That sounds catastrophic. Savorys claims dont stand up when you put them under the microscope. Accessibility StatementPrivacy Policy & Terms of Service, 2022 Kiss the Ground So ifKiss the Groundhad taken a more evidence-based approach and included dietary recommendations what would it have looked like? 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). 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 . The worlds top soils grow over 95% of the foods that feed the world. Early farming was small scale, so diversity was ensured, and combined the animals with plants, so the manures could be used as fertiliser, and crops grown on the land could feed the livestock. 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. Gabe: I was assured by Josh that the information I presented would not be taken out of context and he agreed to run edits by me first. Directors Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Writers Johnny O'Hara Joshua Tickell Rebecca Harrell Tickell Stars Farmers need to learn how to regenerate and take care of the soil. 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. For a climate change documentary its actually vey upbeat, because this is the way we can not only slow, but reverse global warming, sucking CO2 out of the air to stabilise our climate again. These animals then emit greenhouse gases. Ray: As they say, He who has the gold makes the rules, so there was a lot of pressure to have Josh, the director, slant this movie towards veganism, messaging cows are bad, eat less meat, carbon footprint, and organic farming will save the world, kind of stuff. Theres also a lot of new recent PEER REVIEWED soil science that demonstrates this. However, this was taken from a United Nations speech, which leading soil scientists say isabsolutely not supported by science. 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. No spam, we promise just our best articles. Gabe: No, but only because I am on to the next project, bringing society together in supporting regenerative ag. 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. For a great deal of land, there are other, more evidence-based ways to sequester carbon. In COP21 in Paris, 2015. Try: Compost Toilets in Africa: Human Feces as Fertilizer | Thrive4Good (thriveforgood.org) or GiveLove. In the past, I did not like how certain environmental groups portrayed farmers. Did you have any reservations about appearing in it? Modern agriculture was not designed for the betterment of the soil, instead for the short term maximisation of yield. 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). 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. A Facebook video shows aerial footage of what appears to be large fissures or cracks in the Earth . If filmmakers are serious about educating and calling people to action, they shouldn't couch their messages in gentle, sweeping language. And lets not forget, this is the same man who ordered40,000 African elephants to slaughterbecause he incorrectly thought they were damaging the land. Yes, whats on our plate is even more important than where its come from or buying local. We knew the film would really embody the spirit of the regenerative agriculture movement if Ray and Gabe were in it., And from the first days that Kiss the Ground the organization started, the work and research of Kris Nichols were fundamental to grasping why rebuilding soil was not only possible but the biggest solution to the climate, water, and food crises. I started trying to teach about soil health with my little plastic jars and myco-workers at the tech center would often laugh and make fun of me. Local water cycles produce 40% of our rainfall. In fact, it was the single most important thing that lead Savory to question the science regarding overgrazing. By 2050, it is estimated that 1bn people will be refugees of soil desertification. Share this article or talk about the importance of soils to your friends. Hi! 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. 1 Claims that holistic grazing can reverse climate change. Your email address will not be published. If youve tried and failed before youre definitely in the right place change is hard, but doable with the right process and support! In other words, a 73 percent reduction in beef available per person in the U.S. For holistic grazing, that figure would be even higher because it requires far more land per cow and thus produces significantly less beef than the traditional more intensive grazing systems. Thanks for a well-referenced and easily readable article this seems like a great resource to send to people. 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. Their mob grazing action and the impact of their hooves is important. No big deal. 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. Impactfull April 2022, What Does Voluntourism Look Like? Skip on down to the final thoughts if you dont have time to get more into the facts! He did several versions of this movie. For millions of years the world has self-healed and self-balanced. Gabe: Yes, I am very optimistic about our future if regenerative practices are widely adopted. Did you know that we can save the world with soil? I doubt this will require an agent or a move haha! The basic premise of Kiss the Ground is that the destruction of soil is contributing to the severity and intensity of climate change. With that said, any time a new study, book, documentary, or other media publication is published, I read or watch with great interest. 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. . Less meat to go around and significantly higher prices per unit. 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! The other 60% are the large sea-driven cycles. There are a few clues within the documentary that speak to this but they are by no means overtly clear to the viewer. 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. Support regenerative farming movements like Regeneration International Donate Regeneration International | Organic Consumers (netdonor.net) and Kiss the Ground Kiss the Ground (ktgcommunity.com) which are spreading the word. Unfortunately not as much as I had hoped. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. Our mission stands strong: to awaken people to the possibilities of regeneration and inspire participation in the regenerative movement. Although, when I watched it for the third time, it became obvious that the biology 101 lessons from Ray were cleverly used to dance around the fact there is no solid science to back up Savory and Browns claims. This movie has given soil a voice to say, I am not dirt! There are three main points I want to make about holistic grazing that are important for you to understand. Check out Kiss the Ground website, where you will find other ways to be involved and even learn how to Become a Soil Advocate! 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. We all know that science has its failings. 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. 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. Farming like nature has also been shown to reduce inputs (costs) and improve yields. Our independent team of journalists Its especially interesting to me as I am working towards a biology degree and hope to become a soil scientist. Why? Ground News rates Kiss the Ground Film's media bias as unknown. When those are plants that we eat, healthy soil is crucial. 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. The role of ruminants in reducing agricultures carbon footprint in North America. I just heard of the movie and wanted to find out a little more about it until I get time to watch it. 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.