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Everyday Activist - Life In Syntropy (MLJFF 2016)
Posted on Monday, November 14, 2016 at 11:00 AM
Life in Syntropy (MLJFF 2016)
Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com
I loved this film and even though it is available online, I’ll be watching it on the big screen. Life in Syntrophy refers to an agricultural practice akin to permaculture. Permaculture works with nature rather than against it. Both philosophies were developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s and have continued to grow as the world evolves into a more co-operative system. These practices are nothing short of magical. As the documentary shows with some hard work the climate and ecological designation can change from desert to rainforest.
Syntrophy is seen as the opposite of entropy; rather than going from order to chaos in entropy, syntropy goes from chaos into order. Scientifically speaking, entropy can be expressed in positive or negative terms, thus a new term syntrophy isn’t really necessary, though it provides a more convenient description for the farming practice. They advocate using nature as an inspiration rather than as an entity to be conquered. Most systems use a concept called agroforestry, which incorporates trees into livestock and farming practices. By integrating trees into the agricultural landscape, the crops are shaded and can draw more moisture from the atmosphere to feed into the ground.
The short documentary shows proof of people reversing the devastating effects of desertification, which to me is incredible. Much of the Middle East was forest as well, before the desert. If the landmines and scars of wars could ever be stopped, then projects like agroforestry would help solve the problems of drought. Even in China imagine the Gobi Desert transformed into an agricultural region. The possibilities of this application in the rest of the world gives a lot of hope that just maybe the effects of climate change can be reversed.
Life in Syntrophy was developed for the climate conference in Paris. Agenda Gotsch has a number of other videos on his vimeo channel to help people learn how to build good soil. Calgary has many resources and permaculture groups who would be more than willing to share their knowledge.
Unfortunately, because this will be shown at the Globe Theatre as part of the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival 2016 on Thursday November 17th at noon, they won’t have a local expert speak about the subject. I still encourage people to do a quick Internet to learn about sustainable farming practices, because at the end of the day, we all need to eat.
NOTE: The showtimes listed on CalgaryMovies.com come directly from the theatres' announced schedules, which are distributed to us on a weekly basis. All showtimes are subject to change without notice or recourse to CalgaryMovies.com.
