Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This is how the natural carbon cycle should work. There are over 200 peer reviewed papers that tie/correlate the increase of these chemicals with increases in ADD, child cancers and birth defects. Kiss the Ground - Understanding Ag Hi! Simple reducing emission does nothing to decrease the greenhouse gases that are already in our atmosphere. We need to act. kiss the ground fact checking - cnatrainingnyc.com Until then, its going to be hard to truly transform our agricultural system to benefit all life on the planet. 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. Livestock and Land Use: How Are We Feeding The Planet? Kiss the Ground has the perfect documentary mix of celebrity activists and wise elder scientists. 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 not too long, but youll learn a lot from it. My hubby is from Alberta, the beef province of Canada and he was telling me about how land intensive pasture raised animals are. berger 215 hybrid 300 win mag. 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. 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). Either way, shifting the typical diet in such a way is a certain win for humanity and all life on Earth, and thus something that not only should have been made clearer in Kiss the ground, but something that everyone reading should strongly consider. Look no further than Kiss the Ground, a newly-released Netflix documentary that explores the relationship between climate change and dirt. Many countries signed, including the UK, but not the US, China or India, the biggest agricultural and CO2 producers. 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. 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. 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. To move the conversation forward with the urgency this topic deserves, filmmakers have to use the emotion they elicit to generate willpower and give the public the conceptual framework they need to act, not just to feel. 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. (Source: Kiss the Ground). But what good is hope if its false? The NFL quarterback goes to bed earlier than any college student has ever dreamed of, and his diet is impeccably healthy. Something went wrong. Its not a bad thing per se. To rotate cows like bison, it means leaving land free from roaming animals for at least six-nine months a figure that Alan Savory states himself in the documentary. This is why science is so important. . Ive listed these below in short, and then we will go through each together looking at the claims made and where the science lies: (These have also been covered in detail with Environmental Researcher Nicholas Carter (co-author of this article) in episode 104 and 111 on thePlant Proof podcast). We started ploughing/tilling because it was easier for us to upscale. 1 Claims that holistic grazing can reverse climate change. Check out their simple yet profound Soil Story: Biodiverse cover crops to feed the soil biology and protect the soils. I would simply build on the work of Michael Pollan, a well-known science writer: Where possible eat regenerative food, not too much, mostly plants.. Kiss the Ground was created in 2013 from a meeting in Venice Beach. The evidence for this claim is research-based, clearly communicated, and visually supported with animations that illustrate submicroscopic events like carbon cycling and expansive drone shots for grand reveals, like the actual desert plateau that is turned back into rolling green farmland. This is a major oversimplification of our complex and varied farming system. I graduated from Vanderbilt University with degrees in Political Science, Economics and Spanish, and I currently study law in Texas. The rest of our topsoils are projected to be lost within 60 years. Narrated and featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground is an inspiring and groundbreaking film that reveals the first viable solution to our climate crisis.. ), Pollinator garden/market flowers at Copper Cricket Farm. 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. Sarah is a Nutrition and Behaviour Change Coach who focuses on helping people to eat in a way that's better for their health AND for the planet. This carbon is then absorbed by plants, which use it in their cells and leak into the soils in the form of sugars. Chemical fertilisers mask the problem of degraded soils by providing the basics for plant growth, but also exacerbate the soil microorganism damage. Also that we can fix this and the fix is quite simple. Consumers need to do their part by supporting pastured proteins. Kiss the Ground is a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit Given soil grows 95 per cent of our food, and sustains human life, this is a huge problem. Rising animal production and consumption, whatever the farming system and animal type, is causing damaging greenhouse gas release and contributing to changes in land use. 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. 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. There are a few clues within the documentary that speak to this but they are by no means overtly clear to the viewer. Starring: Woody Harrelson. (Though theyre still good ideas.). 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. The fix is simple: Mimic nature, cover the soil andunderstand how soil is intended to function. Juries have now even started to pay out to people who have developed cancer after using glyphosate!! Journal of Animal Science. 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. Let me show you how , Get my FREE guide, and receive eco-friendly eating tips, recipes and motivation. After all, this method of grazing, which Gabe Brown and Alan Savory speak about at length, is being positioned in the documentary as the solution we have all been waiting for to reverse climate change. In fact, it was the single most important thing that lead Savory to question the science regarding overgrazing. Everything in natural systems is a cycle and aimed at maintaining balance. Their mob grazing action and the impact of their hooves is important. 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. Other soil-based carbon capture solutions like composting are crucial to regenerative agriculture. For millions of years the world has self-healed and self-balanced. Ive been interested in and learning more about the importance of soil health for years. I am optimistic because the major issues we are currently facing economic stress, climate change, and food quality are all addressed by the same solution regenerating soil. Here are five things I learned from Kiss the Ground. In turn, this means shifting to more plant-based diets. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is . 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. The film begins by examining . They agreed and heres what they told me, How and why did you become involved the movie, Kiss the Ground?. 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. 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. Regenerative agriculture is an important part of the solution when it comes to climate change. If you want to hear a bit more explanation of these, click here or scroll down. A Facebook video shows aerial footage of what appears to be large fissures or cracks in the Earth . One can only presume that the slaughtering of the animal is not about soil quality, but about profits. 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. (Source: Kiss the Ground). 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. Our independent team of journalists 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. If filmmakers are serious about educating and calling people to action, they shouldn't couch their messages in gentle, sweeping language. 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. Francis Ge is News Fellow at Stone Pier Press and an aspiring first-generation regenerative farmer. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on our website. Ryland co-founded Kiss the Ground in his living room with a friend ten years ago. 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. There is one hyperlink in error. Instagram @maggie.eileen.art). There are sites where this has been done, and what was desert is now lush grassland with grasses growing taller than people. This is a review Im very familiar with having read through it front to back a handful of times. If not, heres what you can do to join the regenerative farming movement, or at least help make things better . So sadly neither does the author of this review. Carrie Richards is not giving up. Use this compost for your beds rather than buying in compost or fertilisers. 70% of US cropland grows only corn, soy and hay, and this is mainly to feed livestock (99%!). I also thoroughly enjoyed Pauls episode onRich Rolls podcastwhere he speaks at length about Project Drawdown. Where I think the documentary falls short is in three critical areas. Unfortunately, there are still very few about, especially in the UK. Share this article or talk about the importance of soils to your friends. Regenerative Agriculture, What is it? - Kiss the Ground Its especially interesting to me as I am working towards a biology degree and hope to become a soil scientist. He's a lover of people and of life. Nature Communications, 6, 6995. doi:10.1038/ncomms7995 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms7995, Wang, T., Teague, W., Park, S., & Bevers, S. (2015). by Sarah Read | May 18, 2022 | Eat, Eco-friendly eating, Sustainable living tips and advice, Think, Kiss the Ground is another in the line of eco-documentaries that Netflix is putting out there (albeit one of the first and most famous). Xu, S. (2016). And as we all know, this creates a slippery slope. Every year 40m people are displaced as their farmlands become desert. 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. However, there is a slight problem with the way they presented the information from the Drawdown report. Using livestock is thought to make this process 7 times faster! are needed to help heal the earth. Any plans to hire an agent or move to L.A? It would be great to see what was meant to be there! Required fields are marked *. The filmmakers additionally say "Kiss the Ground" has earned the attention of scientists, farmers and activists alike, crossing boundaries in terms of a highly politicized issue and even being . 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. Although I would have liked more with real life farmers and ranchers, it is hard to put together a documentary that will appeal across the spectrum from rural to urban communities, young and old, and everyday people to activists. The farmers are now starving or have moved on as the soils wont grow anything anymore, they have become dirt. 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. Their technical expertise should be enough to convince us that their message is not only correct but worth listening to. . Copyright 2021 Understanding Ag, LLC | Website by RVT Solutions. The review is plain evidence that we see what we believe and the reviewers beliefs greatly clouded their vision. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. Farmers, scientists, cows, and celebrities work together in this documentary to spread the good word about regenerative agriculture and its potential to mitigate climate change. About Kiss The Ground - Kiss the Ground Byck, P. (2016). 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. 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! Regenerative farming restores soils; storing carbon and reducing the need for chemical help to improve yields by harnessing natural processes. Its sad, really, seeing gray, dead soil devoid of life. There is extraordinary potential in the layers beneath our feet our Earths soil. The animal point here is controversial I know. 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. Kiss the Groundgave the microphone to Ranchers Alan Savory and Gabe Brown, but we didnt hear about any legitimate science testing out whether the claims they were making truly hold up? These cookies do not store any personal information. 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. There are three main points I want to make about holistic grazing that are important for you to understand. How 'Kiss the Ground' Directors Avoided Making Soil - TheWrap 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. . Get exclusive content in your inbox each Monday. 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. 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. 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? 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. 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. It does include grazing planning and management, but also many other things. Kiss the Ground. 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. Your email address will not be published. Theres nothing Netflix and chillabout that. 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. The movie stars Woody Harrelson, David Arquette, Gisele Bundchen, Jason Mraz (and others) and three newly minted stars you may know personally: Understanding Ags Ray Archuleta, Gabe Brown and Kris Nichols, Ph.D. Those of us who have been in the regenerative ag arena for some time, already know these three as soil health super-stars, but now a wider, world-wide audience will benefit from their experience, insight and wisdom, too. BookstoreBook submissionsNewsNewsletter signupRecipesGardening, Our storyGet involvedJobs/FellowshipPartnersContact usPrivacy Shipping & return policy. However, after spending time with the Kiss the Ground team particularly in Paris, I understood howpassionate the filmmakers are about the soil solution. 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. and experts are committed to making an impact through a wide range of contentand One of the first characters introduced in Kiss the Ground is Ray Archuleta, a conservation agronomist. reduce the burden of chronic disease in our communities, https://lachefnet.wordpress.com/2018/03/25/its-the-soil-biology-stupid/, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2018.02.003, http://www.jswconline.org/content/71/2/156.abstract, https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/potential-mitigation-of-midwest-grass-finished-beef-production-em, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2011.03.009, https://blog.whiteoakpastures.com/hubfs/WOP-LCA-Quantis-2019.pdf. star wars fanfiction terran alliance; when a girl says i'll keep that in mind; hillsborough disaster who was to blame; how to get into stanford with a low gpa The bonus being that plant-rich dietary patterns just so happen to also be whatmajor health institutionsand progressive Government departments likeHealth Canadaare advocating for to tackle rising rates of obesity and chronic disease, and improve quality of life. kiss the ground fact checking - alfarisqatar.com 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. 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. Healthy soils can store more carbon than all the trees combined! Were trapped on a planet to which we've already done irreparable damage. They thought I had lost my mind, but through hard work and perseverance weve been able to open many eyes through the years. Kris:The time and effort that the team put into the interviews and edits as well as probably debating and refining the perspective the film takes should be commended. 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. This is bio sequestration using plants to capture and store carbon. With that said, any time a new study, book, documentary, or other media publication is published, I read or watch with great interest. In fact, the documentary claims that greenhouse gases are sequestered (stored/drawn down) in grazing herds, due to the generation of healthy soils, but released in feed lots where the animals are not a part of the natural cycle. If he is the only one that can achieve the carbon sequestration that he claims, I fail to see how thats a hopeful solution. In the 1930s the Dust Bowl was created. If we choose healthy foods, there is a reciprocation. I thought it was odd that this was left out. Thank you for this article! I doubt this will require an agent or a move haha! Eat quality (organic, pasture raised meat, or, even better, that from regenerative farms) meat as a treat not a staple. San Francisco have an amazing system, and are the most sustainable city in the US! 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. 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. 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. Regenerated healthy soil greatly increases the carrying capacity of land, so the amount of land needed for regen grazing isnt an issue. A major strategy deployed in the documentary is offering two distinct choices for where consumers should source their food: conventional chemical-filled monocrops, or lush open fields of regenerative agriculture. But efforts have been made to restore the soils since 1994. All of us make critical decisions every day as we manage our lives and we dont consult the literature when making those decisions. Potential mitigation of midwest grass-finished beef production emissions with soil carbon sequestration in the United States of America. 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? There was mention of a regenerative diet but what does that mean? Holistic management is a decision making framework which has been developed over the years to deal with complex situations. One thing with ruminant livestock is that when they are use as solar powered mobile composters in brittle environments, their manure, urine and saliva act as inoculates that increase soil microbiology. The solution is right under our feet - THE SOIL. Ryland Engelhart is a philanthropist. My hope is that this film will give consumers, farmers, and ranchers all of us the hope, courage and knowledge to choose biologically-based practices and tools to regenerate soil. Just consider the thousands of peer reviewed papers advocating this diet or that diet and the people in the US are still among the most malnourished in the developed world. 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. There are no simple solutions to complex problems. Kiss the Ground (2020) - IMDb If youve tried and failed before youre definitely in the right place change is hard, but doable with the right process and support! Sure, its easy to see with our own eyes that there is more life on land that is managed in a regenerative way, but in order to really know that it is a climate solution, we would need evidence that carbon levels in the soil are not only increasing but increasing by more than the emissions emitted by the animals involved in the system. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. You can see all of thisherefor yourself. 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.
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