In 2012, I worked with others to successfully persuade Hershey’s, Cheerios (yellow box) and Sabra hummus to remove genetically modified organisms (GMO) ingredients. Since 2021, I helped direct about $3 million for 35,000 small farmers in Guatemala in Latin America and Malawi in central Africa to plant abundant food forests.

For 30 years, I’ve focused my career on food systems that heal, not harm.

I’ve witnessed over the decades the soul of the pioneering organic food movement be swooped up by Wall Street and venture capital – who’ve reduced those values to a marketing line. Players like Horizon Dairy and Kraft shifted “organic” from a grassroots movement to a marketplace – and then to their piggy bank.

Eleven of the largest CPG brands (that dominate organic foods), including Mondelez, Pepsi, General Mills and Nestle, were recently sued for selling addictive ultra-processed foods that created a public health crisis of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

The ultra-processed foods are loaded with pesticides and GMO seed oils.

Instead of investing in US farmers to transition to regenerative agriculture, these same CPG giants shifted to overseas sourcing – enjoying lower costs and looser standards – and ultimately funnelling their increased profits to shareholders.

The result? While US organic sales reached a record $71.6 billion in 2024, according to the Organic Trade Association, certified organic acreage in the US dropped by 6.8 per cent.

Put another way, 6 per cent of food sales in the US are organic, while only about half a percent of US farmland grows organic food. People clearly want organic. A key missing piece is domestic supply.

Franklin Roosevelt once remarked, “A nation that destroys its soil, destroys itself.”

Farming is a brutally hard, low-margin business. Add complex federal organic paperwork, minimal corporate support for transition, weed pressures and rising input costs, and American farmers are being pushed out of the very market they helped create.

Since 2000, thousands of small organic dairies and food farms have closed – decimating rural communities and small family farms. After 2019, 400,000 acres exited organic crop production in western Canada. This is the harsh reality facing rural farm country.

For decades, universities have taught farmers that chemistry is their primary tool for productivity. The regenerative agriculture movement invites a different paradigm: biology as ally rather than enemy.

But it takes time to shift from degenerative farming to soil health, increased earthworm populations and cleaner streams and lakes – and farmers need practical pathways to reduce chemical reliance without experiencing economic collapse. The end result will be more regenerative and organic farms, and thus more nutrient-dense food.

The overuse of glyphosate reflects decades of chemically dependent agriculture.

According to my friend and Make America Health Again (MAHA) leader Vani Hari (The Food Babe), “Every president since glyphosate was invented has increased the amount of glyphosate being sprayed on our farmland. The chemical lobby is controlling Washington, no matter who is in charge.”

Meanwhile, glyphosate’s impact on ecosystems and human health continues to fuel debate, research and legal challenges. Glyphosate not only kills weeds – but destroys human gut bacteria – and now has found its way into our bloodstream and women’s breast milk.

Yet breaking our chemical dependency cycle is, shall we say, complicated. Simply banning chemicals or relying solely on China without supporting viable alternatives does not solve the underlying issues.

Regen growers are experimenting with new technologies such as laser robots and PH balancing of tractor tank water to reduce overall herbicide use.

MAHA was born by frustrated moms who witnessed rising chronic illness in their children. Its supporters argue that pesticides, plastics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), vaccines and ultra-processed foods contribute to declining public health.

Critics of MAHA, predictably Big Pharma and Big Agribusiness, are spending hundreds of millions each year demonising MAHA leaders, especially US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr), with divisive corporate narratives and social media that further amplify conflict over solutions. Dividing us is far easier than dealing with the facts.

Meanwhile, leaders in regenerative agriculture and food transparency – from rancher Gabe Brown to food activists – continue to share information and spark important conversations, all the while they face criticism and Goliath-style pushback.

The upside is it’s fuelled a national discussion on the central issue dear to MAHA’s hearts: that Americans have been poisoned for decades via our food, drugs and consumer goods.

Mom’s Across America founder Zen Honeycutt shared: “Trump is not the MAHA movement. The MAHA movement was created by a tidal wave of moms. Trump and Kennedy just gave the movement a collective name and brought parts of it into the administration. We were around long before and we will be around long after.”

The reality is – whether it’s coming from the legacy “eco” crowd or the new MAHA movement – the goal is the same: to end the poisoning of Americans. The journey to a vibrant food future will not be simple and may at times feel chaotic or heated – some even say it’s impossible.

As a young man, I fondly recall listening to old-time farmers talk about the importance of honouring our soils. Yes, healthy soil, healthy food and healthy families are not luxuries – they’re national security. Let’s regenerate!

• A Tell Media report / By John Roulac / Originally published as Let’s regenerate! Substack page.