Living Soil

Living Soil

2018, Environment  -   5 Comments
7.75
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Ratings: 7.75/10 from 36 users.

Over the next 40 years, the farming industry will have to produce more food than it has in the past 500 years. This challenge transcends the massive workload placed on farmers. It also speaks to the growing scarcity of our most crucial resource in farming - a healthy and thriving soil. Treat the soil right, and gorgeous crops will follow. But the rich biodiversity of our soil - the same elements we rely on for mass production - has undergone a profound depletion. Living Soil presents a wealth of information about the importance of soil, how it functions, and what we need to do to salvage its functionality for future generations.

"Soil security is food security," says one agricultural expert profiled in the film. The key to preserving that security is in understanding the complicated interconnectivity found among the vast supply of living organisms underground, and in patiently nurturing our soil back to health.

Whether they're dealing in organic or regular foods, smaller-scale farmers who sell directly to the public are working hard to educate consumers on the importance of cleanly and responsibly grown crops. By controlling the amount of carbon and nitrogen in the soil, farmers are able to conserve on their use of industrial fertilizers. Consumers can taste the difference. They're attracted to the brilliantly colorful and vital crops that result, and they take piece of mind in knowing these crops do not contain potentially harmful chemicals. It also means that many cash-strapped farmers can save on waste and the cost of operating their businesses.

The film is an exhaustive crash course in the magic of soil. A microbiologist explains the wealth of microbials that exist in a single tablespoon of soil. We learn how the planting of an Asian pea among a corn crop can elevate the levels of nitrogen.

In the face of catastrophic climate change, overpopulation and a shortage of essential resources, these farmers are doing their part to help the environment from the ground up. It's an example that can provide great knowledge and inspiration to the future farmers who will be tasked with feeding our world.

Directed by: Chelsea Wright

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Leslie
Leslie
1 year ago

look what they are doing to our food supply Free lady, [3/3/2023 2:31 AM]
Do you think that genocide is not real?

1. 4/30/21 Monmouth Smithfield Foods pork processing plant - fire
2. 7/25/21 Memphis Kellogg plant
3. 8/13/21 JBS beef plant - fire
4. 8/24/21 Patak Meat Company
5. 7/30/21 Tyson River Valley ingredient plant - fire
6. 10/21/21 Darigold plant - fire
7. 11/15/21 Garrard County food plant-fire
8. 11/29/21 Maid-Rite Steak Company - fire
9. 12/13/21 San Antonio food processing, West side Foods - fire
10. 1/7/22 Hamilton Mountain poultry processing Plant - fire
11. 1/13/22 Cargill-Nutrene feed mill. Lacombe, La - fire
12. 1/31/22 Winston-Salem fertilizer plant - fire
13. 2/3/22 Wisconsin River Meats - fire
14. 2/3/22 Percy dairy farm
15. 2/5/22 Wisconsin River Meats processing facility destroyed by fire in Mauston, Wisconsin.
16. 2/15/22 Bonanza Meat Company goes up in flames in El Paso, Texas
17. 2/15/22 Shearer's Foods Food processing plant explodes in Hermiston, Oregon.
18. 2/16/22 Indiana Louis-Dreyfus soy processing plant
19. 2/18/22 Bess View Farms
20. 2/19/22 Lincoln premiere poultry
21. 2/22/22 Shearer's Foods potato chip plant
22. 2/22/22 Fire destroys Deli Star Meat Plant in Fayetteville, Illinois.
23. 2/28/22 nutrient AG Solutions fertilizer facility burns
24. 2/28/22 Shadow Brook Farm & Dutch girl Creamery burns
25. 3/4/22 294,800 chickens destroyed at farm in Stoddard, Missouri
26. 3/4/22 644,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland
27. 3/8/22 243,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in New Castle, Delaware 28.3/10/22 663,400 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland 29.3/10/22 915,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Taylor, Iowa
30. 3/14/22 Wayne Hoover dairy farm, barn full of vows burns
31. 3/14/22 2,750,700 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Jefferson, Wisconsin
32. 3/16/22 Walmart Distribution Center burns for 76 hours in Plainfield Ind.
33. 3/16/22 Nestle Food Plant extensively damaged in fire and new production destroyed Jonesboro, Arkansas
34. 3/17/22 5,347,500 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Buena Vista, Iowa
35. 3/17/22 147,600 chickens destroyed at farm in Kent, Delaware
36. 3/18/22 315,400 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Cecil, Maryland
37. 3/19/22 Walmart Food Distribution center catches fire in Plainfield, Indiana
38. 3/22/22 172,000 Turkeys destroyed on farms in South Dakota
39. 3/22/22 570,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Butler, Nebraska
40. 3/24/22 Major Fire at McCrum Potato Plant in Belfast, Maine.
41. 3/24/22 418,500 chickens destroyed at farm in Butler, Nebraska
42. 3/25/22 250,300 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Franklin, Iowa
43. 3/26/22 311,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
44. 3/27/22 126,300 Turkeys destroyed in South Dakota
45. 3/28/22 1,460,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Guthrie, Iowa
46. 3/29/22 Maricopa, Az. Food Pantry burns down 50,000 pounds of Food destroyed in Maricopa, Arizona.
47. 3/31/22 Rio Fresh Onion factory damaged by fire in San Juan, Texas.
48.3/31/22 76,400 Turkeys destroyed in Osceola, Iowa
49. 3/31/22 5,011,700 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Osceola, Iowa
50. 4/6/22 281,600 chickens destroyed at farm in Wayne, North Carolina
51. 4/9/22 76,400 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
52. 4/9/22 208,900 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
53. 4/12/22 89,700 chickens destroyed at farm in Wayne, North Carolina
54. 4/12/22 1,746,900 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Dixon, Nebraska
55. 4/12/22 259,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Minnesota
56. 4/13/22 Fire destroys East Conway Beef & Pork Meat Market in Conway, New Hampshire.
57. 4/13/22 Plane crashes into Gem State Processing, Idaho potato and food processing plant
58. 4/13/22 77,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
59. 4/14/22 Taylor Farms Food Processing plant burns down Salinas, California.
60. 4/14/22 Salinas food processing plant
61. 4/14/22 99,600 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
62. 4/15/22 1,380,500 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Lancaster, Minnesota
63. 4/19/22 Azure Standard nation's premier independent distributor of organic and healthy food, was destroyed by fire in Dufur, Oregon

Free lady, [3/3/2023 2:32 AM]
64. 4/19/22 339,000 Turkeys destroyed Miltona
65. 4/19/22 58,000 chickens destroyed at farm in Montrose, Colorado
66. 4/20/22 2,000,000 chickens destroyed at egg farm in Minnesota
67. 4/21/22 Plane crashes into and destroys General Mills
68. 4/22/22 197,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
69.4/23/22 200,000 Turkeys destroyed in Minnesota
70. 4/25/22 1,501,200 chickens destroyed at egg farm Cache, Utah
71. 4/26/22 307,400 chickens destroyed at farm Lancaster Pennsylvania
72. 4/27/22 2,118,000 chickens destroyed at farm Knox, Nebraska
73. 4/28/22 Egg-laying facility in Iowa kills 5.3 million chickens, fires 200-plus workers
74. 4/28/22 Allen Harim Foods a chicken processing company based in Delaware killed nearly 2 million chickens
75. 4/28/22 110,700 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin.
76. 4/29/22 1,366,200 chickens destroyed at farm Weld Colorado
77. 4/30/22 13,800 chickens destroyed at farm Sequoia Oklahoma
78. 5/3/22 58,000 Turkeys destroyed Barron Wisconsin

Leslie
Leslie
1 year ago

The following "consumer" products will soon be marketed with the addition of crickets (Acheta domesticus):
- Multigrain bread
- Multi-grain rolls
- Crackers and breadsticks
- Cereal bars
- Dry premixes for bakery products
- Cookies
- filled and unfilled dry pasta products
- sauces
- Processed potato products
- Legume and vegetable dishes
- Pizza
- General pasta and whey products
- Meat substitutes (vegetarian alternatives to meat)
- Soups and soup concentrates, soup powder
- Cornmeal-based snacks
- Beer-like beverages
- Chocolate products, nuts and oilseeds
- Snacks (excluding chips) and meat preparations

sanjith
sanjith
2 years ago

Terrific documentary.Inspiring to see farmers talk about cover crops

Alba
Alba
2 years ago

An interesting documentary. Regardless of content, which was very good, I was particularly impressed by the way that it wasn't confrontation and/or accusatory. Many films on the environment set about attaching blame (and don't get me wrong there is a lot of reasons to do so!), but I found the way that this presented a positive outlook on the way forward without naming the bad guy, something that we can all consider.

Don Duncan
Don Duncan
3 years ago

"The One Straw Revolution" - Masanobu Fukuoka
It's a way of thinking about nature that transcends "organic farming".