“Old as Dirt”: Common Ground

By Jonathan Monovich.

The kind of film that leaves you invigorated, full of energy, and wanting to fight the good fight.”

In Joshua and Rebecca Tickell’s well-informed documentary, Kiss the Ground (2020), Woody Harrelson spoke of a solution “as old as dirt” that may help prevent humanity’s demise. The solution that Harrelson spoke of was in the soil, making a convincing argument for the importance of regenerative agriculture. Though Harrelson did a fine job as Kiss the Ground’s narrator, the film’s true stars are its farmers/scientists. With Common Ground (2023), the Tickells’ follow-up, many of Kiss the Ground’s subjects, including agronomist Ray Archuleta and farmer Gabe Brown, return to help further the filmmakers’ compelling messaging. Harrelson also briefly reappears alongside Laura Dern, Jason Momoa, Rosario Dawson, and Donald Glover. Their familiar faces help shed light on the magnitude of the systemic issues associated with our soil, how we arrived at this disastrous situation, and how we can improve it. Like Kiss the Ground, the Tickells intentionally bring the experts to the forefront in Common Ground. The celebrities do not overstep their boundaries, and their presence helps with outreach. Common Ground opens with the forementioned actors writing warning letters to their children about the tragic future that we’re approaching; they are not acting, rather they offer a genuine introspection on preparing for the worst and evaluating how we can strive for the best. Simply put, it is said “if the soil dies, we die.” Common Ground reaffirms this can be avoided through the relatively straightforward ways of regenerative agriculture. These principles are revealed to be: no tillage, cover crop usage, no chemicals, and planned grazing. Common Ground’s delivery in conveying the magic of regenerative agriculture makes for an inspiring documentary; it is the kind of film that leaves you invigorated, full of energy, and wanting to fight the good fight. Though some may construe it as one, Common Ground is not a political film, rather it is a realist film rooted in science.

Common Ground unravels that the majority of grants received by college/university agricultural science divisions are provided by pesticide companies. Because of the pipeline from the pesticide manufacturers to the schools, farmers are taught about “making nature into a machine.” Here lies the reason for the rising growth of “scientific suppression”—science is costly and thus impossible without large corporate donations. Though scientists like Jonathan Lundgren have proven the dangers of pesticides and their ecological consequences, they are largely being discredited by lobbyists. Common Ground reveals that the food and agriculture industry ranks as having some of the most lobbyists out of any. The reason corn and soy beans are so prevalently planted in the U.S. is because the “Farm Bill” allocates $85 billion to be spent each year solely on these crops. This is done, knowing that many of the regions farmed are not ecologically suitable for the crops to grow. The reason for this problematic choice is because of the advent of industrial farming, which relies on feeding corn and soybean crops to livestock on a massive scale. Uncoincidentally, farmers have the highest suicide rate out of any profession. They are set up for failure. The farmers seeing the greatest success are those that practice regenerative agriculture and are free of government subsidies, though so many are driven into irreparable debt and are thus forced to rely on the these subsidies. With firsthand accounts of families who have lost loved ones due to the stress of farming, Common Ground is at times heartbreaking. Common Ground also becomes increasingly frustrating as the problems only seem to worsen. If it weren’t for the Tickells’ thoughtfully strategic format in contrasting the misfortune of industrial farming with the vast benefits of regenerative agriculture, it would simply be too demoralizing to watch.

Because of the Tickells’ filmmaking prowess, Common Ground is fundamentally effective as a documentary for its ability to approach a distressing subject with the proper care so viewers leave optimistic about the vast potential of regenerative agriculture. Common Ground succeeds in the presentation of its messaging, helping to not only break down the components of regenerative agriculture but also provide numerous examples of how the practice is making the world a better place. In place of pesticides, cover crops are used as natural weedkillers for regenerative agriculture. After being smashed down, the cover crops actually help soil to both retain more water/nitrogen and increase microbial biome, which promotes life. It is said that “healthy soil looks like chocolate cake,” and the South Dakota farms of Common Ground that use cover crops are well-equipped with soil of that likeness. In Chihuahua, Mexico, planned grazing has helped to naturally break the desert floor with cattle hooves. The manure from the cattle has fertilized the ground, bringing nutrients via dung beetles. Miraculously, these farmers have converted parts of the Chihuahua desert back to grasslands. Many more stories of regeneration prevail in Common Ground.

When it’s said and done, 88% of the Common Ground farmers interviewed were more profitable when they transitioned to regenerative agriculture. Furthermore, their soil possessed 30% more carbon content and 60% more life. Some anecdotes even revealed that eating from the new and improved farms cured them of Crohn’s disease, suggesting that regenerative agriculture could also help combat public health crises of sickness induced by food. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of regenerative agriculture is in exploring soil’s carbon content; soil’s organic matter can be made up of 60% carbon. Plants feed carbon downward to roots, which moves through the fungi network. Through photosynthesis, carbon from the atmosphere can actually be transferred to the soil. For this reason, Common Ground proposes that regenerative agriculture could become one of the most important tools in combatting climate change. Though Common Ground can become derivative at times, borrowing from its predecessor Kiss the Ground, the film remains engaging for the new information that it brings to light combined with its expansion of previously explored themes. Though Common Ground’s primary focus is on America’s farming industry, this is a documentary that should be watched by all. What is keeping us alive is the common ground that we all share, and that is what should be uniting humanity.

Common Ground is now playing in theaters. Showtimes can be found here.

For those interested in requesting a screening of Common Ground in your community or at your university, forms are offered at commongroundfilm.org.

Jonathan Monovich is a Chicago-based writer and a regular contributor for Film International. His writing has also been featured in Film Matters, Bright Lights Film Journal, and PopMatters.