Woody Harrelson announces he’s given up on fixing the environment. It’s simply too vast a problem with each solution seemingly causing more problems. But then he asks, “What if there is another path?” What does he mean?
This past week, churches celebrated Earth Day on April 22, culminating in grand services on Sunday, April 25, reminding congregants that we are God’s stewards of the earth. Coinciding this week with President Biden’s pledge to cut America’s climate warming emissions in half by 2030, Interfaith Power and Light has re-issued their 2020 solution, “Kiss the Ground.”
I thought I’d seen everything on the politics and ruin of agriculture, from the Monsanto seed debacle to contaminants to cruelty to animals in our food chain. But this film gives a hopeful, fresh, religious response to global warming, narrated by easy-to-listen-to Woody Harrelson.
Learn from History
The focus of the film is on the care of the world’s soil. It reminds us in pictures and clips of the greatest man-made disaster, The Dust Bowl of the 1930s, and praises Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Soil Conservation Act.
Philosophical Shift
But since FDR’s intervention, there has been a philosophical shift in farming resulting in a dramatic rise in the amount of nitrogen now needed to raise a bushel of grain. Over-spraying has leached pesticide chemicals into our water systems and drinking water. Every year 3 pounds of nontoxic chemicals are sprayed on our food. These chemicals are transferred directly through mother’s milk to babies. Increases in attention deficit disorder, pediatric cancers, and birth defects are linked to widely used chemicals like Round-Up.
Just as chemicals kill healthy, life-giving microbes in the soil, they kill them in human bodies.
Worldwide Political Instability
Poor land leads to poor people and poor people lead to to political instability.
According to the UN, the world’s remaining topsoil will be gone in 60 years. This means there are only 60 harvests left, unless a way is found to save our topsoil. As land becomes fallow human misery, migration, and displacement will surge.
Follow the Science
“Kiss the Ground” updates us in current time to a somewhat easy, practical solution. The science of microbes, carbon, and soil treatment provides an obvious fix for the environment.
Because poor soil care and climate are connected, two thirds of the world is turning into desert through a process called desertification. But “Kiss the Ground” has some rather simple, practical ways to halt the trend and affect global warming as well.
Now streaming on Netflix, “Kiss the Ground” is a faith action movement. Guaranteed, the film will have a few surprises, but more importantly, it gives hope and perhaps even some practical suggestions that might work in your own home garden.
Credits
Directors: Joshua Tickell, Rebecca Harrell Tickell
Writers: Johnny O’Hara, Joshua Tickell, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Ray Archuleta, John Wick, Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, Patricia Arquette and David Arquette
Released: April 20, 2020
Website: https://kisstheground.com
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