Notice
Join the Intellectual Forum at Jesus College, Cambridge for a screening of Six Inches of Soil, the first full-length campaigning documentary that tells the untold story of the UK's regenerative and agroecology movement and its benefits to soil.
The film follows three new farmers on the first year of their regenerative journey: Anna Jackson, a Lincolnshire 11th generation arable and sheep farmer; Adrienne Gordon, a Cambridgeshire small-scale vegetable farmer; and Ben Thomas, who rears pasture fed beef cattle in Cornwall. As the trio strive to adopt regenerative practices and create viable businesses, they meet seasoned mentors who help them on their journey. They’re joined by other experts providing wisdom and solutions from a growing movement of people who are dedicated to changing the trajectory for food, farming, and the planet.
After the screening, the film's director, Colin Ramsay, will be joined by a panel of experts for a Q&A.
About the speakers
Prof David Nally is Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Jesus College. He is interested in food regimes and agrarian transformations and has studied a range of contemporary problems, including practices of land grabbing, the ‘biopolitical’ dimensions of the food system, and the role of technologies – including ‘social technologies’ – in remaking agrarian life.
Colin Ramsay is the director of the film Six Inches of Soil and founder of DragonLight Films the production company behind the film. His films have been featured by Nature Magazine, BBC click, the Cambridge Science Festival, the Festival of Ideas, Institut Français, the Royal Institution of Australia, COP28 and international film events. In 2017, Colin won the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) “Best Research Film of the Year” award for Pain in the Machine, a film about the ethics of AI. He is passionate about nature based solutions to climate change.
Prof Shailaja Fennell is a Fellow of Jesus College and Professor of Regional Transformation and Economic Security in the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include economic security and ecological change, community and national resilience, and institutional reform and regional transformation. She has a particular focus on local and sub-national decision making in rural and urban policy design, agricultural sustainability and food security; youth, migration and employment aspirations; and provision of public goods in the spheres of education and health.
Tom Pearson has been running his family arable farm in Cambridgeshire for the past seven years. He is also a medical doctor, with a Masters in Public Health, and has been practicing medicine in hospitals, primary care, and public health settings since 2001, both in the UK and abroad. With this background, Tom wants to make a significant contribution to bridging the gap between agriculture and health in the UK.
