To borrow a quote from DKG: If you look at the soil under a microscope, every single day is Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
And the point this film is trying to make is that modern agriculture takes an awful lot for-granted and engages in several practices that hurt the foundations that all of our food is built upon.
–From the pesticides some GMO seeds need to survive, to abandoned crop-rotation methods that helped replenish the growth-base, to erosion,
To the French idea of Terroir, and how hydroponic produce tastes worse and might even be less healthy,
To how “dead” soil might even contribute to The Hygiene Hypothesis, Dust Bowl 2.0, and more,
Deborah Koons Garcia, Dr. Ignacio Chapela and Dr. Michael Hansen look at the complex and varied ways The Skin of The Earth contributes to our existence and what some more forward-looking countries than ours see as new standards for a better future health of world-agriculture that blends new and old.
-!! Just don’t let the magic-mushroomy stoner guys in the piece dissuade you too much with their pretty-colored-fractal-double-rainbows. This is important stuff.
So: Go check out further details at the Links, especially the short talk the film-makers had with Leonard Lopate on WNYC.
Artist’s Excerpt:
“Symphony of the Soil is a 104-minute documentary feature film that explores the complexity and mystery of soil. Filmed on four continents and sharing the voices of some of the world's most esteemed soil scientists, farmers and activists, the film portrays soil as a protagonist of our planetary story. Using a captivating mix of art and science, the film shows that soil is a complex living organism, the foundation of life on earth. Yet most people are soil-blind and "treat soil like dirt." Through the knowledge and wisdom revealed in this film, we can come to respect, even revere, this miraculous substance, and appreciate that treating the soil right can help solve some of our most pressing environmental problems. In addition to the feature film, there are several short films, Sonatas of the Soil, that delve deeply into soil-related topics, and several short clips, Grace Notes, that are available to stream on the film's website.
Produced and Directed by Deborah Koons Garcia.”
Photo Credits:
“Flowers”, by mohammed siraj
Links:
• Source: Symphony Of The Soil
• via: WNYC-Leonard Lopate
• More Coverage:Wikipedia-Terroir | Symphony of the Soil on Vimeo | SOS’s IMDB Page
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