Is nature a money making asset for the elitists, controlling humanity?

Can nature provide us all with all we need of energy, food and medicine? And even do it without the total slavelike dependence we have today on the big corporations that deliver all these necessities?  Could we all basically be disconnected from the food, health and energy grid? Some people say yes. And some has even proven it to be right. Why do we still hold on to these grids?