:- If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should Regenerative agriculture is an important part of the solution when it comes to climate change. Kiss the Ground is a nonprofit on a mission to awaken people to the possibilities of regeneration and inspire participation in this movement by educating and engaging through media, communications . Filmmakers Josh Tickell and Rebecca Tickell wound up spending seven years making their latest doc, "Kiss the Ground," and all along the way they worried that by the end of the process there . So cows can actually be used to reverse desertification. Hopefully, this movie will help open many more. Scientists and researchers in the documentary back them up. What do you hope viewers will take away from the movie? After all, its communities of color, low-income communities, and immigrant communities who do the majority of the essential work of growing food and yet are most exploited and harmed by the agroindustrial complex. And as we all know, this creates a slippery slope. I am very optimistic. The problem is, the lay viewer who is not across the science, and blinded by the message of hope, is likely to confuse the role of cows in holistic grazing with instruction that we should continue eating meat at current rates (as long as its grass-fed) and perhaps even double down on our meat consumption. Theres no sense in wasting a precious resource like attention by skirting the truth that transitioning to regenerative agriculture, or changing any entrenched industrial-economic system, is a lot of work. If you want to hear a bit more explanation of these, click here or scroll down. | Plant Based News Ltd, PO Box 71173, London, SE20 9DQ, United Kingdom. And Norborgs paper rehashed papers by Briske and Holechek that looked at short duration rotational grazing systems rather than holistically planned grazing systems [HPG] known in the peer reviewed scientific literature as adaptive multi-paddock or AMP managed grazing systems. Having gone from being a vegetable hating, stressed out and sick corporate mum who felt constant guilt for not feeding her family properly and not doing enough for the planet to a healthy, veggie loving and eco-minded mother with much less stress, she's been where you are and can definitely help you overcome your barriers! Its the misbalance of carbon that is the issue. Im Sarah, a Sustainable Nutrition and Behaviour Change Coach, and Im here to help if youre done with feeling guilty about doing too little to reduce your environmental impact and feed yourself healthy foods. 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. The solution is right under our feet THE SOIL. Ray: Initially, when I first met the Kiss the Ground group, I told them that I was really concerned about how they should approach the landowners. In many ways, this stands to do more harm than good. A major criticism is that there is a lack of science to back up claims. The sort of solution you might suspect is at the top of all climate scientists lists. So what we are talking about here is how to better use the land dedicated to animal agriculture (83 percent of all agricultural land) that is responsible for 80 percent of food-related greenhouse gas emissions yet provides only 18 percent of our total calories. For teachers, educators, schools, community organizers and home schoolersthanks to a generous grant from the Bia Echo Foundation and Triptyk, there is a free 45-minute-long Educational Version of the Kiss the Ground movie and also a free DVD with both the 85 minute long feature and the educational cut on one disk. All chemical soils are almost devoid of microorganisms, so the plant roots cannot get the nutrients they need. To start tiny or full-size victory gardens, turn their lawns into meadows, petition their city councils to zone land for community farms/gardens, or donate to conservation nonprofits or farmland trusts? The other 60% are the large sea-driven cycles. If you have found your way to this article, I can only assume that we have something in common: both of us want to see a better world where humans and all life on earth is thriving. Science can provide us with some valid assumptions, but it does not provide recipes. Two-thirds of the worlds land is currently desertifying leading to millions of climate refugees and further environmental destruction. Clearly this is something that needs our urgent attention and resolution! 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. This review revealed some all to common perceptions about holistic management, a decision making framework, which can be applied to grazing as well as other management situations. The fix is simple: Mimic nature, cover the soil andunderstand how soil is intended to function. After 14 years, it is lush farmland again. Watching attentively, a classroom full of farmers. Bare soils are at great risk of erosion by heavy rain, and its also been shown that bare soils vary in temperature much more, so the microclimate is changed. Tilling, the process of pulling up the soil to plant seeds, is destructive to the soil. In turn, this means shifting to more plant-based diets. Weaker soils need more chemicals. Modern agriculture was not designed for the betterment of the soil, instead for the short term maximisation of yield. Post war, these have been rebranded as farm chemicals. Ray: Not at the moment, but if Steven Spielberg calls, I WILL answer. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is . I graduated from Vanderbilt University with degrees in Political Science, Economics and Spanish, and I currently study law in Texas. Im Alexa, the Founder and Editor of Novel Hand. Until then, its going to be hard to truly transform our agricultural system to benefit all life on the planet. Required fields are marked *. 70% of US cropland grows only corn, soy and hay, and this is mainly to feed livestock (99%!). I asked Finian Makepeace, the co-founder of the Kiss the Ground organization, to tell me more about how he and the films producers and directors selected our trio of regenerative experts to appear in the movie. The solution is right under our feet - THE SOIL. His response: holistic management does not permit replication, and youll find the scientific method never discovers anything.. Where I think the documentary falls short is in three critical areas. Despite all of this, my fear is that many will be left with a complete misunderstanding of where environmental science truly lies. We need to act. Our mission is to awaken people to the possibilities of regeneration and inspire participation in this movement through media, communications, education, workshops, immersive programming, and advocacy. There is extraordinary potential in the layers beneath our feet our Earths soil. Tilling and chemical agricultural methods have disrupted this cycle and increased the rate of carbon release. Our modern farming methods are not concerned with soil longevity or quality and are significantly to blame for the destruction of the soils. The message gets across, but the film downplays a meaningful call to action. "Kiss the Ground" is based on the fact that modern industrial agriculture is devastating our planet. Until recently, however, the roles of soil and grazing animals have been missing pieces of the climate puzzle. Let me show you how , Get my FREE guide, and receive eco-friendly eating tips, recipes and motivation. Ground News is unable to assign a bias rating and does not have ratings available from Ad Fontes Media, All Sides, and Media Bias/Fact Check. There are no simple solutions to complex problems. Potential mitigation of midwest grass-finished beef production emissions with soil carbon sequestration in the United States of America. Yes, whats on our plate is even more important than where its come from or buying local. This is a review Im very familiar with having read through it front to back a handful of times. Minimising the amount of mechanical disturbance, with no tilling/ploughing. (Source: Maggie Eileen Lochtenberg, freelance artist and transformational witch. Im not saying the filmmakers should have gotten a token Black person, but they couldnt have gone wrong centering the voices of people for whom the stakes of not reversing climate change are much higher than their own. Kiss the Ground members are the grassroots stakeholders that stand with us in the regenerative movement. A revolutionary group of activists, scientists, farmers, and politicians band together in a global movement of "Regenerative Agriculture" that could balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. This carbon is then absorbed by plants, which use it in their cells and leak into the soils in the form of sugars. 2 Creation of a false dichotomy. There was mention of a regenerative diet but what does that mean? Ground News rates Kiss the Ground Film's media bias as unknown. 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., . That was good enough for me. Grow your own veg using your home compost! In other words, his claims cannot be supported by data, replicated by others and he doesnt believe in science. If we pull the pin on that, it means one thing and one thing only. Ryland co-founded Kiss the Ground in his living room with a friend ten years ago. I help with that too , Join my supportive community to move to eco-friendly eating and receive tips, advice, recipes and support. Heres below are just a handful of recent PEER REVIEWED papers supporting HPG. This is how the natural carbon cycle should work. The key points in Kiss the Ground. 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. This is a huge problem. This is because there is a legacy load of carbon in the atmosphere an amount of carbon dioxide that will persist for decades, if not centuries. Often, our best solutions arent actually that innovative; they simply mimic natural processes and what the Earth already does.
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