The animals themselves arent the problem, where and how is the issue. 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. Here are five things I learned from Kiss the Ground. 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! All natural systems exist in balance, with a diversity of plants and animals. The basic premise of Kiss the Ground is that the destruction of soil is contributing to the severity and intensity of climate change. Ill start with the hardest and get easier. This idea reminded me of what I learned from Cradle to Cradle. 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. Finally, the elephant / cow in the room (not sure which is more fitting) duringKiss the Ground is how are we going to produce enough meat using holistic grazing to meet current demands? 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. 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? 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. Due to its immense scale, and ability to sequester (store) greenhouse gases, it could be the one thing that can balance our climate, clean our water and feed the world! I am alive!. I thought it would be just another news release or another interview. Every year 40m people are displaced as their farmlands become desert. For millions of years the world has self-healed and self-balanced. With that said, any time a new study, book, documentary, or other media publication is published, I read or watch with great interest. Above all, its great to see this conversation growing from what has very much been a fringe movement to now entering the mainstream. 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. Kris: Yes. 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. 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. 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. Often, our best solutions arent actually that innovative; they simply mimic natural processes and what the Earth already does. Registration confirmation will be emailed to you. 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 . Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Our modern farming methods are not concerned with soil longevity or quality and are significantly to blame for the destruction of the soils. kiss the ground fact checking - cnatrainingnyc.com This is a major oversimplification of our complex and varied farming system. 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. Ray: Yes, absolutely. Ray: Hope. Healthy soils can store more carbon than all the trees combined! Theres nothing Netflix and chillabout that. Gabe: No, but only because I am on to the next project, bringing society together in supporting regenerative ag. 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. worlds leading climate scientists have to say about diet? I dont know a single holistic management practitioner that advocates eating more beef. Hailing from Newcastle, Australia, she predominantly writes about climate and animal rights issues, alongside her work in psychology. 'Kiss the Ground' review: The soil may save us, but it's not that FACT-CHECK. 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., . The review is plain evidence that we see what we believe and the reviewers beliefs greatly clouded their vision. Many would argue soil degradation is the most critical environmental threat to humans. 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. They also failed to make it clear why ruminants were required. Do you ever think about where your food comes from. Looking for a way to kill the quarantine boredom? 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. Its a good vibe, like a 90-minute team-taught TED Talkindustrious, sensible, leaning into the future. Copyright 2021 Understanding Ag, LLC | Website by RVT Solutions. kiss the ground fact checking Kiss the Ground: Documentary Review - United Church of Christ 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? It turned out to be more involved than I imagined. Its not just about more trees, the carbon that can be stored in healthy, organic material rich soils is much greater. Learn how your comment data is processed. All chemical soils are almost devoid of microorganisms, so the plant roots cannot get the nutrients they need. And of course, havinginterviewedthe co-founders ofKiss the Ground, Ryland Engelhart and Finian Makepeace, in early 2020, I was particularly excited to watch theKiss the Grounddocumentary(and I recommend you watch it too if you havent already). Using livestock is thought to make this process 7 times faster! Eat quality (organic, pasture raised meat, or, even better, that from regenerative farms) meat as a treat not a staple. They are told that the chemicals will make things better by the companies selling these chemicals, and not helped to learn how to work with nature, rather than against it. are needed to help heal the earth. have no problems. Consumers falsely see meat as part of the solution, and although they may do their best to seek out regenerative meat (Regenerative Agriculture, What is it? - Kiss the Ground 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. 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. The film begins by examining . Which would net off the existing emissions we make, at least stabilising things. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. From rehabilitating entire ecosystems to growing home victory gardens, there are plenty of ways to get involved in regenerative agriculture. In other words, his claims cannot be supported by data, replicated by others and he doesnt believe in science. 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. 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. Awesome! Remember that the decision to depopulate the elephants when Savory was with the game department was a result of the current science among wildlife researchers. 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. Its not the most interesting topic of conversation for most, so try just mentioning a one or two of the following points and see if that gets a conversation going. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on our website. Kiss the Ground review and summary | EAT THINK EXPLORE This is a review Im very familiar with having read through it front to back a handful of times. So really, the idea of conservation and restoration, needed to be absolutely front and center ifKiss the Groundtruly wanted to educate the masses about how agriculture can help tackle climate change. Id be willing to donate it to them. 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! Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. 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. 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. Farmers need to learn how to regenerate and take care of the soil. Farming like nature has also been shown to reduce inputs (costs) and improve yields. 'Kiss the Ground' Review: Regenerating Hope for the Climate 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. Overlaying it, a swirling heat map of global atmospheric carbon, changing from dark red to cool blue over the course of a year. So cows can actually be used to reverse desertification. 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. Ryland co-founded Kiss the Ground in his living room with a friend ten years ago. 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. Our current farming methods are simply not sustainable. Tilling, the process of pulling up the soil to plant seeds, is destructive to the soil. If we pull the pin on that, it means one thing and one thing only. 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. Clearly this is something that needs our urgent attention and resolution! #2 - The planet is desertifying (more land is becoming desert), #4 - Our modern farming methods are killing the soils, #5 - Nature has invented the most sophisticated carbon capture method - photosynthesis, #6 - Soils are a huge potential carbon store, #8 - Regenerative farming can reverse climate change, The way we are feeding ourselves is undermining the very ecology were dependent upon. 2021 Plant Based News is a UK-based digital media outlet publishing content about veganism and plant-based living, including news and current events, health, personal transformation stories, features, and recipes. We need to spread the word to drive this important movement forwards! Scientists and researchers in the documentary back them up. Your email address will not be published. And as the documentary states, shifting us from climate warming to climate cooling. Humans have created such a massive disturbance in our topsoil and atmosphere that the only way out is forward. 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. There is extraordinary potential in the layers beneath our feet our Earths soil. Hopefully enough of them will see this movie and find enough alternatives to be able to make some real change. I enjoyed Woody Harrelson as a narrator; he felt genuine. Several scientists featured in Kiss the Ground are clear that simply reducing carbon emission wont be enough to save the planet. 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. Its a story about hope and solutions. The claim: Video shows cracks in the ground that formed after earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Without them we will starve. 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. By 2014 there was no vegetation left across an area the size of Belgium! His response: holistic management does not permit replication, and youll find the scientific method never discovers anything.. Check out Kiss the Ground website, where you will find other ways to be involved and even learn how to Become a Soil Advocate! You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Kiss the Ground | School for Good Living 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. . 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). 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. Heres the big picture: a wide-screen projection of the surface of the Earth. The film uses creative graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, and illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon many of humankinds most pressing climate and environmental problems can be solved. 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. Until recently, however, the roles of soil and grazing animals have been missing pieces of the climate puzzle. (Source: Kiss the Ground). 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. Gabe: I would have liked the movie to highlight the importance of grazing animals. Regenerative agriculture is an important part of the solution when it comes to climate change. He did several versions of this movie. Regenerate America is an unprecedented coalition of farmers, businesses, nonprofits, and individuals from every corner of our country and all political stripes, convened by the national soil health 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization, Kiss the Ground. It is possible that this is coincidence, but the correlation is striking! We are made of carbon (16%) and its the element that life is based upon! Ill summarise the main points for you in this article; what the issues are, why soil is the answer, and how you can help to save you having to invest the time to watching it yourself. 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.