Picking Cotton and Working Farms in the South Helped Me Appreciate Netflix’s Documentary “Kiss The Ground”
Photo of a cherished memory during my cotton picking days as a youngster in the south.. Netflix’s documentary “Kissed The Ground” brought back those childhood memories.
Toxic Soil Through Chemical Agriculture Is Destructive for the Environment, Our Bodies and Cherished Memories of Farm Life in the South
The #Netflix documentary Kiss The Ground brought back memories as a young girl growing up Mullins, South Carolina that l will never forget. Toiling in the hot sun, whether it was stringing tobacco, picking cotton or planting vegetables that would be canned as food for our family’s survival in the winter. The soil was a major staple for our family’s viability. Viewing this film captured those cherished memories of hard work which made me the determined woman l am today. It was heart wrenching to see and hear the condition of our soil today due to chemical agriculture which contributes to climate change.
The Netflix documentary #Kiss the Ground reveals in detail the effects negative forces are having on our top soil as we plant our food. Actor #Woody Harrelson served as narrator which was surprising because this was such a serious subject. The characters Harrelson played previously were usually not as serious. He was once quoted as saying, “A grownup is a child with layers on.” Woody has often been portrayed in his roles as a big kid. Yet, Harrelson tackled this subject of climate change with astute professionalism.
I watched this documentary intensely due to my family’s history and reliance on the land for financial stability and food while growing up as a child in the south. Once this documentary Kiss The Ground is viewed others may have the tendency to quote similar statements that were influential to them but l have no interest nor have l viewed such articles. These quotes within this article touched my heart and caused me to feel kindred to the land because of my past and future. After all, our Grand Creator in the Bible at Genesis 2:7 created the first man from dust or soil, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.“ Even the animals were created from the ground as Geneis 1:24 states: “And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.” (#King James Version)
I was immediately drawn to the details and research featured in this documentary Kiss The Ground with its compelling statements through interviews of activists and specialists in the fields of agriculture. I felt obligated to share some vital information from this film. Being a southern girl who worked the fields of vegetables and crops as a youth on various farms, my appreciation of the soil and climate was necessary for my family’s sustenance. My appreciation for Woody Harrelson’s narrative was based on pure experience when l could smell the stench of certain chemicals while l worked in the fields as a teenager before my family moved to the north. Memories rushed in as Harrelson explained, ”Just as toxins kills the microbes in our soil we are killing the microbes in our bodies...” Through the use of “chemical agriculture our ecosystem is experiencing chronic stress... Since #chemical argriculture ramped up worldwide in the 1970’s we have lost one third of the earth’s topsoil... The most massive tsunami, perfect storm, is bearing down upon us. But fossil fuels, carbon, coal and gas...are by no means the only things causing climate change.” I felt this quote needed to be shared because of the relationship between ruinous sources of microbes in the soil and our bodies due to chemical agriculture. I lived with, experienced and seen these effects on our soil.
With the effects of climate change how does this influence our soils? I was also deeply saddened by this documentary Kiss The Ground when l saw the desert like, dry land areas shown from farms in the United States to the country of Africa. Alan Savory, Founder of #Holistic Management expressed, “Now because of fate and water and carbon are tied to soil organic matter when we damage soils, you give off carbon. Carbons go back to the atmosphere.“ Harrelson included this additional information in his segment concerning soils and the damage caused to the atmosphere by stating: “Healthy soils absorb water and #carbon dioxide. But when we destroy soil, it releases water and carbon dioxide. This dries out the soil and turns it into dust. The process is called #desertification and how we deal with it could determine the fate of more than just our climate. Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turned into desert and this happen only when we create to much bare ground.“ I spent numerous hours rewinding these explanations on why one source of land might be dry and another land mass might be a lush grassy area with foliage. I see that often when l travelled through various rural areas in such a state as Delaware, on my way to Rehoboth Beach not far from the location of #President-Elect Joe Biden. When my family and l travelled from Pennsylvania to Chicago we also saw dry, dusty land masses where farms previously existed. I felt brokenhearted to see so much of our land arid, sandy, like a wasteland due to chemical agriculture.
Genuine concerns were shared regarding plants, soil and climate within the documentary which stated, “The soil and the plant, and the climate are connected. If you don’t have a living plant you are gonna have more evaporation. What we want is transporation, when moisture leaves through the plant. And when it does that increases humidity. When it increases humidity we have more rain. Sixth percent of our rainfall comes from the ocean. Although a lot of people don’t realize forty percent of our small water cycles where our rain comes from is inland. What‘s going on we disrupted our small water cycle.” This comment was significant to me because plants are vital for evaporation which rejuvenates our water cycle. I have found my plants inside or outside invigorates oxygen which sustains life. When the leaves fall they help my grass to become greener during spring and summer. Travelling over the years from the north to the south stimulates my interest intensely in soil, climate and our #water cycles. My decision to write about this issue was not only personal but eminently important as l view our countrysides. I expressed my feelings and experiences along with intriguing quotes from the film Kiss The Ground not becase of what l saw from another article but due to my love for our magnificent earth.. I have learned to write about what makes me passionate and l am genuinely concerned about #climate change and our environment.
The results of climate change and its connection on our soil and water has been devastating in the past and will be destructive in the future. Woody Harrelson stated, ”Desertification is every 40 million people are pushed off their land. By 2050 it is estimated one billion people will be refugees of soil desertification.” Alan Savory went on the explain, “About two thirds of our world is desertification. Globally that is what we are doing today. Poor land leads to poor people. Poor land leads to increasing frequency of floods and droughts...” Once again powerful words that are not only scary but calamitous for humanity.
With my previous life experiences of farming in the south which supported my family financially, l remembered the days as a youngster tilling the soil to grow our food and crops in April. By June we would have fruits and vegetables to eat, tobacco to cultivate and cotton to pick by September and October. I identified with Actor and activist #Ray Archuleta who “...showed a supercomputer model by Nasa concerning March and April. What do we do in April? We are tilling the land.” The illustration demonstrated how the earth was covered in June with greenery. Ray also mentioned, “A covered planet is a healthy planet. What do we do in modern agriculture in April? We are tilling the land and look at the huge plumes of CO2.“ Archuleta expressed tremendous excitement when he showed that by June plants started to grow. “A covered planet is a healthy planet. We can fix a lot of our planet issues if we bring the CO2 down into a living plant and put it back into the soil where it belongs.” What an amazing perspective. Will imperfect mankind pursue such simple suggestions to help our soil, plants, water and climate? Only our perfect Heavenly Father Jehovah can answer that because he knows our hearts.
If We Don’t Save Our Soil What Will Happen?
In the documentary entitled, “Kiss The Ground” which was narrated by Woody Harrelson this reality was shared, “According to the United Nations the remaining world’s topsoil will be gone within 60 years. In other words unless we find a way to save our soils we have 60 harvest left. The global scale of the problem we face may seem insurmountable but in every fight that seems unwinable there are those that refuse to give up.”
— Woody Harrelson, narrator of the documentary, “Kiss The Ground.”
Does the Way We Feed Ourselves Effect Our Ecosystem
The way we grow our food, is it destroying our topsoil which is defined in Merriam Webster Dictionary as: “surface soil usually including the organic layer in which plants have most of their roots and which the farmer turns over in plowing?” A spokesman by the name of Jeff Creque on the documentary Kiss The Ground made this compelling statement; “What we know right now is the way we are feeding ourselves is undermining the very ecology that we are dependent upon. So the long term prognosis for our survival on this planet given business as usual, it is very, very poor.” The damage we are causing to our topsoil continues to be detrimental along with its effects on our climate.
What effect is this type of abuse on our topsoil having through chemical agriculture and what if anything is being done about it? Actor and activist #Woody Harrelson made this point, “Putting our atmospheric carbon down into our soil maybe a simple idea but to do it on a global scale requires politics. And when it comes to the politics of #climate change, well let’s just say there’s a lot of hot air. In 2015 the #United Nations held a Climate Summit in Paris. It was called COP21. Forty thousand delegates from 196 countries from all over the world met to reach an agreement on how to address climate change. There were presentations and meetings and speeches. There was one proposal that offered real hope...” Harrelson introduced Stephane LeFoll, a French Minister of Agriculture. LeFoll had built his life and career on rural farming. Woody described how, “France maintains the largest Argriculture Science Institution in Europe. It’s called INRA and its been studying soil for over 100 years... Their goal is to increase carbon content of the world’s soil by .4% annually. That would sequester the same amount of carbon that humanity emits each year.” Based on my previous experience with farming l see a glimmer of hope through this type of proposal.
Optimism was shown where LeFoll’s idea “might change the world. We have enormous potential to struggle against climate change. With all the farmland and also with all the soils of the forest we have an actual answer to the struggle against climate change. An answer that could be collosal.“ We shall see in the future.
Yes. My article could not possibly be duplicated because l offer a real solution based on God’s word the Bible. This is not just my personal opinion and experience but has been proven true by the fulfillment of numerous Bible prophecies. Originally Jehovah God placed man in paradise. (Genesis 1:27-30) He guarantees through his word the Bible because of his love for mankind, we will return to a paradise setting again in the future. Millions have discovered that through the pages of the scriptures. With all my heart l believe that climate change and the improvement of our water and soil can only be accomplished by God’s Government. Under the rulership of Jesus Christ appointed by his Father Jehovah God, Jesus proved while on earth only he has the power to change the hearts of humans. This will in turn give them the desire to cleanse the earth. Psalms 37:11 says, “But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.“ (New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures) This documentary on #Netflix called Kiss The Ground was intriguing and inspirational. For additional information on the numerous other outstanding points that were made concerning our soil, water and climate being all connected go to the Netflix channel to view the documentary Kiss The Ground.
What Can We Do To Improve Our Soil And Climate?
“Soil that is not tilled stores more water and more plant growth and even leads to more rainfall. An acre of soil draws down ten more times of carbon,” said Woody Harrelson. Another rancher explained, “I read Thomas Jefferson’s old journal where you don’t till soil at all. It was a no till drill. Where the seed travels down and move a small amount of soil over that seed. Rain falls on this seed and it goes into the soil.”
| “Cows are mobile microbes.” | “When cows poop, that is like a mound of microbes | “Cows employ microbes in their rumen to break the fibers in food. |
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What Is God’s Kingdom and What Will It Accomplish Concerning Climate Change?
- Jehovah’s Witnesses—Official Website: jw.org
Jehovah’s Witnesses: Our official website provides online access to the Bible, Bible-based publications, and current news. It describes our beliefs and organization.
© 2020 Claudette Coleman Carter
