Kiss the Ground (2020)

We hear a lot about climate change today, but I don't recall ever hearing anything about the subject of this documentary film — dirt, soil, earth, the ground. The actor Woody Harrelson narrates this film that features activists, agronomists, climate scientists, celebrities, a couple politicians, and a passionate North Dakota farmer named Gabe Brown on the subject of "Regenerative Agriculture," which the film claims is "the first viable solution to our climate crisis." Industrial farming has been characterized by tilling and toxic industrial chemicals, which together have led to massive erosion of top soil (think of the Dust Bowl). Regenerative farming represents a "simple solution to heal our planet." It is characterized by (1) no tilling, (2) a diversity of cover crops, (3) permanent trees, and (4) and composting and "mob grazing." Is this truly scalable in a global sense? Gabe Brown says that he is willing to bet his farm against your farm that he can make regenerative farming work anywhere in the world, including, to take one inspiring example, a massive tract of desert in China that has been transformed into a lush, green land. We need to "save the soil so that the soil will save us." I watched this film on Netflix.

Dan Clendenin: dan@journeywithjesus.net