Regenerative agriculture, the practice of restoring rather than depleting the land, has been suffocated by companies that thrive on making farmers dependent on their products. But I’ve been involved with farmers firsthand who are flipping that system on its head. Years ago, I supported a project in Africa that taught farmers how to grow food without synthetic fertilizers or pesticides — just nature, soil and regenerative principles. Crops flourished, communities strengthened and farmers made a living without chemical companies.

Compare that to many of today’s farmers, blasting the soil with synthetic fertilizers and killing the system. Monoculture farming depletes and exhausts the soil until it can barely support life without chemicals. The soil is like an addict — it needs a fix every season just to function. And who sells the fix? The big fertilizer and pesticide companies that have their claws in everything from seed patents to government policy.

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