Imagine being told the fate of the planet depends on the stuff you wash off your shoes. This doc takes that dirt and spins it into a climate thriller where the villain is ignorance and the hero is compost.
Kiss the Ground is the best documentary on how saving our soil might be the key to saving our planet. If you like farming docs, check out this list of the best from my colleague Rob Kelly.
Trailer for “Kiss the Ground”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Farmers in the doc show side-by-side fields. One is dead and cracked from chemical treatment, the other is thriving with worms and cover crops. This is only a few years after switching to regenerative methods.
- The doc claims we could restore the planet to pre-industrial carbon levels by globally scaling regenerative agriculture. Then turn Earth back into something like the “Garden of Eden” within 30 years..
Watch “Kiss the Ground”
You can stream “Kiss the Ground” on Amazon Prime Video.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 94/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 99/100 (Users); 88/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Directed by Joshua Tickell and Rebecca Harrell Tickell, a filmmaking couple focused on environmental stories (they also did “Fuel” and “The Big Fix”). Their documentaries combine high-end visuals, accessible science, and activist energy. This is their most mainstream hit yet.
Release Date: September 22, 2020
My Review of “Kiss the Ground”
The Setup
The doc opens with the question: “What if there was a simple solution to climate change?” The answer turns out to be dirt—but not just any dirt. Regenerative agriculture is a farming method that mimics nature, storing carbon in soil by planting cover crops, minimizing tillage, and rotating animals. The doc follows a mix of scientists, farmers, policy wonks, and celebrity activists trying to bring this method into the mainstream.
We travel from degraded land in Kansas to hopeful ranches in California to policy discussions in Paris. At every stop, the film makes the same argument: healthy soil is our best shot at healing the planet.
More Highlights from the Doc
- Woody Harrelson narrates the film, framing it like a planetary rescue mission. It’s driven by farmers and dirt, not tech billionaires or carbon credits.
- NASA and NOAA satellite footage show the global carbon cycle from space,. Time-lapse graphics walk you through how plants pull CO₂ from the air and store it in roots underground.
- Ray Archuleta, a USDA conservation agronomist, uses a rain simulator to prove that soil from regenerative farms holds water and resists erosion better than soil from industrial farms
- We meet ranchers like Gabe Brown. He brought life back to his soil in North Dakota using cover crops, no-till farming, and animal integration. All after his farm almost failed from drought and debt.
- One segment explains how soil used to be a carbon sink, but industrial agriculture flipped it by turning fields into carbon sources. Regenerative agriculture flips it back again.
- The film doesn’t pretend farmers have it easy. It shows crop failures, rising suicide rates, and why some are afraid to ditch fertilizers, even when they see better results from regenerative neighbors.
Cameos
- Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady appear briefly. They’re vocal supporters of regenerative farming and climate restoration.
- Ian Somerhalder visits regenerative farms. Then later helped launch a youth-focused spin-off initiative inspired by the film.
- Jason Mraz, who owns an avocado farm, also gets a short segment. He shows regenerative techniques changed his land and harvests.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- John Wick worked with scientists to measure carbon drawdown on his land. He helped launch the Marin Carbon Project, a breakthrough in soil science. (Not the Keanu one—a real rancher from Marin County).
- The filmmakers show how tilling, synthetic fertilizers, and monocultures not only strip the soil but kill off the microbial life that stores carbon. This explains why soil has lost its “memory.”
- The USDA once rejected regenerative agriculture as “unproven,” despite centuries of indigenous and traditional knowledge supporting the practice.
- The film includes historical footage of the Dust Bowl to show what happens when we ignore soil health on a massive scale. It turns fertile plains into deserts.
Wrap Up:
If you care about climate, farming, or food, this is essential viewing. “Kiss the Ground” offers a grounded solution.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc