Seven years ago, at the Sedona International Film Festival, I reviewed a documentary that profoundly impacted me: "The Need to Grow." This award-winning film is a wake-up call—an unflinching look at the rapid depletion of the Earth’s fertile soil and the unsung innovators working to reverse that decline. One of the film’s most chilling revelations was the estimate that we may have only 60 years of farmable soil left if current trends continue. Sixty harvests. Sixty chances to get it right before the ground beneath us — quite literally — can no longer support us.
That film planted a seed in my consciousness. It led me to explore just how deep the crisis of arable land depletion goes — and how profoundly it affects not just our food systems, but our environment, our economies and global stability.
This commentary brings together what I’ve learned — the roots of the crisis, its far-reaching consequences, and the pathways to renewal — in the hope that others will grasp the profound threat it poses to our future.
Read the entire commentary on Substack In The Center Lane With Herb Paine →
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Commentator Herb Paine documents the Trump administration’s continuing campaign on what he calls "a coordinated effort to narrow, sanitize and control the stories Americans encounter about their own culture and history" and offers an "inventory" of the damage already done — and the implications of allowing it to continue. -
Commentator Herb Paine examines a crucial but under-explored dimension of the current moment: How the Jewish community responds ethically when Jewish continuity intersects with political power in Israel. -
One piece of Arizona's property politics puzzle involves middle housing (sometimes referred to as missing middle housing to highlight the gap between single-family homes and large apartment buildings). Commentator Herb Paine examines the concept and its practical implications. -
From Arizona to New York, it appears that a "new housing economy" is emerging, shaped by short-term rentals and backyard units. Commentator Herb Paine explores how this development is testing the balance between personal profit and the public need for homes and stable communities. -
Commentator Herb Paine reflects on what’s truly at stake in Arizona’s 2026 elections — not just who wins, but whether the system that makes winning possible can endure. The elections may be a bellwether for the nation: a test of civic trust, political integrity, and the resilience of democracy in an age of disruption and division.
