Regeneration Education
Proposed partnership with Kiss the Ground
Kiss the Ground is a non-profit organization founded 10 years ago for the purpose of raising awareness for agricultural and ecological regeneration through storytelling, education, and advocacy. Their mission is to “awaken people to the possibilities of regeneration -- a solution for the climate, water, and health crisis” (KissTheGround). The name “Kiss the Ground” stems from a focus on the unsung hero of ecology, agriculture, and climate: soil. It is an unsung hero that, as many scientists, activists, and farmers will assert, can and must be restored. Over decades of industrial agriculture in the United States and across the world, the Earth’s topsoil has been overly tilled, isolated to singular crop species’, exposed to harmful chemicals, and isolated from natural grazing. All of these factors have compounded on each other in a positive feedback loop to cause catastrophic desertification of what used to be fertile, living, farmable land.
Agriculture is tied to so many issues including community health, public policy, and economy, but one of the most crucial areas impacted by the destruction of topsoil and desertification across the world is the global climate crisis. The increasing levels of carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere are well known to be a primary issue contributing to climate warming. Carbon has thus become a negative buzz word in the news, but in reality, carbon itself is not bad: it is the primary ingredient of all life. Carbon in the atmosphere is a problem, but carbon in plant life, and in the microorganisms within healthy soil, is good. So, as the folks at Kiss the Ground and scientists specializing in climate and ecology optimistically share: if we can shift our agricultural practices away from chemical pesticides and genetic alterations and back to natural, biodiverse, and non-invasive methods, the health of our topsoil can be restored to a state in which it can safely pull harmful carbon out of the atmosphere and store it as fuel for natural microbes, subsequently feeding nutrients to the roots of the plant life growing above.
As discussed in their popular Netflix documentary titled after the Kiss the Ground organization, one somewhat surprising factor contributing to the desertification of farmland is a lack of knowledge amongst farmers when it comes to the science behind crops, rain, and soil. A large pillar of the Kiss the Ground organization is a dedication to education. As a reflection of this they offer many resources and courses for people to learn more about the science of regenerative agriculture and the reasons for its importance. The goal of the Regeneration Education program is to partner with Kiss the Ground to bring lessons and information on soil restoration and regenerative agriculture to schools. This will both teach younger generations about the history of agriculture and the myriad of issues that have arisen from recent problematic agricultural techniques, but also show them how these daunting problems can be addressed. From big picture lessons on ecological systems, to ground level hands-on experiences with farming itself, students of all ages will be given the tools to become active and informed citizens of their communities and, more importantly, of the planet.
Often, talking about the global climate crisis can have a discouraging effect on people, especially for children and young adults. Because of the scale of the climate issues we are facing, it can be difficult to form discussions that are both honest to the gravity of the situation and promising for the prospects of science based solutions. Regeneration Education will aim to break down the colossus that is atmospheric carbon causing global warming, and frame things in a more local way by discussing actions for change at a more personal and local level. The Regeneration Education program, in the “Kiss the Ground” fashion, will be based in storytelling. To best cater to and engage different age groups, lessons on the carbon life cycle, the history of the agricultural industry, and ecological systems will be framed as varying stories. For example, for elementary students, a cartoonish tale of the full life cycle of a personified carbon atom might be used to teach them that carbon is not intrinsically bad and can be beneficial when stored in healthy soil. High school students, in contrast, could be presented with more case study-like stories of existing regenerative farms and their successes to demonstrate real world working solutions.
The program will be laid out to explain the problems we’re facing, how those problems came to be, the potential solutions, and how some of those solutions have already been employed. Students will be placed into the narrative themselves through hands-on projects of on-site school gardening and visits to work with local farmers, both who already utilize regenerative agriculture techniques and those who have yet to learn them. Regeneration Education will provide students the necessary knowledge, experience, and inspiration to create a more sustainable global agricultural system.
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