kiss the ground fact checking

Gabe: An increased awareness as to how and why all society should come together to work on the 80% of the things we can agree on such as loss of biodiversity, water quality and quantity issues, poor farm profitability, the decline of rural America, climate change and human health. 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. Kiss the Ground features successful composting programs in San Francisco, Detroit, and Haiti. are needed to help heal the earth. 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. One of my favorite elements of the documentary is the perspective that Earth has always been managing and sequestering carbon we just need to mimic that. 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. Watch the film trailer here and the full movie on Netflix. Before we get into a few major claims made inKiss the Groundthat are directly at odds with scientific knowledge, I want to preface this entry by saying that I wholeheartedly supportregenerative agricultureas a goal and think the documentary did a great job bringing light to the detrimental impact that intensive animal agriculture is having on our 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? Ray Archuleta, previously a conservation agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the co-founder of the Soil Health Academy, stands at the front talking to the farmers, and to us. Ray: That a large audience will come away with a basic awareness about the transformative power of our living and life-giving soil. By practicing regenerative agriculture, a no-till, chemical-free system designed to bolster and protect soil health, we can grow healthier plants, sequester more carbon, and ultimately reverse climate change., Narrator Woody Harrelson calls regenerative agriculture a simple solutiona way to heal our planet and asks viewers to save our soil in hopes the soil might just save us., The short version: Growing food with regenerative agriculture leads to healthier soil, better food, cleaner skies, and clearer water. 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. How 'Kiss the Ground' Directors Avoided Making Soil - TheWrap I enjoyed Woody Harrelson as a narrator; he felt genuine. Required fields are marked *. Even though we werent farmers, scientists or experts we knew that together, we could still make a difference! Accessibility StatementPrivacy Policy & Terms of Service, 2022 Kiss the Ground Take the Inflammation quiz - what's your level? 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! Fact check: Crack formation video predates Turkey earthquake Mitos y realidades sobre las algas | Mitos y realidades sobre las algas 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). Doing just one will make a difference!! This is a huge problem. The review is plain evidence that we see what we believe and the reviewers beliefs greatly clouded their vision. He did several versions of this movie. Ive been interested in and learning more about the importance of soil health for years. 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. Many would argue soil degradation is the most critical environmental threat to humans. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. The rest of our topsoils are projected to be lost within 60 years. What do you hope will be an outcome from the movie? Regenerative agriculture combines 4 practices. 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. 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. Unfortunately not as much as I had hoped. Kris: Yes. 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). These cookies do not store any personal information. 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. 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. 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. 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. Ryland Engelhart is a philanthropist. The film begins by examining . Its the same reason we dont call doctors healers anymoretheir body of knowledge has been formalized, their work recognized and legitimized as a profession, and their value become obvious. Links to some of the recent research supporting HM, Teague, W. R. (2018). Thanks for a well-referenced and easily readable article this seems like a great resource to send to people. kisstheground. But its the reality we face. 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. We need to spread the word to drive this important movement forwards! 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. My greatest hope is for me to continue to do this and any chances I have to do so, I will take. Watch the Film OUR COMMUNITY Commercial meat farming has one of the highest negative impacts. Personally, I think its a must watch for people to truly understand the situation we are in with the soils, why its important to save our soils, and how we can help. 3 Unclear about how the proposed solutions would affect our diets. From rehabilitating entire ecosystems to growing home victory gardens, there are plenty of ways to get involved in regenerative agriculture. So its incredibly facile. What do you hope viewers will take away from the movie? Ill start with the hardest and get easier. Farming like nature has also been shown to reduce inputs (costs) and improve yields. Healthy soils can store more carbon than all the trees and plants combined, so is more important than saving the rainforests or the ocean phytoplankton in reversing climate change! 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. Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world's soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth's climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. One of the . 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. 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. 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. Kiss the Ground - Jefferson Center Ray: Hope. . So why did a documentary about regenerative agriculture and the power of growing plants not encourage people to grow their own food? Heres below are just a handful of recent PEER REVIEWED papers supporting HPG. Every version got better, and the last version was the best one. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. 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. 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. Shop organic where you can. 2 Creation of a false dichotomy. 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. Juries have now even started to pay out to people who have developed cancer after using glyphosate!! If we restore all the degraded land, we can return the earth to paradise, making room for biodiversity and feeding the worlds population (with lowered animal protein consumption). This is the central statement of Kiss the Ground, an eco-educational Netflix documentary directed and produced by Josh and Rebecca Tickell. We can all make some simple changes for massive benefits to our health and footprint. Simple reducing emission does nothing to decrease the greenhouse gases that are already in our atmosphere. "Kiss the Ground" has a bevy of information to impart, however, and its plucky resistance to politicizing any of it while also acknowledging that so much of this is indeed at the mercy of. And as the documentary states, shifting us from climate warming to climate cooling. The movie has an optimistic tone, do you share that optimism? 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. 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. (2015). Nicholas Carter and Simon Hill (MSc Nutr). 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. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. They agreed and heres what they told me, How and why did you become involved the movie, Kiss the Ground?. Narrated and featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground is an inspiring and groundbreaking film that reveals the first viable solution to our climate crisis.. Lots of problems with Poores paper as well which didnt account for soil carbon or regenerative systems in any of its meta-analysis of averaged LCAs. Heres the big picture: a wide-screen projection of the surface of the Earth. 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! Its genuinely remarkable post, I have got much clear idea regarding from this post. In short:- If you act with maturity and consideration for other users, you should 'Kiss the Ground' Review: Regenerating Hope for the Climate 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. Modern agriculture was not designed for the betterment of the soil, instead for the short term maximisation of yield. Regenerative agriculture is a more resilient system based on principles of soil health and biodiversity that integrates multiple crops, cover crops, and livestock animals. But 99 percent of those crops go to feeding livestock. This is how the natural carbon cycle should work. Enterprise, AL 36330. You can reach me at novelhandco@gmail.com or connect with me on LinkedIn. what happens if you get a violation on interlock. They also failed to make it clear why ruminants were required. Why? Two-thirds of the worlds land is currently desertifying leading to millions of climate refugees and further environmental destruction. 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. Fact Check: Did Zelenskyy ask young Americans to go to war against 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. Your email address will not be published. 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. Skip on down to the final thoughts if you dont have time to get more into the facts! Please read our Comment policy before commenting. Its sad, really, seeing gray, dead soil devoid of life. No topsoils; no food! You can make change and make a difference, even if you have struggled in the past to make change and feel like a failure. But crop subsidies from the federal government complicate the economics of agriculture. Our modern farming methods are not concerned with soil longevity or quality and are significantly to blame for the destruction of the soils. The NFL quarterback goes to bed earlier than any college student has ever dreamed of, and his diet is impeccably healthy. Gabe: I would have liked the movie to highlight the importance of grazing animals. The good news is that soils can recover fast if they are allowed to and managed correctly. This seems like pretty important information that was left off the table. 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. Find farms local to you that are farming in a regenerative way and support them by buying your produce from there. Dr. Myles Allen and his research team with their recent GWP* metric point out how short lived GHGs have to be accounted for differently than long lived GHGs.. This gets the nutrients back into local farmlands, and helps reduce the impacts of droughts and the need for fertilisers, which are polluting your local rivers. And this isnt just my own speculation. I dont understand how they didnt emphasize that you still have to eat a plant rich diet if you want everyone in the world to eat pasture raised animals Theres only so much to land and hence animals you can raise. They are both such impactful leaders in this movement because they are called to bring these concepts to farmers and ranchers everywhere. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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. It took a Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady cameo to hit this point home. Tilling loosens the soil, disturbing microorganisms that live within it, drying it out so. I was in California at a meeting and met Finnian Makepeace, who is the groups co-founder. Garnetts FCRN self published paper basically just repeated Norborgs paper verbatim. Hosted by Robbie Lockie, Plant Based News delivers pioneering vegan news and ethical views weekly. kiss the ground fact checking The documentary is well-produced and in the eyes of a layperson an extremely compelling case for changing the way we grow food. I doubt this will require an agent or a move haha! Unfortunately, Savory seems to have led himself to believe that his unscientific approach should be expanded across the world really, tear down more forests to make room for holistic grazing? Check out her story here or take a look at HOW she can help you on the Services page. 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. Eco-friendly eating - better for your health and the planet :). Humans have created such a massive disturbance in our topsoil and atmosphere that the only way out is forward. When receiving subsidies for crops like corn and beans, farmers know that they will make a profit. This is where a report written by Dr. Tara Garnett for the University of Oxford becomes very interesting a report titleGrazed and Confusedthat I have written about beforehere. 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. I dont know a single holistic management practitioner that advocates cutting down forests to grow more cattle. 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. Kiss the Ground - Understanding Ag A prime example of this is their claim that there is only 60 years of farming left. All of us make critical decisions every day as we manage our lives and we dont consult the literature when making those decisions. Minimising the amount of mechanical disturbance, with no tilling/ploughing. 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. A soil without organic matter becomes dirt, a mix of rock materials and cannot support life. Its not a bad thing per se. 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. Whats very interesting is the ability of grazing animals to regenerate grasslands from desert, and reduce desertification. Focussing on this review was a clever move by Kiss the Ground Paul Hawken and the Project Drawdown are incredibly well respected. Because not only does this mean less greenhouse gas-emitting ruminant animals, but it means we can draw down more carbon from the atmosphere forests are typically far better at doing this than grasslands. "Kiss the Ground" is based on the fact that modern industrial agriculture is devastating our planet. I live in a rural area and have seen first hand the difference in soils farmed using modern, industrial methods and smaller fields farmed in a more traditional way. While the efforts of Archuleta and others are slowly gaining traction, crop subsidies fuel a system that depletes the soil and leaves farmers dependent on the government for aid. can scoop up and heroically rescue. If youve heard anything about Tom Bradys lifestyle, you know that its extreme. 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. Every year 40m people are displaced as their farmlands become desert. Carrie Richards is not giving up. 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. By (Source: Kiss the Ground). And lets not forget, this is the same man who ordered40,000 African elephants to slaughterbecause he incorrectly thought they were damaging the land. kiss the ground fact checking - cnatrainingnyc.com Its predicted that, if we can scale up some of these farming methods over the next 30 years, we can REVERSE global warming. This is a review Im very familiar with having read through it front to back a handful of times. Its not just about more trees, the carbon that can be stored in healthy, organic material rich soils is much greater. Get exclusive content in your inbox each Monday. Whilst maintaining a large veg bed to feed the whole family takes up a lot of space and requires time, there are many crops that require very little maintenance or space, and actually like growing in your flower beds amongst the flowers! 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 are three main points I want to make about holistic grazing that are important for you to understand. With this in mind, I feel obliged to point out the uncomfortable contrast between the two main types of interviewees in the film. 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. BookstoreBook submissionsNewsNewsletter signupRecipesGardening, Our storyGet involvedJobs/FellowshipPartnersContact usPrivacy Shipping & return policy. 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. 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. Awesome! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Do you ever think about where your food comes from. Put simply, there are no healthy humans without a healthy planet. If we adopt regenerative farming practices, we can reverse carbon release into the atmosphere and stabilise the climate, and it wont take long! 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? I thought it would be just another news release or another interview. 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. 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. This is bio sequestration using plants to capture and store carbon. 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. Kiss the Ground is a 501 (c)(3) Nonprofit Enteric methane is broken down in a short period of time, and microbial methane is the same carbon cycling and recycling over and over. Where I think the documentary falls short is in three critical areas. Over the years, tilling causes the soil to dirt, leaving it vulnerable to erosion and desertification. 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. 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. Practically speaking this looks like the plate below perhaps this could be The Regenerative Plate that Kiss the Ground adopts in their communication going forwards. 114k square miles regenerated! Specifically, regenerative agriculture is a holistic land management practice that . Its a story about hope and solutions. Not to mention, I got a chuckle out of Bundchen calling Earth, Big Mama.. | Plant Based News Ltd, PO Box 71173, London, SE20 9DQ, United Kingdom. And as we all know, this creates a slippery slope. Several scientists featured in Kiss the Ground are clear that simply reducing carbon emission wont be enough to save the planet. Its not too long, but youll learn a lot from it. To achieve this, we have to change the way that we do agriculture, with less synthetic chemicals and GMOs and use the most powerful carbon capture process ever invented photosynthesis.