Bal Tashchit and Beyond: Movie Night Features "Kiss the Ground"

Charlotte Jewish News November 2021

By Lisa Shpritz

Climate change is real, and we see the consequences of it all around us. Taking action to fight the urgent threat of climate change offers an opportunity to build more resilient infrastructure, protect public health, advance environmental justice, strengthen our communities, and spur technological innovations.

You can lessen the impact of climate change by making choices that help advance solutions and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Decisions that we all make today can shape the world for decades and even centuries to come. Not only are these actions good for the environment, but also they are good for personal and community health, equity, environmental justice, quality of life, and our shared futures.

What Is regenerative agriculture?

Together with forestry and other land uses, agriculture is responsible for approximately 25% of human-created greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). One of the most powerful tools available to us to reduce GHGs is regenerative agriculture, which blends modern discoveries in soil biology with indigenous wisdom and pioneering holistic thinking.

Healthy soil is the foundation of productive, sustainable agriculture. Managing for soil health allows producers to work with the land — not against — to reduce erosion, maximize water infiltration, improve nutrient cycling, save money by buying fewer chemicals, and ultimately improve the resiliency of their working land.

Regenerative agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity, resulting in both removing carbon from the air and improving the water cycle. The major principles of regeneration are reduced tillage, maintenance of significant ground cover, increased biodiversity, and well-managed grazing. When scaled up and combined with reforestation and other regenerative land use practices, regenerative agriculture has the potential to decrease atmospheric carbon. Carbon drawn from the atmosphere by living plants helps build soil organic matter, and the carbon drawn down through photosynthesis remains sequestered in the soil.

Why regenerative agriculture?

Unrestricted land use coupled with limitless use of agricultural chemicals leads to depletion of our soils, and since the 1970s, we have lost one-third of the Earth’s topsoil. Two-thirds of the planet is currently experiencing desertification, the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically because of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture. As a result of desertification, 40 million people are pushed off their land each year, and by 2050, one billion people will be soil desertification refugees. We cannot afford to wait any longer to address this issue, as the United Nations estimates our remaining topsoil will be gone in 60 years. How can you regenerate? Vote with your fork. Support your local farmers who use regenerative agriculture and land use practices.

If you choose to eat meat, choose to consume grass-fed and pasture-raised meats.

Grow your own food. Plant a home or community garden. Compost your kitchen, garden, and yard waste.

Stay informed! Subscribe to newsletters and podcasts, read books, and watch films dedicated to regenerative and organic farming.

Share information with friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

Find local regenerative food grown by regenerative farmers who are focused on building healthy soil: https://regenerationinternational.org/regenerative-farm-map.

Join us for a Shalom Green/ LJCC Cares film screening on November 4!

Want to learn more about the connection between soil health and climate change and what you can do to make a difference? Please join us on November 4 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Lerner Auditorium for a screening of the documentary Kiss the Ground, followed by a conversation and audience Q&A. We are thrilled to have Rabbi Judith Schindler, associate professor of Jewish Studies and director of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University of Charlotte and Jessica Wilson, East Coast market development manager at CarbonCure Technologies and owner of Yellow Rose Microfarm in Winnabow, North Carolina, share their perspectives on the importance of our connection to the soil. The film is narrated by Woody Harrelson and

features many prominent environmental advocates, including Gisele Bündchen, Tom Brady, and Jason Mraz. To register for the event, please visit www.shalomgreenCLT.org. Additional Resources: If you are unable to join us in person, "Kiss the Ground" is available on Netflix. For information and resources about regenerative agriculture including virtual courses, fact sheets, and more, please visit the film’s website:

https://kisstheground.com/.

This article includes information from the following sites; if you’d like to learn more, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/climate-change/what-you-can-doabout-climate-change www.regenerationinternational.org https://www.usda.gov/topics/ organic https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/what-regenerative-agriculture

Jewish tradition teaches the importance of caring for the environment, for we must act as partners in preserving creation. If you are interested in supporting Shalom Green or have ideas for educational programming, please contact us at info@shalomgreenCLT.org. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ShalomGreen_ CLT, and visit our website at www.shalomgreenCLT.org.