One Size Fits None: A Farm Girl’s Search for the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture

One Size Fits None: A Farm Girl’s Search for the Promise of Regenerative Agriculture is a 2019 book on how the American food production system must move beyond conventional and sustainable farming to embrace regenerative farming strategies tailored to individual environments. Anderson, who grew up on a conventional ranch outside of Bison, South Dakota, has firsthand knowledge of US conventional farming strategies. As a young journalist for the Tri-State Neighbor newspaper, she started off wanting to protect conventional farmers and ranchers, like her family, from so-called “liberal media” slander. However, as Anderson toured more and more conventional farms, she became increasingly disillusioned. She realized that conventional farming strategies were jeopardizing the health and wellbeing of ecosystems, farming families, rural communities, and society. As such, Anderson wanted to better understand how regenerative farming might apply to different farms and environments. In One Size Fits None, Anderson provides five case studies that span farms and ranches in Florida, South Dakota, New Mexico, and North Dakota to illustrate how “we need to avoid the one-size-fits-all thinking that got us into trouble” (xiii) in the first place.

Summary

Part 1 reveals how farmers and ranches became trapped in the conventional farming system to the detriment of their families, finances, environment, and communities. This section introduces Ryan Roth, a conventional sugarcane and vegetable farmer in Florida, whose managerial role on the farm has divorced him from the land (Chapter 1). Similar to other producers, Ryan’s family responded with vigor to the edict “get big or get out” (19), which transformed the agricultural production system in the US to what it is today (Chapter 2). Following this edict, Ryan’s family had no choice but to expand their farm, even as they went nearly bankrupt, to prevent their farm from being bought by larger corporations (Chapter 3). Industrial farming has not only negatively impacted farming families, like the Roth Family, but also decimated rural communities and farm workers (Chapter 4). Conventional farming strategies also destroy the environment, even causing the disappearance of extremely fertile and rare muck soil in the EAA (Chapter 5). Anderson argues that farmers, like Ryan and her family, are not bad people, they are simply stuck in a bad food production system.

Anderson argues that there are alternatives to conventional farming. In Part 2, she turns to one such alternative: Phil Jerde’s holistic management. Phil is a South Dakota buffalo rancher who operates a large-scale farm. Through this regenerative management strategy, Phil replicates the bison’s natural effect on the grassland environment (Chapter 6). In so doing, Phil has not only begun to restore the grassland environment, including its rich biodiversity (Chapter 7), but he also demonstrates an alternative to the CAFO-driven meat production system (Chapters 8 and 9). Phil’s story highlights that profit can be redefined from monetary to environment terms and that farmers will see great wealth when they use nature rather than synthetic chemicals and hormones (Chapter 10).

In Part 3, Kevin O’Dare of Florida and Fidel Gonzalez of New Mexico illustrate how super-small farmers can not only defy the conventional edict of “get big or get out,” but also help feed and revitalize their local communities. Kevin uses regenerative strategies that have been invented for decades, such as intercropping, to control pests and disease (Chapter 11) naturally over herbicides and insecticides (Chapter 13). Similar to other regenerative farmers, Kevin understands that his land is part of the larger ecosystem (Chapter 12). Kevin’s farm allows him to spend time with his family (Chapter 14) and interact with consumers and chefs (Chapters 15 and 16), a rarity for conventional producers. Fidel literally grows organic produce in a greenhouse on the outskirts of Albuquerque. As an urban farmer, he feeds a range of community members, including school children, and uses some of his profits to help his own Latinx community (Chapter 17). Urban farmers, like Fidel, will help make US cities more sustainable and inclusive (Chapter 18).

In the book’s final section, mid-size farmer Gabe Brown combines livestock and grain farming, what Anderson terms “the diversified farm” (Chapter 19), to revive the grasslands ecosystem and feed his community. Healthy soil is the key to not only healthy grasslands (Chapter 20), but being able to grow nutritious grass that supports livestock and creates healthier meat on smaller land plots (Chapter 21). Taking a more hands-off approach to raising livestock (Chapter 22) and feeding cattle grass over hay (Chapter 23) not only produces healthier livestock, but ensures Gabe has fun farming. Focusing on soil also enables Gabe to help restore the native prairie (Chapter 24). Educating both consumers (Chapter 25) and other farmers (Chapter 26) can help the US food production system transition to regenerative strategies.

Through these case studies, Anderson delivers a hopeful message about the future of farming in the US. By adopting regenerative agriculture, farming families, like her own, rural communities, and society will be happier and healthier, and ecosystems will be stronger. Anderson’s book is a powerful validation of future wellbeing, individuality, and farmers’ legacies.