See Jane Do Everyday Women Doing Extraordinary Things
See Jane Do interview:
Jill Cloutier: “Making The Soil Solution has been a wonderful 2 year journey. Along the way, we’ve dodged stampeding grass-fed cattle, brewed compost tea, and developed a profound respect for fungi and bacteria.”
Carol Hirashima: “We’ve met some great cows and chickens and countless worms, rollie pollies, and even a few dung beetles; all of whom have a vital role to play in the creation of fertile soil.”
What inspired you to join forces and make a film?
Carol and Jill: We both love the creativity of film and the great potential it has in reaching large numbers of people. We are committed to educating people about nature and the environment.
We started Sustainable World Media four years ago with an online YouTube channel called Sustainable World. Their channel is filled with short videos that they have created about Permaculture, rainwater harvesting, ecology, natural building etc.
Carol:Our backgrounds fit well together. Since college we knew it would be great to do something together.
Carol: I’m a graduate of the University of California and Brooks Institute of Photography and Film. I have a passion for social media and documentary film. I’ve been a filmmaker for over 20 years. My early projects include editorial work for ‘Shark Week’, a 104 Episode Adventure Series for HIT Entertainment, UK, and an underwater children’s series produced by Jean-Michel Cousteau Productions and HIT Entertainment, UK.
Jill: I’m an environmental educator & freelance writer with over seven years of experience in broadcast media. I create and produce Sustainable World Radio, an online podcast. I love to educate people about ecology, Permaculture, ethnobotany, and solutions to environmental challenges.
What’s the basic concept behind your film?
Carol & Jill: What if a solution to climate change was found beneath your feet? The Soil Solution explores the fascinating world of soil and documents the ranchers, farmers, and scientists who conserve, protect, and regenerate this valuable natural resource. Healthy soil, as vital to our survival as healthy air and water, may provide a biologically-based, low cost solution to global climate change. In this film, we speak with those on the cutting edge of soil science who are ushering in a new system of farming and ranching that works with nature, instead of against it. These methods of land management have the potential to provide us with nutritious food, improved human health, cleaner water, and a healthier planet for all.
What have you learned from making this film come to fruition?
Carol and Jill: We both love the creativity of film and the great potential it has in reaching large numbers of people. We are committed to educating people about nature and the environment.
What we’ve learned from making The Soil Solution is to respect the ground we walk on- our lives depend on it. All of us affect soil health, either through our buying decisions or our farming and gardening practices. Every thing that we do to increase soil fertility is a step in reversing climate change.
When did you kick off this project?
Jill: about four years ago with an online YouTube channel called Sustainable World. Their channel is filled with short videos that they have created about Permaculture, rainwater harvesting, ecology, natural building etc.
What led you to create this film?
Jill: After taking a soils science class at SBCC and interviewing Darren Doherty, an Australian soils expert, we became aware of the precarious state of soil worldwide. Soil and soil life provides us with an immense array of ecosystem services (beneficial services) without which we couldn’t grow food! We wanted people to learn more about this vast universe beneath our feet, to champion the soil microbes that work tirelessly for free, and perform such important work.
We also read about a 30 year farm trial by the Rodale Institute that shows that organic farming can be as productive as conventional farming and a study by the Marin Carbon Project and Rodale about soil as a potential carbon sink and solution to climate change.
We think that the idea of soil as a potential solution for climate change, functioning as an atmospheric carbon sink, will be controversial as well as cutting edge, since the results from field trials are just coming in.
What would you do differently next time?
Next time, we’d love to have a budget!
During the process of creating this film, what did you learn or experience that was most surprising?
Carol: We’re not scientists, so we learned a lot. We learned that there are more than 6 billion organisms in 1 tablespoon of soil and that fungi and bacteria work symbiotically with plants to keep them healthy! And that it’s hard to run from a group of “stampeding” grass-fed cattle carrying cameras and gear!
Jill: We also learned that the problem can be the solution. There’s an excess of carbon in the atmosphere and a deficiency of carbon in the ground. So, it’s a good idea to look for ways to fix that imbalance. Grazing can be a soil destroyer, but used properly can be a soil builder. Modern agriculture has sent a lot of soil carbon into the atmosphere, but regenerative agricultural practices can be used to pull that carbon out of the atmosphere and sink it into the soil.
How is your film special?
Carol: The topic, our experts, the opportunity as citizens of earth to change. On a personal note the most important for me is that we did this on a “zero budget” and we did it together. At one point we googled “Zero Budget Productions” as a potential name for our company, but it was already taken!
Jill: It’s also special because we interviewed over forty experts in their fields (sometimes, literally!) who agreed to meet with us and discuss their research. We wanted to highlight the soil stewards of this area and in other parts of California who build and take care of this amazing natural resource upon which we are all dependent- soil.
What do you hope viewers come away with after watching the film?
Carol & Jill: We want to inspire viewers and to educate them about the amazing world of soil. To inspire them to realize that we do have power to turn things around. And, that natural systems are available and ready to help.
“Everyone, through their buying decisions, food choices, and farming and gardening methods, affects soil health. Everything that we do to increase soil fertility could be a step in reversing climate change.”
