Symphony of the Soil

This documentary takes us through the formation, use, and history of soil and makes a compelling case for organic farming and for forgetting technological fixes that ignore the reality of the biology of soils. This is not information that agribusiness wants people to know, since their business model relies on heavy machinery, genetic engineering, and chemical-intensive methods. Most compelling is that many answers to the problems of food production, pollution, environmental degradation, and disease are already here and in use, if only people would listen, become informed, and buy wisely. I had some idea, but not to the extent shown in the film, of soil's importance. I really had no idea that the solutions to our problems lie well within our grasp if only we can change our ways. Somewhat explored in the documentary are the ideas that a tremendous amount of inertia lies in current practices, both in terms of government regulation which favors agribusiness, and in terms of perception resulting from public relations campaigns and advertising these multinationals use to preserve their profitable business model. However, the film does not come off as a political diatribe, but only as the accumulated wisdom of many experts in the field, both academic and working organic farmers. The film serves more as an open-ended exploration of these points of view, tying perceptions into scientific fact and common sense.