“Kiss the Ground: The Promise of Regenerative Agriculture

This optimistic documentary is narrated by Woody Harrelson and makes a strong argument for understanding and respecting the healing power of top soil which could offer a partial solution to the climate crisis. The film begins by pointing out that a handful of healthy topsoil has more living organisms in it than all the people who have ever populated our earth. It continues by exploring how tilling and plowing and the use of pesticides in industrial farming have led to increasing soil erosion and loss of top soils. They trace the resulting damage these traditional farming practice have on our ecology, health and climate.

The film explores the nature of carbon and demonstrates how the carbon cycle is part of the natural ecology of our planet. It then offers up a solution by showing how practices of regenerative farming can help restore the top soil to its natural state of health and transform degraded lands into healthy ecologies. Because this way of farming does not plow or till the soil, it does not break up the structure so necessary for the top soils health. The soil is never left bare, but is always covered with a diverse range of cover crops, grasses, and plants. These fields are full of life, and the healthy top soil actually facilitates carbon drawdown.

Cows have been demonized because it is well know that the feedlots they are kept in release a lot of greenhouse gases. But there is a relationships between these feedlots and much of industrial agriculture. 70% of US farms grow monocrops of corn, soy and hay for these feedlots. These farms are subsidized by our government tax dollars to the tune of $25 billion annually. It’s clear from this, that industrial farming is nolonger profitable or sustainable.

The principles of regenerative agriculture this film promotes our simple, in-expensive and are scalable. By observing nature and healthy eco-systems, these farms are beginning to demonstrate a new paradigm for agriculture, that grows top soil, doesn’t plow the soil, grows a diverse range of crops and integrates this with livestock management that is pasture-raised, grass feed. This healthy eco-system not only grows better food and grass-fed meat. It helps to sequester carbon back into the soil.

The film points out that not long ago, sixty million buffalo roamed our continent creating the rich pasturelands of the American heartland. But the US army in partnership with the railroads systematically killed the buffalo to eliminate the most important food resource of indigenous peoples.

The film interviews farmers who are practicing regenerative agriculture and demonstrates that this is also a way to farm that can increase profits. Gabe Brown, who is interviewed in the film called himself a regenerative rancher and refers to his operation as a living ecosystem. His land is never left bare. He uses a no-till tractor and rotates his pasture raised cattle, that help fertilize and enrich his soils. He stopped taking subsidies from the US government, because he didn’t need to. He was now making a profit and he said he didn’t want to be on welfare any longer.

The film shows many examples of how regenerative agriculture and its principles have been used to restore denuded lands from Africa to the Loess Plateau in China, an area the size of Belgium. In just fourteen years, using regenerative agricultural principles, the land was transformed from the most eroded place on earth to a teaming, fertile agircultural area that lifted millions of people out of poverty.

The film also shows how these same principles are now being used in cities to collect food waste that is used to make compost to make hugh amount of healthy humus. Since most trash gets incinerated, it is returned to the air as carbon, but when this same trash is composted the carbon is sequestered back into the soil.

The film ends with an inspiring possibility and a goal put forward by the Commonland Foundation. Today 5% or less of farms are managed for soil health. Their goal is to reach 50% of American farms to manage and begin growing healthy soils and ecosystems by 2025.

Regenerative agriculture is not expensive and it can be scaled up in ways that sequester carbon, reverse the loss of top soils by growing healthier, richer top soil to grow heathier, more nutritious food.

Where do you want your food to come from?