They love their land and lifestyle, they are just trying to survive, while being poisoned themselves by the chemicals they must use to keep their fields producing. "All farmable soil could be gone in 60 years. I graduated from Vanderbilt University with degrees in Political Science, Economics and Spanish, and I currently study law in Texas. (PLEASE VOTE November 3rd or earlier!! 1 Claims that holistic grazing can reverse climate change. Regenerative agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity - resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. Look no further than Kiss the Ground, a newly-released Netflix documentary that explores the relationship between climate change and dirt. Because whereKiss the Groundlacks in science, it makes up in celebrity power with the likes of Woody Harrelson, Jason Mraz, Ian Somerhalder, Gisele Bndchen, and Tom Brady all featured. Kiss the Ground. You can reach me at novelhandco@gmail.com or connect with me on LinkedIn. Heres the big picture: a wide-screen projection of the surface of the Earth. Whats glaringly clear from Hawkens report is that when it comes to our food and greenhouse gas emissions, thetwo areas we can make the biggest impactare reducing food waste (number one solution)and moving to a plant-rich diet (number three solution). I wanted the filmmakers to first understandto let the soil speak and to let nature teach us. We are made of carbon (16%) and its the element that life is based upon! But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. With no plants to transpire and create the water vapour which condenses to rain, local rainfall also fails, turning the area to desert. Id be willing to donate it to them. Check out this map for farms local to you Regenerative Farm Map Regeneration International. These carbon rich sugars are used by microorganisms in the soil and (in return for providing minerals and other soil nutrients to the plant roots) secrete a carbon rich glue to hold effectively build their mini environments under the surface. Essentially, Hawken and his team have created a long list of approximately 100 solutions, which when implemented together, would be capable of drawing down more carbon than we are emitting by 2050. Her main aim is to help people to start making some small (but significant) changes to the way they eat so they can enjoy all the benefits, like more energy, less sickness, reduced risks of future disease and less guilt - because we all need less stress and guilt in our lives! 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. This is actually seen using satellites which monitor the CO2 levels. 'Kiss the Ground' review: The soil may save us, but it's not that . Did you have any reservations about appearing in it? Shop organic where you can. Work your way down the list until you find the things that youre willing to do. The movie is preaching to the choir here, which I think is why I found it disappointing that the filmmakers felt the need to wrap perfectly good explanations of the mechanisms of carbon sequestration and climate change in more evocative but nebulous language like "heal the planet" or "save the soil. The evidence in favor of regenerative agriculture is irrefutable. This is a review Im very familiar with having read through it front to back a handful of times. My greatest hope is for me to continue to do this and any chances I have to do so, I will take. Healthy soils can store more carbon than all the trees combined! Overlaying it, a swirling heat map of global atmospheric carbon, changing from dark red to cool blue over the course of a year. forests are typically far better at doing this than grasslands, when you factor in the land that would be freed up if the entire world shifted to a plant-rich diet, there are many types of regenerative agriculture that do not involve animals, available grasslands would only be able to produce 27 percent of the countries current beef supply. Given soil grows 95 per cent of our food, and sustains human life, this is a huge problem. Watch the film trailer here and the full movie on Netflix. No big deal. Skip on down to the final thoughts if you dont have time to get more into the facts! 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. Tilling loosens the soil, disturbing microorganisms that live within it, drying it out so. A Case Study in a Cambodian Orphanage. Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems. But I also experienced the same misleadingparadigms from the conservative groups like Farm Bureau and other commodities groups. Anyway, I can go on and on doing a review of the shortcoming of this review, but the author is obviously more interested in justifying the supposed superiority of his food religion than he is in actual peer reviewed range, soil or atmospheric science by people who actually understand agricultural systems. Your email address will not be published. Kris: Im always excited by the opportunities to discuss Regenerative Agriculture. There are many things you can do, all varying in difficulty. you can help by supporting our work today. Suggestions for viewers to compost and eat a plant-based diet come off as both insignificant and off the mark after the grand scheme of carbon cycling via production agriculture the whole film had been setting up. Do you or your families and friends have a special watch party planned when it streams onNetflix? Garnetts FCRN self published paper basically just repeated Norborgs paper verbatim. 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. Livestock and Land Use: How Are We Feeding The Planet? Farmers need to make profits but we need to be transparent here and lay down all solutions on the table to have an open discussion. IMPRESS, 16-18 New Brige Street, London, EC4V 6AG. Scientists and researchers in the documentary back them up. Use your local food waste recycling system, and if they dont have one, write to your local council to ask for a food waste collection system. Nature strives for balance, and has a system for reversing the carbon released into the atmosphere using the growth of plants and their relationship with soil microbes. Two-thirds of the worlds land is currently desertifying leading to millions of climate refugees and further environmental destruction. A Facebook video shows aerial footage of what appears to be large fissures or cracks in the Earth . Narrated and featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground is an inspiring and groundbreaking film that reveals the first viable solution to our climate crisis.. The animal point here is controversial I know. Post war, these have been rebranded as farm chemicals. There is one hyperlink in error. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. The first clue is when the documentary makes mention of the natural history of Bison roaming the United States. kisstheground. Their mob grazing action and the impact of their hooves is important. While Morgan Freemans voice might have been a better match for shots of billowing fields of grain, perhaps Harrelsons raspy tone is an appropriate fit for the seriousness of the climate crisis. Ground News rates Kiss the Ground Film's media bias as unknown. The rest is projected to be lost within 60 years. Get exclusive content in your inbox each Monday. The filmmakers were able to discuss organic and regenerative agriculture, livestock production and veganism, and climate change in a manner that made no individuals or groups either heroes or villains but rather made the soil the hero which is the appropriate focus in my opinion. Gabe: HaHa! In the past, I did not like how certain environmental groups portrayed farmers. Even though we werent farmers, scientists or experts we knew that together, we could still make a difference! Im sure we can all agree that factory farming is a blight on humanity, and there is far too much mono-cropping, but assuming that its either this intensive form of animal agriculture or holistic grazing, is not accurate. By 70% of US cropland grows only corn, soy and hay, and this is mainly to feed livestock (99%!). Instagram @maggie.eileen.art). Unfortunately not as much as I had hoped. A Feb. 27, 2023, video of U.S. President Joe Biden purportedly shows him announcing a new national draft, in which 20-year-olds would be conscripted into military service on account of a growing . Ray: I met the Kiss the Ground group in 2015. Ray: Not at the moment, but if Steven Spielberg calls, I WILL answer. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on our website. If we want to lower our environmental footprint the single most important thing we can do iseat more plants. The movie funders wanted to make this movie all about organic farming, but Gabe and I worked on him and showed him that organic farming can be as destructive as conventional farmingand to his credit, Josh learned what regenerative farming was all about. Kiss the Ground has been active in this space for a while and is a California-based 501(c)(3) environmental non-profit telling a new story about our ability to regenerate land and reverse climate change by building back healthy soil. I do feel bad for the farmers trapped in the cycle though. Forages and Pastures Symposium: Cover Crops in Livestock Production: Whole-System Approach: Managing Grazing to Restore Soil Health And farm livelihoods. There was also no mention of tropical forest restoration which has significantly greater potential at pulling carbon out of the atmosphere compared to grazing cows on land no matter what practice is employed. 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. As prices go up, pending one spends the same budget they had previously set aside for meat, their consumption naturally falls. Thank you for the review. The basic premise of Kiss the Ground is that the destruction of soil is contributing to the severity and intensity of climate change. We have now decoupled these so farmers are either crop or livestock, and each are done on an intensive scale, with no natural cycles in place. Its the misbalance of carbon that is the issue. Until recently, however, the roles of soil and grazing animals have been missing pieces of the climate puzzle. (2015). Which would net off the existing emissions we make, at least stabilising things. Hopefully, this movie will help open many more. kiss the ground fact checking A major criticism is that there is a lack of science to back up claims. what happens if you get a violation on interlock. As Ian Somerhalder says in the documentary, Cows can be good. While many blame cows for carbon emissions, and rightfully so, they can actually be a part of the solution. Tying the message of Kiss the Ground to voting for policymakers who will systemically change the way the country incentivizes regenerative agriculture and reversing climate change would have been an obvious and easy leap to make. At Novel Hand, Im specifically interested in learning about topics related to justice and poverty, and how to create equitable, sustainable impact. (Source: Maggie Eileen Lochtenberg, freelance artist and transformational witch. Another issue with our modern methods is that we plough to remove existing plants, and then plant, or even leave the field bare over winter. 'Kiss the Ground' Review: Regenerating Hope for the Climate Gabe: I agreed to become involved because when Josh explained to me that the purpose of the documentary was to highlight how farming organically could improve our planet, I knew I needed to help bring his understanding of soil health and ecosystem function to a higher level. Ray: Hope. We are healthier, as is the earth. You can see all of thisherefor yourself. I enjoyed Woody Harrelson as a narrator; he felt genuine. The French Minister for agriculture proposed a 4 in 1000 plan, to increase the organic content of our soils by 0.4% per year. What do you hope will be an outcome from the movie? If you want to hear a bit more explanation of these, click here or scroll down. Farm work is unglamorous, underappreciated, and not very well-paid for the most part, but it just so happens to be crucial to the survival of our species. Sounds pretty ambitious to champion this form of animal agriculture as a climate solution without strong empirical evidence? Or this breakdown of the many myths he perpetuates inThe International Journal ofBiodiversity. While I was attending the COP21 conference in Paris in 2015, I was again contacted by Josh Tickell and participated in a follow-up interview regarding the 4per1000 Initiative. can scoop up and heroically rescue. 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. They are both such impactful leaders in this movement because they are called to bring these concepts to farmers and ranchers everywhere. Please check your entries and try again. From rehabilitating entire ecosystems to growing home victory gardens, there are plenty of ways to get involved in regenerative agriculture. Kris Nichols is such a key person in this film because her discoveries have allowed for this movement to be built on cutting edge science that changes how we think about soil and landscape function., Since its not every day I get a chance to interview real-live movie stars, I shamelessly asked Gabe, Kris and Ray if they would answer some of my Inside Hollywood questions about their movie-making experiences and what impact they believe the new movie may have on the regenerative ag movement moving forward. 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. There is a large focus on America, but the issues here in the UK (and the rest of the world) are similar, so it is applicable to all. 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., . Mitos y realidades sobre las algas | Mitos y realidades sobre las algas Where I think the documentary falls short is in three critical areas. 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. HaHa! Holistic management is a decision making framework which has been developed over the years to deal with complex situations. 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. Every year 40m people are displaced as their farmlands become desert. 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? Makes sense why the documentary didnt go there! After looking at all of the available evidence on holistic grazing, and claims made by the likes of Savory, the report concludes that grass-fed livestock are not a climate solution. Kiss the Ground (2020) - IMDb 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. Rumi. kiss the ground fact checking Modern agriculture was not designed for the betterment of the soil, instead for the short term maximisation of yield. 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. 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. I thought it was odd that this was left out. Kiss the Ground - Understanding Ag Tilling and chemical agricultural methods have disrupted this cycle and increased the rate of carbon release. Parents need to know that Kiss the Ground is a 2020 documentary that addresses our current soil erosion crisis throughout the planet and the benefits of practicing "regenerative agriculture." Narrated by Woody Harrelson, the documentary features extensive interviews with farmers, scientists, activists, celebrities, and regular people as they help to create awareness of regenerative . Kris: There has never been a time when the potential to fundamentally change global agriculture, food quality, and economic viability for small and large farmers by regenerating the soil to restore and revitalize ecosystem services is as great is it is now. The next thing I want to address, and perhaps the most important take-home message here, is the science underpinning holistic grazing is flaky at best. Links to some of the recent research supporting HM, Teague, W. R. (2018). Five takeaways from new Kiss the Ground documentary - Novel Hand Suppose you don't have enough time to read, then watch the KISS the GROUND MOVIE (streaming on Netflix) hosted by Woody Harrelson and directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell. Kiss the Ground features successful composting programs in San Francisco, Detroit, and Haiti. 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. Our current farming methods are simply not sustainable. Required fields are marked *. The elephant in the room during the documentary is that they completely failed to mention that a significant amount of the land dedicated to animal agriculture across the world (not all but certainly a lot) needs to be restored to forests (the number one driver of deforestation is animal agriculture) to get anywhere close to meeting our climate goals. 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. Thank you for this article! There is too much in the air now and too little in the earth (released by tilling and soil degradation and burning fossil fuels and plants/trees) causing global temperatures to rise. This carbon is then absorbed by plants, which use it in their cells and leak into the soils in the form of sugars. Sustainability, 7(10), 13500. http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/10/13500, Teague, W. R., Dowhower, S. L., Baker, S. A., Haile, N., DeLaune, P. B., & Conover, D. M. (2011). Farming like nature has also been shown to reduce inputs (costs) and improve yields. We can all make some simple changes for massive benefits to our health and footprint. care as a social process). For millions of years the world has self-healed and self-balanced. There are a few clues within the documentary that speak to this but they are by no means overtly clear to the viewer. . If we can only get everyone on board! Anecdote and expert opinion or theories are at the bottom of the evidence hierarchy, and its not until we see the findings from higher levels of science, reproduced on scale, that we can begin to have confidence in what we are observing. kiss the ground fact checking - xarxacatala.cat If you cant get them into a council waste system, there are a variety of small compost bins you can put in your garden at home. 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. Kiss the Ground Film | Official Website These are more expensive, so if you can only afford to go organic with some, choose the Dirty dozen so that you get the health benefits of avoiding all the chemicals too The Dirty Dozen organic.org. Bare ground is hotter in the day, and cooler at night; threatening the microorganism populations within, and increases water evaporation, as the ground temperatures rise, the soils become dryer, again, impairing the ecosystem the microorganisms exist within. Also that we can fix this and the fix is quite simple. All chemical soils are almost devoid of microorganisms, so the plant roots cannot get the nutrients they need. berger 215 hybrid 300 win mag. Regenerated healthy soil greatly increases the carrying capacity of land, so the amount of land needed for regen grazing isnt an issue. Fact check: Crack formation video predates Turkey earthquake Factory farms are good at one thing producing a lot of meat in a short period of time to feed a growing appetite for meat. A degenerative system that decimates life in our soil, releases immense amounts of greenhouse gas emissions into our atmosphere, pollutes our waterways, and disrupts the biodiversity and biology on our land and in our oceans. 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. Kiss the Ground is a full-length documentary narrated by Woody Harrelson that sheds light on an "new, old approach" to farming called " regenerative agriculture " that has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our vast water supplies, and feed the world. This means that compared to factory farms, or traditional grazing where cows are overgrazing and destroying the soil, a regenerative farm using holistic grazing would require a lot more land for any given number of roaming cows. 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. Integrating animals grazing the cover crops for their manure and the beneficial effects of their hooves. Farmers need to learn how to regenerate and take care of the soil. Check out their simple yet profound Soil Story: Given soil grows 95 per cent of our food, and sustains human life, this is a huge problem. Cited as the worst man made environmental disaster in history, by the end of 1934 about 200 million acres of croplands had been permanently damaged. Using livestock is thought to make this process 7 times faster! Soil is the solution and we have numerous options and opportunities to actualize this solution as consumers, farmers, ranchers, and environmentalists by focusing on the integration of biological processes. Focussing on this review was a clever move by Kiss the Ground Paul Hawken and the Project Drawdown are incredibly well respected. Regenerative agriculture is an important part of the solution when it comes to climate change. Ill start with the hardest and get easier. Kiss the Ground review and summary | EAT THINK EXPLORE Kiss the Ground gave the microphone to Ranchers Alan Savory and Gabe Brown, but we didn't hear about any legitimate science testing out whether the claims they were making truly hold up? Our farming systems have moved too far out of alignment with mother nature. So its incredibly facile. Eco-friendly eating - better for your health and the planet :). Firstly, just so we are clear, the majority of the worlds mono-crops are fed to livestock. (Source: Kiss the Ground). and experts are committed to making an impact through a wide range of contentand Im not suggesting we should only be changing our diet but given it has greater potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions you would think it would have been given more emphasis than putting cows on pasture. Yes, whats on our plate is even more important than where its come from or buying local. Did you know that we can save the world with soil? Xu, S. (2016). But efforts have been made to restore the soils since 1994. In COP21 in Paris, 2015. Enteric methane is broken down in a short period of time, and microbial methane is the same carbon cycling and recycling over and over. This idea reminded me of what I learned from Cradle to Cradle. (Though theyre still good ideas.). Your email address will not be published. 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? Ray: That a large audience will come away with a basic awareness about the transformative power of our living and life-giving soil. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. Whats very interesting is the ability of grazing animals to regenerate grasslands from desert, and reduce desertification. I help with that too , Join my supportive community to move to eco-friendly eating and receive tips, advice, recipes and support. . The role of ruminants in reducing agricultures carbon footprint in North America. 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. Ultimately, if high consuming individuals and countries want to do something positive for the climate, maintaining their current consumption levels but simply switching to grass-fed beef is not a solution. I dont know a single holistic management practitioner that advocates eating more beef. 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. If the U.S shifted away from intensive livestock farming to traditional grazing, its been calculated that theavailable grasslands would only be able to produce 27 percent of the countries current beef supply. He did several versions of this movie. Celebrity activists, including Ian Somerhalder and Patricia Arquette, drop by to promote a suite of carbon-capture climate change solutions theyre personally involved in, from diversified permaculture to compost toilets. Journal of Animal Science. 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. Juries have now even started to pay out to people who have developed cancer after using glyphosate!! Despite all of this, my fear is that many will be left with a complete misunderstanding of where environmental science truly lies. I am very optimistic. This will not only better their own wellbeing because they will be consuming foods higher in nutrient density, but they will also support those who are making a positive impact on the environment. Future of Food: Journal on Food, Agriculture & Society, 4(3), 8. If youve seen The People vs. Larry Flynt in all of its obscenity, like I did in Constitutional Law last semester, youll be a little surprised to hear the voice of actor Woody Harrelson narrating a documentary about social and environmental issues. Chemical fertilisers mask the problem of degraded soils by providing the basics for plant growth, but also exacerbate the soil microorganism damage. A plant-rich dietary pattern that places emphasis on regeneration but really could be chopped in a number of ways to suit the individual Mediterranean, paleo, pescatarian, vegetarian, vegan, etc can all be done in a plant-predominant manner.
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