Proof positive that human activity affects the global climate has existed since the early 1970s. Since then, many efforts have risen up to meet the challenge of reducing the human impact upon our planet. To Which We Belong uses pastoral visuals, expert advice, qualitative experience, and easy-to-digest infographics to explore the ways in which agricultural workers have joined the battle against climate change.
Many farmers, landowners, ranchers, seed-producers, fishermen, and more share their experience using restorative agricultural methods including no-till farming, cover seed diversification, microbiome rejuvenation, kelp farming, and cattle herding among others.
Shot in a traditional documentary style, To Which We Belong hosts a great number of subjects from across the world and focuses on proving the benefits of restorative agriculture and land management to workers, economics, and the world.
There is a bounty of proof that traditional farming methods and industrial agricultural production is harmful to local and global biomes. Instead of fighting nature with monocrops doused in herbicides, pesticides, fungicides, and fertilizers that escape into surrounding biomes and destroy them, the subjects of this film use nature and our connections to it to fight the consequences of hostile agriculture and restore biomes with great success.
One rancher in Chihuahua has banded with his neighbors to use their cattle to drive the restoration of the desert into a thriving grassland. Similarly, several groups in Africa headed by the Savory Institute have used their cattle in restorative agriculture. One fisherman trades nets for kelp farming. Many different farmers discuss the effects of cover seed and no-till agriculture on the general health of their land.
Values of collectivism, respect for the land, science, and basic economics drive the subjects of this documentary. Each segment interconnects with the others, providing further proof that restorative agriculture provides stability and resilience for individual biomes and the world as a whole. A combination of methods, old and new, are required for the stabilization and perhaps restoration of our climate. Regenerative agriculture would be a Win-Win-Win scenario for farmers, consumers, and the world alike if it could gain widespread acceptance.
This delightful documentary serves as an educational tool for experienced environmentalists and those new to the field alike, touching on climate science basics as well as new methods and information. The fisherman turned kelp farmer from Connecticut says: “There’s no jobs, no food on a dead planet.” By listening to the advice of these various experts and the results of their efforts, we can easily bypass that eventuality by healing the planet at a micro and macro-biome level. This title is highly recommended. Aud: I, J, H, C, P.
Included in our list of Best Documentaries 2021.
