Cultivating Transitions: Regenerative Agricultural Practices in the Mississippi River Watershed

Industrial agriculture relies heavily on monoculture practices that significantly degrade soil health through a lack of biodiversity, land exploitation, and the use of synthetic fertilizers on crops. These inorganic fertilizers pollute water bodies in the Mississippi River Basin and are dumped into the Gulf of Mexico, leading to hypoxic water conditions. The largest synthetic fertilizer industry plant in the U.S. is the fourth-largest polluter in Louisiana. As a result, the region suffers from both the impacts of industry on surrounding communities and runoff pollution that returns to the Gulf region through waterways within the basin.

The proposal explores the potential benefits of embracing ecologically beneficial agricultural practices in the region, and integrating and scaling up existing practices to support a more regenerative pattern of inhabitation and waste management. This new localized agricultural framework includes regenerative agriculture strategies supported by densified settlement patterns and waste management policies. These transitions would result in a reduced reliance on synthetic fertilizers, a reduction of nutrient runoff and hypoxia in waterways, and a restoration of soils, habitats, and farmland ecosystems. This approach has the potential to improve the health of the environment and support the long-term cohabitation of people and ecosystems in the region.