Why We’re Soil Advocates
At Standard Deviation, we’re solution-oriented.
We are convinced that businesses have a critical role to play in the face of our current social, environmental and climate crises. We dedicate a lot of energy researching and discussing effective solutions to the multiple ecological disasters we are facing, solutions that businesses can contribute to, adopt and scale.
There’s one solution that clearly stands out. It is affordable, simple and has multi-dimensional benefits. It allows to fight against the climate crisis, droughts, flooding, the collapse of biodiversity, food insecurity and declining human health, all at once. It’s healthy soil.
We’re continuously exploring the powers of healthy soil.
It sounds almost too good to be true, so we decided to investigate further. Last January, we turned to Kiss the Ground, a California based non-profit dedicated to inspiring participation in soil regeneration, and took their Soil Advocate Training. The 7-week course took us on a journey to better understand how soil works, how its carbon sequestrating powers could reverse climate change and what success stories look like.
Here are some of our key learnings:
Beyond capturing carbon, healthy soil is the foundation to thriving natural ecosystems and human communities: from farmers’ financial prosperity, to restored biodiversity & water cycles to nutrient-dense food.
Soil health and human health are interdependent. The burden of chronic diseases in our health care system is another strong incentive to change the way we think about soil.
Though industrial animal farming is damaging to the environment, well-managed animal grazing can be a powerful way to increase soil health.
Going from depleted soil to healthy soil can happen within a few years. Regenerating soil is an immediately accessible solution to reverse climate change.
From farmer and rancher communities, to companies that grow food or fiber to urban planning and water management organizations, to citizens understanding our dependency on healthy soil, everyone plays a role in regeneration.
We enjoyed meeting with farmers, organizers, educators, entrepreneurs all around the world and felt energized by the optimism and vibrancy of this global regeneration mouvement. As soil advocates, we are now better equipped to engage businesses and educate on the incredible opportunities that lie in regenerative models.
Watch Kiss the Ground on Netflix
If you’re interested in learning more about soil health, watch Kiss The Ground Netflix documentary.
Here’s the trailer: