Industrial agriculture depletes the soil of nutrients, contaminates drinking water, and harms biodiversity.
Fortunately, there are alternative ways of growing food. Ecosystems can be improved through regenerative and profitable practices that produce healthy, incredibly tasty food. Instead of being a major CO2 emitter, agriculture could become a net CO2 sink.
Here’s the problem: many people who would like to get started with progressive methods of production lack access to land and investment capital. That’s why Ecosia has partnered with permaculture farmer and youtuber Richard Perkins to launch an annual regenerative agriculture competition.
The goal of this competition is to kickstart agricultural projects that build soil to fight climate change, demonstrate the financial viability of regenerative practices, protect animal welfare, and produce healthy food.
A group of experts select one or several winners each year, and Ecosia will invest €500,000 into permaculture projects over the course of the next two years.
The first winners of this ongoing competition are Claire and Gaëlle, who will receive a loan of €50,000 that will help them get their permaculture farm started. Their future loan repayment will, in turn, help other permaculture projects get off the ground.
You can follow Claire and Gaëlle’s journey on Instagram. We hope that their adventure will inspire many others to contribute to a better food system.
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