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

In the opening chapter of Part 3, Anderson introduces Kevin O’Dare (also known as KO), owner and manager of Osceola Organic Farm in Vero Beach, Florida. Prior to becoming a farmer, Kevin operated a surf shop, where he grew organic food as a hobby. People would continuously note that they had never tasted fruits and vegetables like his. Anderson suggests that the reason Kevin grew tastier food is because he did not use agrochemicals. Agrochemicals cause plants to produce fewer phytonutrients, which decreases their flavor. Moreover, these chemicals also result in soil with fewer nutrients. Soil that lacks minerals and organic content results in fruits and vegetables with less flavor.

Kevin tries to work with Mother Nature to produce crops that are healthy and nutritious. For example, to prevent pests and disease, Kevin uses intercropping, or planting different crops near one another, over pesticides and insecticides. “When you’re planting different stuff all around,” says, Kevin, “you’re breaking up the monotony of everything, and it’s hard for diseases to move on and some pests too, because you’re putting a different thing in the way of them that they don’t understand or can’t get through” (117).