Food Revolution Network - Earth Conscious Films

The Need to Grow - I just finished watching this incredible film set in Montana, USA about a very determined 8 year old girl, the inventively brilliant Michael Smith (inventor of The Green Power House), and his genius compadres have revolutionised the ways soil regeneration is happening, involving a closed loop system and the use of algae and biochar. The Power House mimicks and links up all the synergies in nature. I needed to watch this film a couple of times to comprehend the intricate ways these inventors are using coding, AI?, and bio-engineering to produce fertile soil in just 4 days, compared with Nature’s normal time-frame of 400 years. (This film attracts a small fee to watch but is worth every penny). With soil depletion and desertification being at globally critical levels, finding sustainable ways to rejuvenuate the soil (other than applying chemicals) is something the human race will ultimately depend upon. We all need to be harnessing and reusing organic waste, growing our own food (if we can) and reducing our reliance on chemicals which disrupt the balance of the soil (nutrients, fungi, biota, hummus/organic matter) and leaves it infertile.

The film uses an interesting mix of hope intermingled with despair and then there is a surprise at the end. Perhaps every environmental story needs the ebb and flow and twists and turns of happy and sad, good and bad, wounding and healing, and a touch of suspense to stir up a reaction in the audience. But too much doom and gloom makes us feel dispirited and makes us want to switch off. Life is just like a movie, in that regard.

Front facing - Bees Mural - Mural Artist and photo credit: Louis Masai Michel http://www.louismasai.com/#!save-the-bees-project/cg0v